Lauren Van Beek, mechanical engineering major

Van Beek is from Monticello, Minnesota. She has held leadership positions on campus as section president of Society of Women Engineers, co-president of SHINE, leader of Campus Ministry and a research assistant and peer mentor for the School of Engineering.

Her greatest achievement at St. Thomas has been developing relationships with peers. Van Beek said getting involved in SHINE helped her reprioritize and create a better balance in her life where she can more authentically love and care for the people around her.

Some of her favorite memories during college have been her experiences abroad. Van Beek has studied abroad over two J-terms in Hawaii and Guatemala and will be studying abroad in England and Scotland this January. One of her goals for the future is to travel through Central and South America.

Van Beek is passionate about engineering, making the world a more socially just place and getting women involved in STEM disciplines. In the future, she wants to get her Ph.D. in engineering and create engineering solutions for developing areas of the world.

Some of her other aspirations are to mentor young female engineers, be a foster parent, open a gluten- and dairy-free coffee shop and bakery and lead young adults on mission trips about the Gospel, engineering and global issues.

Claire Noack can be reached at noac8702@stthomas.edu.