Haley Darst is currently a fifth year Architectural Engineering student at Penn State University. In May 2011, she will graduate with a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering degree (B.A.E.), with a focus in lighting design and electrical systems.
Over the past four summers, Haley has interned with four different firms committed to either lighting or electrical design. Her first internship was in 2007 with an architectural and theatrical lighting design firm in Greensboro, North Carolina, Light Defines Form. Haley worked as an electrical engineering intern for international Architecture and Engineering firm Burt Hill in their Butler, Pennsylvania office in the summer of 2008. In the summer of 2009, Haley worked as an electrical engineering intern with KlingStubbins in Washington, DC. Wanting to merge both her technical skills and knack for creativity, Haley interned with Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design in their New York City office in the summer of 2010.
Haley is involved with many activities and organizations at school, including Penn State’s chapter of the Illuminating Engineering Society. Because of her passion for light and lighting design, she was selected as a 2010-2011 Ambassador for Project CANDLE Outreach, whose goal is to educate high school students on the lighting design profession. Haley was chosen as a Mentor for the Women in Engineering Program (WEP) for three years and was selected as the 2010 Resource Innovations Lead for the program’s 3-day orientation (WEPO). As the Resource Innovations Lead, Haley coordinated an Engineering Activities Fair for Engineering clubs to recruit underclassmen at Penn State, and innovated and managed a professional Networking Reception for over 300 guests. Haley currently holds the position of Historian for the Student Society of Architectural Engineers (SSAE), the Penn State Chapter of the Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI). As Historian, she is officiating the completion of the first professionally designed AE Yearbook for the 2011 AE graduates. Haley was also nominated by one of the AE faculty to be an AE Academic Envoy as a third year student, and continues to fulfill her role as an Envoy during recruiting events throughout each semester.