Gabriella Engelhart

When you declare engineering as your major, you accept a great challenge, but it is only through this trial that you discover exactly how much you are capable of accomplishing. My Lafayette experience has been filled with opportunities for research, travel, and learning beyond my greatest expectations. Lafayette has afforded me the chance to pursue my personal and academic interests in environmental chemical engineering, which began as I took part in the Semester in Environmental Science at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory. This experience gave me my first taste of research and defined what my childhood love of nature had already indicated – studying the environment was my future.

When I returned to Lafayette I began an environmentally focused chemical engineering project to remove color from pulp and paper wastewater, which was advised by Dr. Javad Tavakoli. This research led to other projects, including my senior thesis, and many close relationships with my professors. Research, an open-ended pursuit of knowledge, has also been my ticket to travel around the country and the world. I have had the opportunity to present in San Francisco, CA and Austin, TX as well as conduct experiments with my thesis advisor, Dr. James Ferri, at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. Maybe the late-night engineering problem sets with friends in the Acopian Engineering Center were worth it after all?

Of course, a purely academic life would be limiting, so I participate in many extracurricular activities. I am a proud member of the Club Field Hockey team, which is an incredibly strong group of women interested in playing hard and having a good time. I also have the privilege of sharing my love of Lafayette College through guiding prospective students and families around our beautiful campus. Despite all of these opportunities in engineering and activities, perhaps my fondest memory is petting a cheetah while on an interim study abroad trip to Kenya and Tanzania. A once-in-a-lifetime event, yet just a small part of my truly amazing Lafayette experience.