艾莉森法卡斯, the first in her family to graduate from college, impressed Lockheed Martin management as an intern, and the company offered her a position before she graduated.
“作为一个系统工程师, you’re responsible for the integration of different aspects of software and hardware and making sure the documentation makes sense. My degree really helps me because it combines mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering. 它让我做好了做这份工作的准备. It’s all about knowing different aspects of engineering, 它给你更广泛的知识,”她说。.
法卡斯 was an intern with Lockheed for two summers after meeting a representative of the company at the semiannual campus career fair, 由阿宾顿公司组织 职业和专业发展.
“I learned so much from my internship but especially how to work in the real world. My main takeaway was to never shy away from asking questions. There are tons of smart people there, and I learned to pick their brains. I was cautious during my first internship, but by the second one I was wanting to understand and learn more,”她说。.
"My degree really helps me because it combines mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering. 它让我做好了做这份工作的准备. It’s all about knowing different aspects of engineering, 它给你更广泛的知识.”
艾莉森法卡斯
At 阿宾顿 法卡斯 was a Schreyer Honors College scholar and a member of the campus's 荣誉项目. Her honors thesis project was to apply artificial intelligence to train a robot to do parts inspection in a simulated manufacturing environment. She was also the recipient of an engineering scholarship.
Her experience at 阿宾顿 began the summer before her first year when she enrolled in the 工程提前 (EA)项目. EA is an academic enhancement program for underrepresented categories of students including minorities, 女性, 第一代, and those from low-income households.
“工程提前 helps transition you to college. College isn’t as scary because you already have these connections. You focus on math, physics and chemistry,”她说。. “It shows how things are done in college, and it opened up other opportunities. After I finished the program, I became a mentor and tutored other students.”
“我带着博士。. Kagan for every level of physics, and Dr. 施米德坎普把我卷进了 讴歌 (阿宾顿 College Undergraduate Research Activities) my first year,” 法卡斯 said. “Working on undergraduate research opened up opportunities for me since I developed relationships with faculty who mentored us.”
Her team earned a blue ribbon for their 讴歌 project, "A Survey with Radio Astronomy of Cold H1 Clouds in the Milky Way."
法卡斯, who tutored other students throughout her college career, was president and treasurer of the Engineering Club at 阿宾顿.
“We did some really awesome projects. It created a collaborative environment, and we talked about problems and questions we had. It was a great support system,”她说。.
法卡斯 said she knew 阿宾顿 was where she wanted to attend college from her first visit.
“I fell in love with the campus and knew it was the place for me. 阿宾顿 has a small school feel, but large school resources plus there is the alumni network. I loved the engineering program, too. 你的教育是个性化的. You get to know the professors, and you’re not just a number,”她说。.
For the general engineering degree with the multidisciplinary engineering design option, students like 法卡斯 complete their first two years at either 阿宾顿 and conclude their engineering coursework in the Innovation Center at Penn State Great Valley.
“The engineering program has a hands-on approach. You can learn all the theory you want, but the hands-on application brings your education full circle whether it’s through the lab, 模拟或设计焦点. You get to go through an entire life cycle,”她说。. “Once I saw the lab at Great Valley, I fell in love. It was so much fun to use, and a great atmosphere, too. I’ve been blessed with so many opportunities.”
