Hello there! My name is Layal Barakat, and I’m a senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) studying Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Design. I am interested in the intersection between engineering and art, or in other words, where functionality meets aesthetics. I am also very passionate about helping people, and believe that good design can bring communities together and help us overcome our differences.
I grew up in a family of five, with my parents and two younger sisters in Temple Terrace, FL, a suburb just outside Tampa. My father was a doer: he taught himself most of what he knows and the rest came from experience. He has been his own boss his entire life, and he inspires me in that way. A place like MIT really feels like home because of the way my parents brought me up: with unbridled curiosity and a space to explore nearly anything I could have dreamed.
Follow me as I learn new skills and make new things over the next few years!
Layal's Portfolio 