Driven By Passion & Appreciation – Meet Yacoub

Meet Yacoub, an aerospace engineering Master’s student driven by his passion for research, appreciation for his parents, and life goal to work in the aerospace industry.

Everyone has a story to tell, and the students at GTL surely do have great ones to share. I met Yacoub the first week at GTL, and the first two things I learned about him were that he is getting his Master’s in mechanical engineering and that he is from Morocco! After that first week, I was able to get to know Yacoub’s story more and more over time. He studied aerospace engineering in his undergraduate career at the Université Internationale de Rabat. Driven by his passion for research, appreciation for his parents, and goal to work in the aerospace industry, Yacoub has worked hard since his undergraduate years to be successful at Georgia Tech-Lorraine. 

During the interview, it was interesting to find out about Yacoub is that he is an only child, and is very close with his parents. When I asked him about his life goal, we discussed how we would like to become an aeronautical engineer, and that he would like to work hard and give back to his parents and make them proud. It was also interesting to learn that for him to come to Georgia Tech-Lorraine and be considered for admission, he had to stay in the top of his class at his undergraduate university. During his undergraduate career for four years, he worked hard to be where he is today. With his dedication and hard work for the past couple of years, he can proudly say that he has made it to where he has always wanted to be. I am grateful to listen to graduate student stories like Yacoub’s because being an undergraduate it is inspiring to hear how hard-working, motivated, and all the different journeys they have taken to get to where they are today. It also reminds me that even though it may get tough during the undergraduate years, it will only make you stronger.

When I asked him about what he sees for himself in the next 5 years, he said that he plans on finishing his Master’s at Georgia Tech, doing research, and working full-time in Europe doing work in the aerospace industry. His dream is to someday be an aeronautical engineer at Airbus. During his time at GTL, he also hopes to get more involved in research and get some internship experience with a company in the aerospace industry. In his spare time, he enjoys sightseeing and trying different spicy foods from new restaurants in the city. Since being in Metz, he has interacted with French students in the city playing an escape game at a university-wide event in Metz.

Since I have started interviewing graduate students, it has also been interesting to hear what their favorite part about GTL is. I asked Yacoub what his favorite part about GTL is, and he said, “The friends that I have made all come from different countries, different cultures, and have different ways of thinking which is very exciting because you get to discover a new culture everyday. The opportunity to travel is great as well; since we are in the center of Europe it is very easy to catch a bus or take a train ride somewhere.”  He says that his thoughts and perceptions about different nationalities and cultures have changed from the time spent meeting and getting to know people and has positively affected the way he now thinks about other nations and cultures. Even though homework and projects have been a lot to handle at times from Yacoub’s perspective, he says that he plans on traveling a lot more in the near future while at GT-Lorraine. Currently, he has already visited Trier, Germany, and is looking forward to traveling to the Chocolate Festival in Paris and Switzerland.