Juan Rivas

Juan Rivas is from Manassas, Virginia and is a sophomore in Aerospace engineering with 3.90. He says the best thing about being a Virginia Tech engineering student is the tightly-knit community of Hokies that portray how “Ut Prosim” can be used to develop great achievements. When Juan was in middle school he dreamt of becoming a pilot so he could always be in the clouds and close to the stars, now instead of wanting to be in the clouds, he dreams of designing and discovering new methods to make it a reality for others to reach the stars. If Juan could change one thing, it would be converting nonrenewable energy to renewable energy.

Juan is part of the Galileo LLC, which provided “encouragement and support in pursuit of a career in engineering.” He is also a part of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) which “changes lives by empowering the Hispanic community to realize their fullest potential and impacts the world through STEM awareness, access, support, and development." He also was a part of the Virginia Tech Rotaract Club and volunteered in a local food pantry in Manassas. In his free time, Juan likes to play the violin and viola. He also likes to discover new hobbies such as crocheting, puzzle-solving, coding, painting, and researching technology.

Juan says that one of his role models is his mom because she rarely focuses on herself and devotes most of her time to helping those around her, especially her children. Juan mentions that he has two older brothers that are 2 and 7 years older than him, and also would love to adopt either a German Shepherd or a Golden Retriever in the future. Additionally, he says his favorite cartoon character would be Spongebob because no matter what he is told, he is always true to himself and likes to help others no matter the cost. His favorite genres of music are pop, classical, or 50s, and his favorite film is Interstellar because of its great plot and visual effects.