The story of Lara’s pursuit of a career in engineering started with a love of combat robotics and her acceptance to Bergen County Academies’ Academy for Engineering and Design Technology (AEDT) in Hackensack, NJ. It was at this school she decided to dedicate her life to engineering and joined up with the “Titanium Knights,” a group of young students who entered regional and national competitions for the design, build, and battles of robots.
After high school, Lara attended the New Jersey Institute of Technology where she completed both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering. Upon graduation, she worked for Valcor Engineering where she was on a team responsible for precision aerospace and nuclear equipment.
Today Lara Spinelli is a Senior Designer at LAN and with over eight years of experience providing design services in the engineering industry. Lara works as part of LAN’s mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) department to provide mechanical engineering designs for a variety of educational, municipal, commercial, and healthcare clients.
Lara enjoys the coordination between different disciplines working on a project and finds plenty of opportunities to work with a variety of experts from all fields at LAN Associates. Involved in all stages of a project’s development, Lara is responsible for conceptual design, project specification, equipment layout and distribution, HVAC system retrofits, and field reports. During the construction phase, Lara maintains an open line of communication with the contractor, promptly providing input on a design change or unanticipated finding in the physical space.
Lara is heavily involved in Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honors society, founded in 1885. She is the organization’s district director for NJ and heads all six NJ chapters.
