Alumni

Christina Castillo | 2011-2018

Christina earned her bachelors and masters. She majored in applied mathematics and minored in math and science education and history. She's used this degree to be a department head and teacher in the Chicago Public Schools System. During her time at Illinois Tech, she was a director in A Cappella and held positions in the sorority, Alpha Sigma Alpha. For her service abroad trip, Christina went to Australia! She continued her acts of service by taking some of her students to see the world and going to Costa Rica.

Peter Chinetti | 2012-2016

Peter currently lives in Hong Kong, China, utilizing his computer engineering degree as a securities associate at Goldman Sachs, an investment banking company. At Illinois Tech, he was involved in IIT robotics and the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. Robotics is where one of his favorite college memories occured, which is working through the night to get the pumpkin launcher ready which ended up winning the longest throw the next day. Peter high encourages future and current students to get involved with campus organizations because it's the best way to make new friends. During his service abroad trip in Australia, he attended a leadership conference.

Jonathan Hui | 2012-2016

Jonathan graduated with a civil engineering degree and currently works at STV Incorporated, a private, employee-owned corporation specializing in engineering, architecture, planning and construction management services, as an engineering specialist. He joined a major related organization, American Society of Civil Engineers, and was also treasurer of IIT Alternative Spring Break. During his service abroad trip in 2013, he went to Rome, Pisa, and Florence, Italy to study Etruscan archaeology. He's moved from Mesa, AZ to Jacksonville, FL.

Gina Qualter | 2012 - 2017

Gina did the Co-Terminal program that Illinois Tech offers to obtain her bachelors and masters in molecular biology, and she also got a minor is psychology. She current is pursuing a PhD in cancer biology at Illinois Tech and pursing a JD at Chicago-Kent through the PhD/JD joint program. During her time at school she was involved in student government, Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority, MEDLIFE, American Medical Student Association, and Society of Biological Sciences. During her summer trip in 2013 with her fellow Duchossois scholars, Gina toured Roma, Pisa, Florence, and Tuscany where the group spent time working on an archaeological dig excavating an Estrusan tomb. Another amazing trip Gina went on was with the MEDLIFE group to Quito, Ecuador in summer 2015. She says that she still carries the lessons and experiences from this trip and made life long friends, some of which will be standing at her wedding which will take place on September 4, 2021! Her advice for future students is as follows: "Don't be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone. Ask hard questions and meet new people. Always try to learn from those who have different experiences than you." Lastly, here's her takeaway on being a Duchossois scholar: "Being a DLS Scholar was a formative experience. I was able to form lifelong friendships with the other scholars, learn important leadership skills, and become comfortable with stepping out of my comfort zone. The program taught me how to work with professionals outside of my area of expertise and how to effectively engage with team members. My favorite memories in the program were the yearly team building outings that we would go on and our dinner with Mr. Duchossois!"

Maria Warren | 2013-2017

Maria earned her civil engineering degree from IIT and is currently at Georgia Tech earning her PhD. In the past, she's worked as an intern at Zodiac Aerospace, Pennoni, and Thornton Tomasetti and did research with a professor at École Polytechnique. Her 2014 summer trip was in the United Kingdom where she did an archaeological dig. At IIT, Maria was on the soccer team and holding positions on the Union Board and the Structural Engineer of Illinois Student Chapter. She also designed the student ID cards her freshman year. A funny memory from her time as a college student, was when her and her friends tried to fix her broken desk lamp with some chop sticks and they tripped the circuit breaker and the entire dorm floor lost electricity. Hopefully there was an electrical engineering major on hand! She advises future students to discuss future plans with advisers, even if they aren't in your field.

Ayun Brown | 2013-2018

Ayun graduated with an electrical engineering degree and works as an associate engineer at ComEd. During Ayun's time at IIT, he was a part of Cru and A Capella. Performing in the concerts is one of his favorite memories from college. In the summer of 2014, he went to England and participated with Earthwatch in the Roman Fort Dig. Some exciting things in Ayun's life is that he got married in June 2018, purchased a home in June 2019, and was in Wrigleyville when the Cubs won the world series! He advises students to "be confident in your abilities and be willing and ready to learn and ask questions. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so take things one day at a time and focus on small goals that help you reach your larger ones."

Sunny Shah | 2014-2019

Sunny graduated with a psychology degree and worked at the Exelon Summer Institute as a communications team leader. At IIT, he was in the collegiate entrepreneur's organization. Sunny has volunteered numerous times such as during his 2015 summer abroad trip, he volunteered at a disability home in Sri Lanka. Also, one of his favorite college memories is when he went downtown after a hackathon to give away the extra food from the event. His advice to students is: "Frequently ask yourself where you want to be after graduating and constantly reverse engineer how you can get there. Be honest with yourself about what you really want, anything's possible."

