Alumna Spotlight: 2026 graduate
Alena MacDonald links Art and Engineering 

Story by Visual Arts major Amalia Barefoot

Science and engineering, often labeled “left-brained” concepts, contrast with the “right-brained” creation of artwork. However, for recent Dreyfoos graduate Alena MacDonald, this juxtaposition of arts and logistics is not an unusual pair.

While Alena is pursuing environmental engineering, she credits Dreyfoos for giving her the tools to solve problems creatively. As an artist, Alena brings a unique perspective from her arts education. For example, tactile sculpture-making classes help her look at problems three-dimensionally, an applicable engineering skill.

“When you're working on a project, you need to envision how it will fit in a space,” Alena explains. “Coming from art, you're constantly thinking about how things work together, how the composition is going to fit. It’s a lot more intuitive from a creative standpoint.”

Alena says this line of thinking carried into her 2026 SECMI bridge-building competition.

"The competition took a lot of the sculptural aspects that I knew I already liked and put them in a more scientific area," she said. "Building and designing a bridge is very sculptural in nature."

Alena also participated in the SECMI generator competition and took science courses including AP Environmental Science, where she met like-minded peers who shared a passion for STEM.

Outside of Dreyfoos, Alena interned at Advanced Energy Group, a company working to develop an arts district in downtown Ann Arbor.

“I was going to meetings and learning a lot about the renewable aspects of the project,” Alena recalls. “They have a whole geothermal field that they're trying to put in underneath.”

Alena also worked the front desk of the company’s gallery, getting to know various artists.

An artist herself, Alena designed a piece titled Dreamland in her printmaking class. The artwork was made by reduction block printing– a process of layering different prints and colors. The prestigious Norton Museum of Art selected Dreamland out of a pool of approximately 200 applicants for their surrealism show.

“It took a lot of planning because I had to figure out how everything was going to stack on top of each other and how I was going to carve it out,” Alena acknowledged. “The piece was kind of doodly and funky. It was fun to lean into that wackiness.”

When she’s not leaning into art and STEM, she serves as an NHS Officer, coordinating blood drives. Convincing classmates to conquer their needle fears and donate blood was no easy feat, but it brought her Dreyfoos family together.

“Seeing everybody give back to neighboring communities and hospitals was really important to me,” Alena explains. “Even if they were reluctant to do it, they got there in the end. Going into college, that's something I'm looking for: the willingness to step out of your comfort zone to help people and to get involved with the environment around you.”

This fall, she will be attending Michigan State University’s Honors College. Michigan State is one of the greenest colleges in America, featuring over 20,000 trees. The university’s dedication to sustainability- whether that be their solar canopies or attempts to hit carbon neutral– is the best fit for a burgeoning environmental engineer. And all those trees? They’re the perfect backdrop for a little artistic inspiration.