UA Little Rock Grad Lands Dream Job in Aerospace Engineering

Haley Burt's dreams have always extended beyond Earth, and now the graduating senior from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock will have the opportunity to use her engineering skills in a job that is out of this world.

Burt, a native of Vilonia, will graduate May 11 with a bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering. The successful student has already received nine job offers from across the country, and she has chosen one that will fulfill her childhood dreams.

"I will be taking a job as an electrical engineer with Jacobs Engineering Group at Cape Canaveral in Florida working on NASA's Artemis program," Burt said. "Jacobs is a private company contracted to provide engineering solutions for NASA."

The historic nature of Artemis's mission to return people to the moon, including the first woman and first person of color, is what drew Burt's interest to working for Jacobs.

"The whole goal of Artemis is to serve as a stepping stone to travel to Mars and to expand space exploration," Burt said. "My whole goal has always been to work with NASA. I found out that Jacobs was associated with NASA, so I went to their website and applied to every electrical engineering job they had open. It took some deep diving, but it has definitely paid off."

After getting her associate degree from Arkansas State University-Beebe, Burt transferred to UA Little Rock in 2021, where she blossomed in campus leadership roles.

"At ASU, I went to class and went home. There was no campus involvement," Burt said. "With UA Little Rock, I started to make friends when I joined Kappa Delta. I went from having no friends to having 15 best friends really quickly and from spending little time on campus to spending almost every minute on campus. My time has been so fulfilling. I've put a lot into making these connections at UA Little Rock."

Burt went on to serve as president of Kappa Delta as well as founding president of the university's student chapter of the Electrical League of Arkansas, which became a registered student organization during the 2022-23 school year. She was named the Sorority Woman of the Year for her service during the Trojan Student Awards.

Additionally, Burt has accomplished all of this while working two part-time jobs at Associated Builders and Contractors of Arkansas in North Little Rock and Saltgrass Steak House in Sherwood.

"I'd say the thing that saved me the most is my Google Calendar," she said. "I probably won't be able to live without it. I don't know what I am going to do without Sub Connections in the EIT Building. I go there so often that they know my order by heart, and I don't know what I will do without it in my life."

She is thankful to Carla Griffin, student development specialist in the Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, and engineering professors Kamran Iqbal, Seshadri Mohan, and Hussain Al-Rizzo for helping her complete her college education.

"Carla Griffin is so great and made the transfer experience so seamless and smooth," Burt said. "My electrical and computer engineering professors have made us into the engineers we are going to be. I honestly could not have done it without them."

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