Liza McQueney | 2015-2019

Liza has lived all over, from growing up in Gretna, Nebraska, to attending IIT in Chicago, IL, to currently living in Manchester, UK, and will live in San Francisco, CA to work as an acoustic consultant. She graduated in Spring 2019 with a BS in mechanical engineering and a minor in music from VanderCook College of Music. She is currently at the University of Salford to pursue a Master's in Environmental Acoustics. While she was at Illinois Tech, she did the WIIT radio station, undergraduate research, and Tau Beta Pi. She repainted a Buddhist temple during her summer volunteer trip to Sri Lanka. Liza's advice to students is to take care of yourself so you can show up as your best self for studies and extracurriculars. She learned that what she needed in college was a sense of full fulfillment that can only come by listening to yourself and your body and prioritizing things like sleeping, eating well, drinking water, spending time with those you love, and doing things that bring you joy even if they serve no academic or career-related purpose. She is especially grateful to be a scholar because of the support from her fellow scholars and professors. Because she's been exposed to people of different disciplines, stages of life, leadership styles, backgrounds, and ambitions, her educational experience was enriched.

Sunny Shah | 2014-2019

Sunny graduated with a psychology degree and worked at the Exelon Summer Institute as a communications team leader. At IIT, he was in the collegiate entrepreneur's organization. Sunny has volunteered numerous times such as during his 2015 summer abroad trip, he volunteered at a disability home in Sri Lanka. Also, one of his favorite college memories is when he went downtown after a hackathon to give away the extra food from the event. His advice to students is: "Frequently ask yourself where you want to be after graduating and constantly reverse engineer how you can get there. Be honest with yourself about what you really want, anything's possible."

Liza McQueney | 2015-2019

Liza has lived all over, from growing up in Gretna, Nebraska, to attending IIT in Chicago, IL, to currently living in Manchester, UK, and will live in San Francisco, CA to work as an acoustic consultant. She graduated in Spring 2019 with a BS in mechanical engineering and a minor in music from VanderCook College of Music. She is currently at the University of Salford to pursue a Master's in Environmental Acoustics. While she was at Illinois Tech, she did the WIIT radio station, undergraduate research, and Tau Beta Pi. She repainted a Buddhist temple during her summer volunteer trip to Sri Lanka. Liza's advice to students is to take care of yourself so you can show up as your best self for studies and extracurriculars. She learned that what she needed in college was a sense of full fulfillment that can only come by listening to yourself and your body and prioritizing things like sleeping, eating well, drinking water, spending time with those you love, and doing things that bring you joy even if they serve no academic or career-related purpose. She is especially grateful to be a scholar because of the support from her fellow scholars and professors. Because she's been exposed to people of different disciplines, stages of life, leadership styles, backgrounds, and ambitions, her educational experience was enriched.

Molly Urbina | 2016-2020

Molly is from Pittsburg, PA and graduated at Illinois Tech with a bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Psychology. She was very involved at Illinois Tech, for she was secretary of Order of Omega, was in the sorority, Alpha Sigma Alpha, was Future Leadership Initiative Event Coordinator for Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and was VP of Philanthropy for IIT Robotics for a year. Outside of Illinois Tech, Molly was a student ambassador coordinator for FIRST Robotics Competition Midwest Regional Planning Committee, Kickoff Event Coordinator for FRC Chicago, and Robotics Mentor for FRC Team #5125 Hawks on the Horizon. In the past, she has internship experience at Deeplocal, Ford Motor Company, HEBI Robotics, and BoXZY, which helped her land a full time mechanical engineering job at Gecko Robotics in the summer. Now, she's working at IAM Robotics.

Zachary Bonson | 2016-2021

Zachary moved from Lewistown, PA to pursue a bachelors in Aerospace Engineering, a masters in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and a minor in Business. He has had influential roles during his time at Illinois Tech such as being The Shepherd Team Leader and Discipleship Leader for Cru since 2016. Also, he was president of Catholic Campus Ministries for two years. Zack has acquired a lot of engineering experience such as being a Systems Engineering Intern at Lockheed Martin, an Undergraduate AFC Researcher for IIT, and a Guest Experiences Lead Intern at Museum of Science and Industry. He greatly enjoyed his summer trip to Peru to work on construction projects and am very appreciative that he's able to attend an esteemed school for his childhood dream of Aerospace Engineering because of the funding, support, and development from the Duchossois Family.Contact: zbonson@hawk.iit.edu

Wenwen Xie | 2016-2021

Wenwen has moved to Chicago from China to pursue a bachelors and masters in Information Technology and Management, a minor in communication, and a specialization in web design and application development. She went to Peru for her summer trip in 2017 to work on a construction and renovation project. Currently, she is a quality assurance at Chowbus. Wenwen is also a part of IIT's Circle K, Chinese Students and Scholars Association, and LIFE|HACE-VAMOS, a volunteer group. Outside of IIT, she was in Asian Americans Advancing Justice and Chinese American Service League. Her favorite part about being a scholar is how "the Summer Educational Experience provides an opportunity to volunteer internationally and the Duchossois Leadership Scholars Dinner allows all the current scholars to meet with Mr.Duchossois and his families each year at the end of the spring semester."Contact: wxie11@hawk.iit.edu

