Rebecca Giuntoli—third-generation Deaf, civil-engineering student, welder, and reigning Miss Austin—has turned a profession often seen as inaccessible into a platform for advocacy. After discovering welding at the Texas School for the Deaf, she set out to bridge shop-floor know-how with engineering design, arguing that Deaf talent is limited more by perception than by ability. Her résumé already includes underwater welding, research on AI-equipped welding tools, and a portfolio of projects from custom lighting fixtures to a solar-powered race car.
Beyond the arc, Giuntoli speaks worldwide with Deaf Kids Code, using soldering demos to show students their potential in science, technology, engineering, and welding. She highlights a stark employment gap—only half of Deaf adults hold jobs—and urges companies to measure candidates by skill, not hearing status. Statistics from German and Austrian safety agencies further ground her message: proper training and inclusion reduce both workplace injuries and talent shortages.
Her current goal is a role in structural-steel engineering or construction management—“the first engineer welders like,” she jokes—while expanding her speaking career. Her advice to Deaf peers eyeing a welding career is simple: “Your deafness is your superpower. In a loud shop everyone’s wearing earplugs anyway; use that advantage.” The trades, she argues, are big enough for pageant gowns, diving helmets, and every qualified welder who picks up a torch—hearing or not.
Source:
Still Building America
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