Michael Mercier/UAH
The Co-Op Student of the Year award is presented by the Office of Career Services and recognizes an outstanding student who has excelled in their co-op rotations, in the classroom, and across campus.
Rosemary Cortelli is the winner of the 2020-2021 Co-Op Student of the year award. Rosie graduates this semester with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She is also a part of the JUMP program and is currently pursuing her MSE in Industrial and Systems Engineering.
During her time at UAH, Rosie has worked as a UX Research and Design Intern at Northrop Grumman and as a Systems Engineering Co-Op at Dynetics since May 2019. In addition to her work experience, Rosie has served as an Ambassador for the College of Engineering and on the Dance Marathon Team. She is a member of the Honors College, Delta Zeta Sorority, the Society of Women Engineers and has been a part of the Student Government Association at UAH as well. Rosie has successfully balanced her double majors, work commitments, and extracurricular activities, maintaining a nearly perfect GPA in both her undergraduate and graduate coursework.
At Dynetics, Rosie works on a team of three systems engineers supporting a major technical program. In particular, Rosie supports the Model-based systems engineering effort for the program, which is a major focus for the department and the company. Rosie’s supervisor described her as a leader in their department-despite her relative overall experience to her colleagues. Rosie was also ranked as outstanding in every category of her evaluation and her supervisor had no recommendations for improvement.
Rosie said her favorite thing about her co-op has been the hands-on, real world experience in industry using and expanding upon the things I've learned in classes. "I loved that I contributed meaningful work to the programs I was put on, there was no 'busy' or filler-type work. I've gained a much better understanding of national defense programs and how my discipline contributes to them. I have a lot to attribute to my amazing mentors who made me feel welcomed, helped to introduce me to the world of industry, and still continue to guide me to be the best systems engineer I can be," Rosie said.
Rosie has already been hired by Dynetics to begin working Full-Time after the completion of her undergraduate degree. She will be simultaneously pursuing a Masters in Systems Engineering and hopes to expand her knowledge and experience working in the human factors discipline of engineering programs.
She encourages students pursuing experiential learning experiences to keep an updated resume, learn and practice on presenting themselves professionally to potential employers (elevator pitch, interviewing, etc.), and to network. "Being a great communicator will literally take you leaps and bounds beyond just having a good GPA," Rosie said.
Congratulations Rosie!
