Student Experience

This Hoo helps others take full advantage of University life

Zachary Palazzotto leans into all the University of Virginia has to offer and is working to make it easier for others to lean as well.

Palazzotto, from Long Island, New York, is a rising fourth-year student majoring in biomedical engineering. In his fourth year, he will lead the University’s second-largest undergraduate school, as president of the Engineering Student Council.

“I've always really thrown myself at everything that the school has to offer,” he said. "I was the first person from my high school to attend UVA, so I’ve always done my best to explore and take advantage of every opportunity a school like this would have and have never regretted it.”

He began his lean early. Two weeks into his first year, he got an email advising that the Engineering Student Council was searching for their first-year chair, and he applied, later getting the position. As chair, he planned celebrations for students who selected their majors and arranged networking events with upperclassmen.

In his second year, he was appointed the social chair of the Engineering Student Council, planning an alumni speaker series in the Rotunda, a back-to-school bash and other events to bring the community together.

“People always see engineers as the introverts, but I’ve prided myself on being the extroverted engineer and creating those spaces where engineers can have conversations outside of the classroom and become real people,” he laughed.

Palazzotto, a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, also joined the Inter-Fraternity Council, serving as the public relations and community outreach chair.

Later, as treasurer of the Engineering Student Council, he found himself responsible for “a lot of critical funds” and found ways to use those to create travel opportunities for students.

Portrait of Zachary Palazzotto with his mother

Palazzotto moves into his Lawn room. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

It was needed. Three years ago, a travel fund in the dean’s office was depleted, leaving the Engineering School with just $3,000 to support student travel each semester. Previously, students had been able to receive a few thousand dollars from the fund to attend research conferences and book lodging and travel.

“That was a really large critical gap I wanted to address during my term as treasurer,” Palazzotto said. “So, I completely restructured our budget, made an entire line of merchandise that sold out, and gave that money directly back to students in the form of a travel and activities fund and scholarships.”

He was also able to boost the annual travel budget to $20,000. In his time as president, he said he plans to increase this fund even further.

Palazzotto has also worked to make science education more accessible by collaborating with the UVA School of Education and Human Development to create an accessible microscope for classroom learning and volunteering at Buford Middle School.

In his second year, he dedicated a significant amount of time to developing the low-cost computer-interfaced microscope. This piece of technology costs under $350, compared to its $10,000 counterpart, enabling low-income school districts to advance their STEM education.

He has also built an impressive resume. In his first year, he interned for the Department of Energy’s National Lab System, working alongside several doctoral candidates.

“I had a really great experience learning about how government-funded research works,” he said. “I also learned that technical lab work wasn’t the path for me.”

Discovery and Innovation: Daily research. Life-changing results.

The next summer, Palazzotto worked at the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation in “a very public health-focused role, working on engaging patient advisory committees and writing standard operating procedures on how the foundation could perform.”

This summer, he’s interned at Merck, a pharmaceutical company, ensuring that drugs meet the regulatory standards to be sold in Europe.

“Later in my career, I anticipate making my way back into clinical trials – once I have enough experience seeing how drugs are developed in the front end, so that I could design those studies in the back end – ensuring that diverse patient perspectives and the patient voice are included in the knowledge of ways,” he said.

Following his graduation in May, Palazzotto plans to begin his career at Merck’s Manufacturing Leadership Development Program. This program, Merck’s flagship development program, recruits students with extensive leadership experience.

Palazzotto will complete three one-year rotations in the U.S. and at international sites in pharmaceutical engineering, operations and quality.

Palazzotto can be found living in the Academical Village on UVA’s Lawn, or in his weekly office hours that he hosts for engineering students. He encouraged engineers to attend the Engineering Expo, where UVA organizations publicize themselves to new and returning engineering students, on Aug. 25, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., in the school’s Darden Courtyard.