George Giannos
Environmental Studies, 2017
My overall experience at SCU has been incredible. I transferred to SCU at the start of my sophomore year and it was the best decision I have ever made. My first day in California was my first day at Santa Clara University and I could not have gotten luckier. I have made incredible friends, excellent connections with professors and industry professionals and loved my Environmental Studies curriculum. I am hoping to take what I have learned at Santa Clara and eventually start a green building company that constructs "off-the-grid" beach homes all around the Caribbean.
The main project I have worked on while studying at SCU has been the rEvolve House, which is a 238 square foot tiny house. We designed and built a fully functional, off-grid home on wheels for the October 2016 Tiny House Competition in Sacramento, California. We came in first place overall at the competition and won multiple other awards for the house. I served as the construction manager for the project. I was responsible for the design and construction of the home. My favorite part of ESS is being surrounded by classmates who think similarly to me about sustainability and environmental issues. It is always nice to be able to converse on just about any environmental topic and to learn something new during each conversation. I also have really enjoyed getting to know some of the faculty from the department. I look at many of them as mentors for not only my classes but for my future. After graduation, I am going to be working for a construction consulting firm called MPM. I am going to be a project manager for the company and will be working at Santa Clara University 2-3 days a week on a multitude of projects at the university.