Junior Julia Grin was working on a simple assignment in a manufacturing class. Students had to create a design and build it. 

An idea for the project popped into her head.

“It just had to be a clock,” Grin said.

Grin took this simple production and transformed it into making a clock of her own. The clock represents not only her passion for learning, but also her passion for engineering in general.

“Machinery in general is just meant to aid humans in whatever we want to do, from going to space to observing an atom,” Grin said. “It’s beautiful to see it work.”

After the work for the class was done, she still felt like there was more to accomplish.

“I absolutely hate the fact that I can never finish projects, so this is part of my bucket list now,” Grins said. “Also, I originally wanted to send it to a friend who is in college and leaving it unfinished kind of feels wrong.”

The school project turned passion project meant Julia was spending much of her time — no pun intended — on making the clock. She would often work on it during lunch periods.

“Julia is a great student who likes to challenge herself and go above and beyond,” her teacher Jon Wong said. 

Grin’s friends also have taken note of her passion project.

“I love when she does engineering projects because I find them so fascinating when the projects come to life and start working,” Grin’s friend Gia Faiola said. 

As this project needed an extra hand, Faiola has helped out quite a bit with Grin’s designs as well.

“I helped her by giving some art advice since I’m an art student as well , s getting her access to some materials in the art room and making sure she stays on track with her project,” Faiola said.

With this clock being one of her creations, Grins hopes to continue on with engineering and possibly make even more ambitious projects.

“It’s so exciting to watch anything move even if it’s not in the exact way that I envision it or that I wanted it to move,” Grin said. “The fact that at least part of it works and does something, is always exciting and it always gives me a bit of hope for what I could do next or how I could improve.”