My name is Layla Araiinejad, and I was born and raised here in Montgomery. I am a product of the Montgomery Public Schools system, completing my K-12 education through the magnet program and graduating from LAMP high school in 2018. This past spring, I graduated summa cum laude from Auburn University with a Bachelor of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and this fall I have begun a master’s degree in technology and policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

 

From a young age, I had an inventive mindset and was fascinated with the idea of becoming an inventor and working with inventions. Years later, I translated my childhood dream of becoming an inventor to becoming an engineer. I have always been a people-person, and I found an avenue for supporting people through industrial systems and engineering, working alongside emerging technologies and policies that are made to help working people. Also, inspired by my late grandfather, an impactful patent attorney, I hope to ultimately work in tech law or intellectual property law.

 

During my time at Auburn, I was involved with a variety of organizations on campus. I was a peer-instructor and peer-leader for the First-Year Experience Office. I was a student author for the textbook used in the course that I peer-instructed where I had my Voice of Experience published. Within the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, I was a peer-leader and organized and led success seminars. Additionally, I was president of Tau Beta Pi (an engineering honor society). I was honored with several awards during my time at Auburn, including being one of two Tim Cook Scholars for 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.

 

During the summers, I pursued research opportunities because I wanted to create and publish my own original research. By the age of 20, I had published my first paper, and since then, I have presented my research at several conferences and worked in various academic communities.

 

My involvement, experiences, coursework, and research are what have me encouraged me to pursue leadership, and I am excited for my new chapter at MIT.

 

I am grateful to my parents, Foad Araiinejad and Safa Motallebi, for all their support, especially my father who always believed in me and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. From an early age, they taught me that I could do anything I put my mind to. Thus, I learned to embrace challenges and not fear obstacles. Hard work, a positive attitude, and treating my failures as an opportunity to learn and grow have been the key to my success.