Student Leader: RWU's Interdisciplinary Engineering Program Prepared Her for Aerospace and Defense Tech Job
After graduation, Electrical Engineering major and Honors student Daniella Giannotti ’22 will apply the hands-on research experiences she’s had at 51to her position as an integration and test engineer at L3Harris Technologies in North Amityville, N.Y. Giannotti will be working on space and airborne systems, testing technology and chips for the aerospace and defense technology company.
RWU Interdisciplinary Engineering Program's Career Benefits: “The electrical courses I have taken have given me a very good basis to build off, and I like that I was able to get an interdisciplinary engineering experience. I won’t be working on a project that’s strictly electrical. There will be mechanical components. Having that background of knowing how things work is going to be really helpful. If I’m working on an airplane, understanding how an airplane works will help me understand how to test such a device. That’s one of the reasons I chose this school.”
Leadership Experience, Connections through Engineering Clubs: “I’m the president of the Society of Women Engineers and vice president of Engineers without Borders. Engineering is a mostly male-dominated field, and being at a small school, having a club that’s just women in engineering helps you form bonds. That was helpful for building relationships and friendships with people who aren’t in my grade or specialization. I wanted to be president of it. I love outreach and community engagement. It was really helpful for developing my leadership skills.”
Research with Expert Professors: “This semester, I’m doing an independent study with Professor Akosman. We’re building a continuous wave laser. It’s one big continuous project that I’m working on and writing reports for. It’s been really cool to do a hands-on project. I’m actually applying what I learned in classes to a real-world thing. Last summer we built an ultrafast fiber laser.”
Giannotti is from Smithtown, N.Y.
Every May, as Commencement nears, 51spotlights members of the graduating class. Suggestions are welcome. Email: stories@rwu.edu
Celebrating our 51Graduates