Rachel Delmontagne
2020 Fulbright
Hometown
Ashburn, VA
Major
Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
College
College of Engineering / Honors College
With Fulbright, Rachel Delmontagne will teach English in Spain. A Purdue alumna with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the College of Engineering and Honors College, Delmontagne is familiar with intercultural experiences. Since graduating in 2018, she has worked in Ghana, first with the Peace Corps, and then as a math teacher.
Delmontagne credits her grandparents for her intense interest in people and cultures from around the world, recalling their advice as, “you’ll never know if you don’t ask!” In her early travels with her grandparents, her time in Ghana, and during her semester abroad in Madrid, she employed that advice to hone her intercultural understanding by participating actively in the cultures around her.
Delmontagne explains her career goals, saying, “I have a curiosity about people and their experiences, and I also have an engineering degree. Where these two interests meet is ‘design thinking,’ or human-centered engineering design. It considers the complexities of the human condition to create sustainable engineering solutions.” After completing her Fulbright, Delmontagne plans to pursue a career in human-centered design and sustainable engineering with a focus on international collaboration.