"I like looking at problems and then finding solutions. Engineering gives you the technical and analytical knowledge you need to do that."

By the end of her first year on campus, Kennedy signed up for the Grand Challenges Scholars Program to put her passions into practice. With mentorship from esteemed faculty, Grand Challenges Scholars engage in multidisciplinary and multicultural research while incorporating the four grand challenges themes of sustainability, health, security and social access into their college careers. At the recommendation of Brad Putman, Richard E. Garman Dean of the College of Engineering, Kennedy enrolled in a global engineering course and set her sights on discovering sustainable solutions to some of society's most pressing problems.

Brennah Kennedy '26 works with a Solar Pathfinder on an outside lawn. Photo by James T. Giffen, Marketing & Communications

"I worked on a specific project that focused on producing energy from pavements with piezoelectric technology, which is a technology that you insert into pavement that produces power from the mechanical stresses of vehicles driving over the pavement," says Kennedy, who, alongside Putman, participated in a virtual exchange course with students and faculty from An-Najah University in Nablus, Palestine. "My goal in pursuing this theme is to promote the development of new, alternative energy sources and promote more access to energy in rural and underdeveloped areas."

Collaborating with students from different cultural backgrounds allowed Kennedy the opportunity to learn about the importance of empathy and compassion in the field of engineering, while her internship in the Office of Campus Sustainability taught her how to apply lessons from the lab at home. Following her sophomore year, she secured a position as a student researcher in Vanderbilt's Nanoscale Transport Phenomena Laboratory, where she focused on energy transport, heat transfer and nanomaterials that have specific applications for sustainable design.

If there's one thing Kennedy has learned from her time at Bucknell, it's that she's a problem-solver. "I like looking at problems and then finding solutions," she says. "Engineering gives you the technical and analytical knowledge you need to do that." Her minor in environmental studies and sciences has also given her a "holistic approach" to sustainability. "The liberal arts aspect of environmental studies and sciences has shifted what I want to do with my degree as an engineer," she says. "Of course, what I will be doing will be geared towards helping the environment, but I also want to focus on the communities that need it the most."