Drexel faculty mentor: James E. Mitchell, AIA, M.S., M.Arch

Audrey Ryan (BS/MS '15, Honors) graduated from Drexel in 2015 with a joint BS in Architectural Engineering and MS in Civil Engineering, both with a structural concentration. She has also taken courses in engineering technology at Delaware Technical Community College and studied civil engineering at the National University of Ireland, Galway. At Drexel, Audrey worked under the guidance of Dr. James Mitchell, and was involved in a range of research projects, including finite element modeling for infrared non-destructive testing of structure (advisor: Dr Ivan Bartoli) and daylighting optimization for existing buildings (advisor: Dr. Eugenia Ellis). Audrey is also the engineering lead of a student-run startup that develops sustainable household systems.

In 2015, Audrey received a SOM Foundation Structural Engineering Travel Fellowship to study bioinspiration in structural architecture and design. Audrey notes that in few domains are form and function so inextricably linked as they are in structural design, and nowhere is the relationship between the two so elegantly balanced as in nature. As a SOM fellow, Audrey traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, and Australia / New Zealand to examine a variety of building and bridge structural systems, and to assess in each the characteristics of structural aesthetics, economic practicality, and environmental sustainability to determine how these characteristics contribute to a design which functions cohesively with nature. Learn more about her project and read her final report on the SOM website.

Audrey was awarded a 2016-17 Fulbright Study/Research Grant to work on a large-scale green design project in Copenhagen, Denmark. Audrey's proposed project will map the energy ecosystem of EnergyLab Nordhavn - a collaborative "living energy lab" in Copenhagen - drawing on the emerging field of biomimicry and Denmark's natural resources to develop novel solutions to integrate renewable energy into urban infrastructure and planning. 

Audrey plans a career in architectural engineering, with long-term career aspirations focused on bridging aesthetic integrity with sustainable technology in the building industry.