Griffin Laihinen
2023 Udall Scholar
Hometown
Lakeville, Minnesota
Major
Environmental and Ecological Engineering
College
College of Engineering
Griffin Laihinen has what the Udall Foundation calls, “the Mo factor,” an intrinsic quality that Udall scholars are known for going the extra step to motivate others, benefit communities, and continue on this professional path. Well before his professors noticed his performance in the classroom, Griffin knew that he wanted to be a part of Purdue’s Environmental and Ecological Engineering. Almost in spite of growing up in a metropolitan area absent a connection to anything that he consumed, Griffin pursued from a young age this curiosity for how we use natural resources.
At Purdue, Griffin found a particularly meaningful leadership role quite unexpectedly by pursuing the opportunity to engage in the Purdue Student Engineering Foundation (PSEF). In fact, he honed his communication skills and leadership abilities while he gave one-on-one facilities tours during Covid restrictions. What advice would Griffin give to future engineering students at Purdue? He emphasizes two areas in particular: communication skills and leadership.
Encouraging students to do the same kind of soul-searching that he did during the reflective scholarship application process, Griffin notes that you have to know how you want to lead others by understanding your beliefs and values. And then, you must have the ability to communicate your ideas to others to make an impact. “If you, as an engineer, have no ability to adequately communicate your ideas to people,” Griffin says, “you will have no chance to influence them in the way that you want to.”
Underscoring the untapped leadership potential of engineering students, he notes that he was one of just four engineering students among a total of 55 Udall Scholars in 2023. In addition to his leadership role as a teaching assistant in Environmental and Ecological Engineering, his motivation to lead is revealed in his pursuit of not one but a series of three courses to complete a Certificate in Collaborative Leadership through the College of Education.
Griffin enjoys learning in as many contexts as possible, which explains why he worked on projects across industries and even around the world while he was at Purdue. Through multiple internships and public service, Griffin demonstrated his commitment to solving environmental problems by going to where communities face urban food deserts in Indiana, airborne carcinogen exposure in and around an adhesives factory in Southern California, and a burdened ecosystem without the water resources to feed millions in India.
After graduation he continues on this path as a Water Resource Engineer at a consulting firm that has a history of projects with public engagement in Minneapolis, Minnesota.