Speaking in January just two terms from graduating, Saryah Azmat ’11, a double major in biomedical engineering and engineering sciences from Pakistan, says, “I still can’t believe I’m at Dartmouth.”

One of four children growing up in Islamabad, Azmat lost her father to cancer when she was 11 years old. “I’ve always been a hard worker, and education was very important to my father,” she says. When Azmat was accepted to a United World College (UWC) international program for her last two years of high school “it changed my life,” she says. ...

On campus, Azmat has served as an undergraduate advisor for the past two years. She expanded a program for international students to meet local families, and she heads up the student chapter of the IEEE engineering association at Thayer School of Engineering. She speaks frequently at campus events about topics such as the UWC, academic advising, and diversity.

Azmat is currently taking four engineering courses and working on a senior honors thesis on pancreatic cancer. She plans to complete her BE in biomedical engineering in four years, rather than the standard five. With her sights set on helping to develop innovations in engineering and medicine, her next step is the business world, possibly in biotechnology. “In order to make a system work, you have to understand all aspects of it,” she says.