Tena Pettit is a 5th year Architectural Engineering student focusing in the Lighting & Electrical option.  She will graduate in May 2018 with an Integrated Bachelor & Master of Architectural Engineering.  Tena studied abroad in Rome, Italy at the Pantheon Institute, where she earned credits towards her Architectural Studies minor. 

Tena’s extracurricular activities define her, especially her involvement with Global Brigades.  Global Brigades is the largest student run global health and sustainable development organization - she has traveled to Nicaragua and Honduras four times with the organization.  She is the president of Build Brigades, the local initiatives chapter of Global Brigades as well.  Tena is determined to integrate her AE background with her passion for holistic, sustainable design during her career.  An avid runner, Tena has been a member of Penn State Club Cross Country and has completed three marathons.  Tena plays the violin and was a member of the Campus Orchestra for three years.

This past summer, Tena interned with Horton Lees Brogden Lighting Design in Los Angeles, California.  After her second and third years, Tena interned at EwingCole in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Tena received Honorable Mention in the 2017 Howard Brandston National Student Design Competition, was part of the 1st place final design team for Collaborative Architecture Studio in 2017, and was third place finisher in the AL 30th Anniversary Student Design Competition with Acuity Lighting in 2016.  She was the recipient of the 2017 IES Philadelphia Section Scholarship and the 2016 H.O. Smith Memorial Scholarship.     

If you can’t find Tena in the AE studio, out on a run, you can find her enjoying food and laughs with her incredible support system of family and friends.