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. She was elected to sit on the American Institute of Architecture Students Board of Directors as the Northeast Quadrant Director during the 2007-2008 year. During her term, she helped organize several conferences including one in Brooklyn hosted by Pratt Institute and one in Philadelphia hosted by Philadelphia University. She was also the student member of a NCARB Accreditation team for the University of Arkansas this past February.

CO-OP ASSIGNMENTS: Danielle's first co-op was at TRO Jung Brannen in Newton, MA where she helped the design teams in both schematic design phases and design development. This internship allowed Danielle the opportunity to understand the way a large firm interacted externally with clients but also within itself in the design teams. She also realized how important communication was to a susuccessful design.

After finishing on Co-op in the Boston area, Danielle chose to pursue a job across in the Northwest. She recently completed her second co-op at Mahlum Architects in Seattle, Washington. Here she was able to work not only with the Mahlum teams but also get actively involved with a local daylighting lab to test the effects of certain designs and their sustainable aspects. The ability to measure and record how the design decisions the team made affected the sustainability of the project hit a chord with Danielle, who is now in the process of studying to become LEED certified. Combined, these two co-ops have given Danielle the opportunity to work on several phases of a project from Master Planning, to Schematic Design all the way to Construction Documents.

FUTURE PLANS AND GOALS: From a local firm to a firm on the other side of the United States, Danielle has traveled far in both distance and in personal knowledge. She hopes to continue this education by completing a co-op internationally or in another US city after her study-abroad in Rome. She is very interested in continuing on a path that will better society and in doing so hopefully educate the public about the importance of architecture in their lives.