Savanna Silva

About Savanna

• Born and raised in a small town in Oklahoma.
• Moved to Yuma, AZ after her father got a job working for the U.S. Border Patrol when she was 13 years old.
• With the help of her uncle, she learned how to fly planes—says she knew from that moment that she wanted to pursue a career in engineering.
• She graduated high school in the top 10 of her class but didn’t get any scholarships that would enable her to go to a 4-year university.
• Attended Arizona Western College (AWC), a community college in Yuma, where she received her associate’s degree in business.
• Worked as a data collector at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground but was unfulfilled—decided to go back to pursue her bachelor’s degree in engineering.
• Participated in a systems engineering "2-1-1" program where she spent 2 years at AWC doing her general requirements, 1 year taking satellite courses through UA, and 1 year attending UA.
• She was the first female to graduate from that program and is now a Mechanical Engineer at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground.