My name is Daniela Najmias Lang and I’m a rising Junior from San Jose, Costa Rica.
I envision myself as an innovator with a passion for solving social and environmental problems. I’ve always enjoyed mixing different disciplines and finding novel approaches to problem-solving, hence leading to me constantly researching on multiple disciplines, seek expert advice, and try innovative approaches to problem solving to accomplish my goals.
I’ve always been especially passionate about solving social and environmental problems, which led me during high school and before college to participate in several national and international competitions in areas including technological innovation and social entrepreneurship. Therefore, leading to me majoring in Bioengineering and are looking to major in Entrepreneurship, and/or Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences.
Now at Rice, I have continued working on my innovation and entrepreneurship ventures, having participated in the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie) Change Maker Summit, the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen Showcase, the Medical Innovation Bootcamp, and the International Summer experience in Engineering Design in Paris, France and now in Amsterdam.
All these opportunities have sparked a strong interest in engineering innovation, which have allowed me to have relevant experience in electronics, solar energy, electric engineering, mechanics, material science, programming and computer science, composting, biochemistry, molecular biology, biochemical engineering, app development, product development, and entrepreneurship, which I have applied for solving social and environmental problems. It has also allowed me to gain technical knowledge, having had the opportunity to build several working prototypes and code in different languages.
I chose this program as I envision this as an opportunity to further enhance my innovation, design, and engineering experience, meeting likeminded students interested in engineering innovations, and hearing first handedly from experts in the field. In addition, I see this as an opportunity to travel and visit a country that I had never been to before and a way to get a new language skill along the way, especially as a European citizen who has not lived in Europe.
