Rachel Delmontagne

2020 Fulbright U.S. Student Program Grantee

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, Rachel 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.

 

She 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.

 

Rachel explains, “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, she plans to pursue a career in human-centered design and sustainable engineering with a focus on international collaboration.