• Laura Boyle '09
• Robert Cayer '09
• Danielle McDonough '10
• Aaron Trahan '10
• Jeffrey Montes '10

Student Spotlights

Laura Boyle '09

The recipient of a 2009 Outstanding Co-op Award is Laura Boyle. Laura Boyle is a student who constantly seeks unique opportunities in her field. Laura's first co-op was with Elkus Manfredi Architects, a large Boston firm that specializes in large scale mixed use projects. Elkus seldom hires anyone without previous firm experience, but Laura was able to get an interview and impressed the hiring manager enough that they made an exception for her. She worked on design development in a large mixed-use project in Phoenix, design development for renovations to a professional sports arena and did schematic design for a residential project in Massachusetts. Read more about Laura's experience.

Robert Cayer '09

Rob Cayer is a fourth year architect student whose curiosity lies in looking beyond the norms of the architectural practice taught in school. Rob came to Northeastern with an accidental interest in architecture that started with a drafting class that he took in high school. He chose Northeastern because of the city of Boston, the new upstart architecture program, and the co-op experience. Rob is an intelligent designer who often looks beyond the appearance and functionality of the building to take into consideration the finer point of architecture. Rob incorporates views from the owner's perspective, and also the client's perspective when conducting his studio drawings Read more about Robert's experience.

Danielle McDonough '10

Danielle is a fourth-year architecture student who is active in several aspects of design and architecture communities. Currently studying abroad for the Fall semester of 2008, Danielle is building her knowledge of global architecture practices in order to understand the future of the the architecture profession on a global scale. Read more about Danielle's experience.

Aaron Trahan '10

Aaron is currently going into his fifth year at Northeastern, pursuing knowledge in the environmental design field. Currently working on his third internship at Housing Nantucket, Aaron has been given the opportunity to be the lead designer of six small residential projects that each hope to achieve high levels of LEED certification, with one particular home projected to be at a net-zero energy use. Opportunities such as this continue to contribute to his goal of understanding the complexity and importance of sustainable design. Read more about Aaron's experience.

Jeffrey Montes '10

Jeffrey Montes is a Candidate for the Bachelor of Science Degree in Architecture with a Minor in Philosophy. Coming off of valuable experiences in large, hierarchical firms as well as small conceptual offices, Jeffrey has grown to appreciate office environments, saying "few things are more fun than designing with someone with which there's mutual respect". The co-op experience is full of opportunities to discuss, design, and hone your areas of greatest interest. Jeffrey is especially interested in design-fabrication practices where he can exercise his building skills like his design skills. "The work I've been doing has been unpredictable and challenging. I feel like I can design anything well". His interests and experience cover various scales and disciplines of which he is constantly a student.Read more about Jeffrey's experience.