Professional race car driver talks education with Cal Poly engineering students

Through her "Milka Way" program, she visits schools and colleges across the country. 

"She's a living example of how you can use your education to apply it in life in a number of ways," said Cal Poly Pomona President J. Michael Ortiz. 

Gino Villanueva, a mechanical engineering major, said he appreciated hearing from Duno, who presents a very different point of view from other race car drivers. 

He said he found it interesting that she didn't have a lifelong dream to become a race car driver. 

"It was a view from a race car driver that is not very similar to everyone else," he said. "I thought it was a viewpoint from a totally different angle." 

Duno was in the area for last weekend's Toyota Grand Prix in Long Beach, where car setup problems led her to drop out of the race after 10 laps. 

She is currently 23rd in the Indy Racing League standings. 

After presenting a talk to about 20 engineering students at Cal Poly Pomona, the 37-year-old toured the university's engineering labs, where the students house cars they create and race for annual competitions. 

They spend hours every week designing, fabricating and building the cars. 

"It's the first step in learning what they're going to do in reality," Duno said. "You can see their interest in how passionate they are when they talk about it and explain their projects." 

Duno has four master's degrees in organizational development, naval architecture, fishing and aquaculture and maritime business. 

She said her background in engineering has boosted her career as a race car driver - a field that she never thought she would get into. 

According to her website, in 2007 Duno became the first Latina to qualify for the Indian- 

apolis 500. 

"It was my destiny to become a race car driver," she said.