Juliann Pawlowski is well on her way to a career in biomedical engineering, thanks in part to Iowa resources such as the Hawkeye Experience Grant.
Story: Emily Nelson
Photography: Seth Diehl
Published: Feb. 3, 2026
As Juliann Pawlowski prepares to graduate in spring 2026, she can relax about one item on her to-do list: finding a job.
The first-generation student from Plainfield, Illinois, credits her University of Iowa experiences with helping her land a role after she graduates as a manufacturing engineer at Procter & Gamble in Iowa City.
Those university experiences included an internship that would not have been possible without a Hawkeye Experience Grant, which awards funds to assist students with hands-on learning outside the classroom.
The summer after her second year at Iowa, Pawlowski — who is majoring in biomedical engineering, with a focus in bioimaging, and minoring in business administration — worked as a manufacturing engineering intern for a medical device design and manufacturing company in Michigan.
“It was a great learning experience, and it led me to want to go into manufacturing,” Pawlowski says. “But I never would have been able to afford going to Michigan without the Hawkeye Experience Grant.”
The following summer, she was a process engineering intern at Procter & Gamble.
“There, I learned a lot about how a toothbrush is made, which is a bigger process than I thought,” she says. “It’s a medical device, so you have to follow safety standards from the FDA.”
That eye-opening internship led to a full-time job after graduation, but it wasn’t the only transformative opportunity she’s had at Iowa.
Hawkeye Experience Grant
Hands-on learning opportunities such as internships, research, and study abroad can greatly enhance students’ personal, professional, and academic success.
Hawkeye Experience Grants help cover the costs of applied learning experiences outside the classroom. They can assist with fees and other expenses such as food, rent, utilities, and travel.
With help from the Office of Undergraduate Research during her first year, Pawlowski became an undergraduate research assistant in a genetics lab within the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. A project analyzing face emotions through AI piqued her interest in coding, which led her to a bioimaging track.
“Having a coding mindset is important because the world is becoming more AI and coding driven,” says Pawlowski. “I’ll always have an opportunity to use the skills I’m gaining.”
To show her appreciation for all her life-changing Iowa experiences, she has found several ways to give back. She has been a tutor with TRIO Student Support Services and also is a lead peer advisor in the College of Engineering.
Pawlowski is proud of everything she has accomplished thus far — and says she’s not the only one: “My mom and dad are so excited for me and my older brother, in whose footsteps I’m proud to have followed to Iowa and into engineering. They came from another country to give us this life, and we’ve been able to fulfill their ambitions.”
