Meet one of our capstone project success stories, Jai Huntley!
Jai started off at Hampton University with a Chemical Industry, Psychology Major, and then her mentor suggested she go into electrical engineering because she loves math and working with numbers. During her senior year, she focused on data center design for two semesters. Jai participated in the Capstone project under the guidance of Philip Marengella and Bill Kleyman. After graduation, she was offered an opportunity to work for EdgeConnex as a Data Center Design Engineer.
We asked her about her time in the industry after one year at EdgeConnex and what some highlights have been so far:
“In the beginning, I oversaw space, and now I’m in charge of space, power, cooling, and design of the data centers. My whole first year here, I was drinking from the fire hose, but I learned it’s important not to leave out the small things. I realized that you should focus on what you specialize in and grow into your title and continue to learn what it means. I entered the job like a sponge and was very open-minded. It is difficult not to feel like you need to be an expert immediately, but you have years to learn and don’t need to know everything the first day.
For all my fellow young ladies in the industry, my advice is this: Go for it.
A lot of people are discouraged from reading a job description. If you don’t think you check all the boxes or don’t feel like you don’t qualify, still go for it and apply. If I didn’t do that, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Thank you, Phil, Bill, and iMasons, for helping me succeed! “
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Jai is a participant of our Millenials and Gen-Z Committee. Bill Kleyman, the chairperson of the committee is currently looking for a new co-chair. If interested, please contact bill@imasons.org.