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Name: Hayley Kinlaw
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Program: Architectural Engineering

“I chose the Architectural Engineering Program at ���񱦵� because I knew I would be able to incorporate sustainability into my passion for buildings.”

Hi, my name is Hayley Kinlaw and I am from Austin, Texas. Since summers there were swelteringly hot, I naturally grew up as a swimmer, however did not continue to swim in college because I had been doing it all my life and was ready to try something new. I am a 3rd year undergraduate studying architectural engineering with a concentration in both structural engineering and lighting/electrical systems. I plan on doing the BS/MS program through the engineering department at CU which means I would only need to stay for one extra year to receive my masters. I am passionate about the environment and building sustainability which is why I did a semester of research in the Living Materials Laboratory working on structural material sustainability. Coming from a state that doesn’t know what cold is, my favorite place in Boulder is anywhere in the mountains, it’s a place where I can leave everything behind and escape into nature, it’s quite relaxing.

How did you choose to study Civil Engineering at CU? What sets apart CU’s Civil Engineering Program?

There are only a handful of schools in the country that have my major and CU happened to be one of them. I originally wasn’t going to choose CU as my school, but I came on a campus and engineering school tour and fell in love. It was a place that I could see myself at for the years to come and felt like a second home. I’m glad that I did choose to come here because all of the concentrations in both architectural engineering and civil engineering open you up to very specific fields that you may not have thought go into our infrastructure. Not only that, but the lighting program in architectural engineering is one of the best in the country!

What enrichment activities (including internships, research, study abroad, etc) have you been involved in at CU? How have these affected your experience here?

My first official internship I got through the CEAE career fair that happens every semester. I was working for a mechanical contractor, which at the time I wanted to do, but have since changed my mind. When I switched to the concentrations I am in now, it was obvious to me how to be able to incorporate sustainability into lighting and electrical systems, but I wasn’t quite sure how it fit in with structural engineering. However, like I said before, I worked in the Living Materials Laboratory working with sustainable structural engineering, which showed me how to still incorporate sustainability into the materials we build with.

What is a highlight of your academic career at CU? This could be a class, lab, project or research.

My research briefly mentioned has been the highlight of my academic career.

What do you plan to do after graduating from CU? How has your educational experience helped you prepare for this?

I am still undecided about which concentration I am going to practice once I graduate, whether that is working as a structural engineer or a lighting designer. I’m hoping that an internship this summer will help me figure that out. However, I am more inclined to get my masters in structural engineering because I love all the math behind structural systems and would be more useful in the future.