Trinity Capstone Projects

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Trinity Capstone Projects Shape Career Paths

The Senior Capstone project is an opportunity for Trinity students to showcase the interdisciplinary knowledge and skills they’ve gained during their educational journey, before moving on to the next step. For some, it's a jumping-off point into their future careers. We spoke to three Trinity alums from the past decade, who shared how their Capstone projects at Trinity paved the way for their current career trajectories.

Philip Lindia ’18 developed a Capstone project entitled "Creation and Dilapidation: Interpretations of Genesis 1–3," which examined early Jewish and Christian interpretations of the Bible. Philip credits this project for honing his skills in reading and critically engaging with primary source material.

I began to learn how to approach the past with charity, treating their words as I would want my own to be treated.

As Philip finishes up an MA in history of Christianity at Wheaton College, he plans to begin an MA in divinity at the University of Chicago, specializing in early Christian literature and the rhetoric of community formation in the early Jesus movement through the 4th century. He hopes to go on to pursue a PhD in the same area, “to continue developing the same critical and charitable skills I used in my Capstone, engaging with the ancient history of Christians.”
 

Angela Tawfik ’15 combined her passion for art and theology in her Capstone project, "An Iconographic Journey to the Bosom of the Father." For this project she created a 4' x 5' icon for her Coptic Orthodox Church, which taught her patience and precision. Angela's Capstone also grew her relationship with Christ, as she felt guided throughout the process.

She reflects on her experience, “The project taught me not to be afraid of daring to take risks and dream big—literally.” A 2019 graduate of Duke University, Angela is the Director of Creativity at the Durham-based Christian nonprofit Simple Charity, where she applies the lessons learned from her Capstone project to come up with creative solutions to novel problems. About her work she says,

I love creating order from chaos, beauty from ugliness, and this was something I first learned during the iconographic process.
 

Chris Wu ’15 says he was always really interested in tinkering to build things. In eighth grade he went to the library one day and found an article about a robot called Kismet by a researcher at MIT. Four years later, as a Trinity senior, this inspired him to design a robot, ERNE, that displays human emotion for his Capstone project, "Expressive Machines: Building a Social Robot." In his Capstone he experimented with human design, to find a way to create a machine to show emotion in way that is less creepy to a human. After graduating from Stanford University with a BS (2020) and MS (2021) in electrical engineering, Chris gained experience with internships at SpaceX and Neuralink. He’s currently working for Apple in Cupertino, CA, as a hardware design engineer. Thinking back on his time at Trinity, Chris says,

If I could give any small piece of advice to seniors…it would just be to really lean into what it is that they feel they're excited by.
 

These Trinity alums demonstrate how the Senior Capstone project can be a launching pad for a future career path. The rich and unhurried learning environment at Trinity kindled a spark within them. With care, the flame has grown and has given each one of them a unique opportunity to take part in building God’s kingdom here on earth.