Sinjin Acuna | 2017-2021

Sinjin is from Eagle River, AK and moved to Chicago to earn her BS in Chemical Engineering and ME in Environmental Engineering through the coterminal program. She's currently the captain of the Women's Varsity Volleyball Team and has experience of this role from being varisty volleyball captain during high school. Sinjin was also Class President and the Student Government Director of Activities at Chugiak High School. This upcoming summer, she's going to be a R&D Intern at Influit Energy and in the past, she spent her summer abroad trip in Costa Rica helping marine mammal conservation. Here's Sinjin's favorite part about the Duchossois Scholarship program: "My favorite part about being a Duchossois Leadership Scholar is being a part of the DLS community at Illinois Tech. My fellow scholars, professors, and the Duchossois family inspire me to work hard to achieve my academic and career goals as well as provide me with the resources to do so."Contact: sacuna@hawk.iit.edu

Henry White | 2017-2022

Henry White is a third year aerospace engineering major, with a minor in business. He's from Mosca, Colorado, where his high school graduating class was only 18 people! At IIT, Henry is the executive vice president, events chair, and senator for the Student Government Association. He also is the president and vice president of member development for the fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon. At his high school, he was the Colorado State Secretary and Chapter President for Future Business Leaders of America, was the team captain for Knowledge Bowl, and played ice hockey for four years. He has worked at Museum of Science and Industry here in Chicago as a lead intern and guest experiences intern, and in the summer of 2018 he traveled to Costa Rica to focus on Marine Mammal Conservation. Henry is glad to be a scholar because he gets to learn from his fellow scholars, whether it's internship opportunities, class advice, or life after college.Contact: hwhite8@hawk.iit.edu | 719-480-9095

Noah Reardon | 2017-2021

Noah is a third year scholar from LaGrange, IL. He is planning on graduating in December 2021 with his BS and ME in mechanical engineering, and a minor in policy and ethics. On campus, Noah applies his skills to help others as an Ideashop Student Lab Mentor, as VP of philanthropy and education for Illinois Tech Robotics, and was a founding member for the entrepreneurship club, Intinium. Outside of IIT, Noah plays a big role in robotics such as being a FIRST Robotics Midwest Regional Planning Committee Member and conducting research pertaining to applying robotics to the construction industry with Purdue University. He's looking forward to being a lead mechanical engineer and co-inventor at Construction Robotics Research and Patent Application this upcoming summer. His international experience was in Costa Rica to focus on Marine Mammal Conservation. His favorite part about being a scholar is "the ability to attend this university without worrying about college debt, and being able to talk with Mr. Duchossois and gain his unique perspectives."Contact: nreardon1@hawk.iit.edu

Ryan Crawford | 2018-2022

Ryan has moved from Portage, MI to pursue a major in Information Technology and Management, a minor in History, and is getting his masters in Cyber Forensics and Security through the coterminal program. On campus, Ryan has show his leadership through being a Hawk Ambassador and working in undergraduate admissions, is a lab mentor for the Ideashop, and is a member of the Information Technology and Management Organization. Outside of IIT, he was a lab technician at Micromyx and is apart of Illinois Technology Association. Ryan's favorite part about being a scholar is the wide array of opportunities that are presented. Contact: rcrawford@hawk.iit.edu

Grace Whitmore | 2018-2023

Grace Whitmore moved from Tulare, CA to pursue an Astrophysics and Physics major with an Applied Math minor at IIT. She has taken a promiment role on campus by being on treasurer on the Association of Women in Mathematics and on the executive board as a secretary for her sorority, Alpha Sigma Alpha. Also, she's a member of the Society of Physics Students. Grace is applying her skills to work as a Facilitator and Guest Experiences Intern at the Museum of Science and Industry. She's looking forward to turtle rehabilitation in her trip to Madagascar in 2020, and she's grateful to be a scholar for she's apart of a tight-knit group she can learn from and grow with. Contact: gwhitemore@hawk.iit.edu | 559-556-9266

Ramya Nissankula | 2019-2023

Ramya is from Carpentersville, IL and is pursuing a Biology degree on the Premed track. She is in the B.S./D.O. program and is currently Public Relations Chair for the American Medical Student Association and a member of the Medlife chapter at IIT. She is also part of the Women's Tennis Team. In high school, Ramya was president of National Honor Society, part of the Varsity Tennis Team, and on the board for the local Interact Rotary club. In addition, she was Lead Volunteer and CNA Assist at the local hospitals. As a Duchossois Scholar, Ramya loves collaborating with students from a variety of fields and ages. She learns a lot from her peers on how to be a better leader and make an impact on the people around her. Over the next four years, she is excited to interact and collaborate with the diverse student body and faculty at IIT to overcome challenges and build long term relationships. She looks forward to stepping out of her comfort zone and expanding her horizons, and is thrilled to make many memories. Contact: rnissankula@hawk.iit.edu | 224-623-7168

Not pictured: Amy Zasadzinski, Caroline Johnson, Hajra Sattar, Tiffini Tobiasson