#WCW with Laura Fuentes-Dominguez
🔬
👩🏽🔬
Laura Fuentes-Dominguez is a biomedical engineer. After the 1999 earthquake in Colombia, Laura and her family became involved in volunteering in citywide recovery efforts over the years throughout reconstruction. Laura’s experience with the earthquake and volunteering afterwards influenced her decision to become an engineer, hoping that it would be a way she could continue helping others the same way that people had helped her.
🔬👩🏽🔬
Laura’s middle and high schools had high rates of dropout, along with prevalent violence, drugs, and teen pregnancy. Although the opportunities to pursue engineering may not have been as easily accessed, Laura was motivated and determined to help others through biomedical engineering. With the help of scholarships and grants, and qualified for programs like the Longhorn Scholars Programat the The University of Texas at Austin where she attended. Laura’s support at the University of Texas helped her succeed and connect with others like her in the field.