 STEM fields open a world of opportunities for careers that are not limited to the traditional science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. In this interview, Susanne Lettner shares highlights of her career as a Marketing Specialist within the industrial automation industry. Susanne is a Co-Founder of the project DigiMINTKids, which focuses on Digital and STEM education for children (2-10 years). She is also an ambassador for the Berlin based initiative, "MINT Zukunft schaffen“ (MINT is the German translation for STEM). Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Marketing and Communications How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I’m a Marketing Specialist (focus: Corporate Communications) and I work at an industrial automation company. We develop and produce turnkey automation systems for customers from various international industries including automotive supplies, electronics, domestic appliances - from a single robot cell to a fully automated production line. Through communications, I promote our skills such as e-mobility, autonomous driving, power electronics or Industry 4.0. While engineers create amazing innovations, it’s the role of marketing to advertise them. My work includes writing and distributing news releases, publications and advertisements for magazines, press and responding to media inquiries (for print and online media). Also building relationships with partners, customers and potential new employees (pupils, students, trainees, skilled personnel). For that I’m writing our external newsletter and PR texts for our company’s website & social media and I’m organising events and trade shows. In addition to conveying a company’s messages to external audiences, internal employee communications is also very important to inform about our company news or employee benefits. I really like my job and remit, because it is varied, creative, thrilling and communicative. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? You need a technical understanding and an interest in robotics and automation. Furthermore writing skills and linguistic competence is necessary to communicate the topics and also creativity. You need an ability to write in a journalistic style that is customary for corporate and external publications. I studied Journalism and Public & Relations, and that gives me the required skills. Also important are organizational abilities, interpersonal skills and a strategic & creative mindset. You need to understand how to use data and research to drive efforts. To prepare communication, reports, presentations and other Marketing products you should know to work with Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? STEM education was part of my school and teachers encouraged us pupils to follow our interests, to use critical thinking, and they fueled our curiosity. I visited a girls’ secondary school and our teachers educated us girls to become global changemakers, which was amazing! We were inspired to become informed, engaged global citizens and to choose every job field - there’s nothing e.g. gender stereotypes that should stand in our way. That was a good environment for girls to learn, grow, and develop. STEM based learning for kids can and should start as early as two years of age. And that is the reason why we founded our Project DigiMINTKids, which focuses on Digital and STEM education for children (2-10 years). Introducing subjects in early childhood education helps in building positive attitude of kids towards education. Kids observe their environment, experiment and do stuff to adapt the surroundings, they are curious learners. Introducing kids to STEM during their early years of learning can eventually generate further curiosity. Our project include the day-care center for children DigiMINTKids Amberg (Bavaria, Germany), the network location‚ Haus der kleinen Forscher Amberg-Sulzbach‘ and our network DigiMINTNetzwerk. Our project enables innovative networking in our region. At DigiMINTKids the children building with blocks and building bridges are incorporating engineering and math. They can use a technology component by researching on the computer or tablets or playing learning games. Outdoors, children can help solve the problem of getting water to the garden next to the day-care center and they help to plant. Children love to experiment, combine new substances, build, sort, and have fun while learning. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I’m interested in new technologies and I really like that I have the ability to work together with engineers and developers to promote future technologies. STEM is an important field and it helps to shape our future through technology. For that we need smart, creative and bright people working on solutions. People in STEM are the inventors and they work to make our planet a better place for everyone. That inspire me every day! What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? I’m a STEM ambassador for the Berlin based initiative, "MINT Zukunft schaffen“, which is the largest German STEM-network comprising the majority of initiatives and activities of German companies, designed to win more qualified professionals for the subjects science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The initiative was founded under the patronage of German chancellor Dr Angela Merkel. Also I’m a Juror for the signets "STEM-friendly school” and "Digital School” of "MINT Zukunft schaffen“. Every year schools can apply for the signets and I have the honour of helping to evaluate those schools that put emphasis on STEM values. Many school offers amazing STEM and digital concepts, and start wonderful projects for boys and girls to get them exposed to different aspects of digitalization and STEM. Digitalization and STEM play an increasingly important role in the realm of education and will have an even larger impact in the near future. What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Age-related STEM events are a great way to spark young people's interest in a STEM profession. I advise young girls to get a first impression of the STEM fields by discovering. Internships are a good opportunity where they can talk to professionals who can give them tips. So you can learn from them and know what you will expect in your studies, which career prospects there are and already test whether this is the right job. And don’t give up! Truly, you can succeed in STEM despite your gender, racial background or your economic situation. Believe in yourself! Thank you for contributing, Susanne!
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 Allison Redderson-Lear is a mechanical engineer with a strong focus in aerospace. She currently works on analyzing systems and designing solid models and drawings for aircraft/spacecraft parts at Saratech. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine. Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Mechanical Engineering. How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I am currently a designer and analyst with a specialty in automation and software customization for Saratech. In my job I get to make designs and technology run faster and more efficiently in a variety of engineering fields (everything from toys to rockets!). What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Enjoying toys and activities that exercise a child’s spatial reasoning or mathematical skills can be an early indicator. More specifically, following instructions for Lego or even origami models require a child to translate a 2-dimensional image to a 3-dimensional object, and manipulate that object to an end result. As a child, Lego in particular helped me understand gear systems, torque, and leverage, even if I didn’t have the words to define them. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I was inspired to pursue a career in STEM when I started taking physics and calculus in high school. The ability to understand and define the world both conceptually and mathematically attracted me to physics, and I was drawn to the inherent creativity involved in engineering. I thoroughly enjoyed university classes and projects that allowed me to apply the things I’d learned to see a design through from start to finish. I was also inspired by Simone Giertz. She is a Swedish inventor, maker, and robotics enthusiast. I enjoy her work, and how she approaches her projects with enthusiasm and creativity. She portrays engineering as something accessible and fun, and I hope she inspires other young people to pursue careers in STEM. (Visit Simone’s YouTube channel for inspiration.) What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? We send things to outer space! When you see a rocket launch, it’s cool to see something you’ve worked so hard on come together, but it’s even cooler to know that the rocket is delivering supplies to the International Space Station, or putting a satellite in orbit around earth, or going all the way to Mars or beyond. Remember, that rocket didn’t build itself—it took a lot of effort and teamwork to make it happen. The coolest project I’ve worked on is analysis of an aircraft control surface. This project was quite a learning experience for me in a lot of ways. I did stress analysis for the entire structure, but I also had to document and substantiate my work. I automated various aspects of my work to streamline processes where I could. What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Never stop learning. There’s always something new you can pick up, and if you continually develop your professional skills, you’ll be more attractive to potential employers and make for a better employee to a current employer both for your technical skills and because you take the initiative to actively improve your career. Thank you for contributing, Allison!  Ashleigh Jessica Chandra’s career is focused on neuroscience, an area of science that focuses on the brain and nervous system. Ashleigh earned her Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience, her Graduate Diploma in Science, and Masters in Medicine from the University of Sydney (Australia). Her research has also been published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology. Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Neuroscience. How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I study how the eyes connect to the brain. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Interest in how people see or why people are blind. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? As a young child I always saw the world in full light, colour and acuity. When I was 16 I got my first pair of glasses for vision, and it made me wonder. My mother always pushed me to feed my curiosity, so I went into science because I was looking for answers. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I wanted to be like Fred Hollows. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? I use a microscope to look at cells under bright fluorescent light. When I turn the light on sometimes the cells light up for me, just like a firework! What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Never ever ever give up. Thank you for contributing, Ashleigh!  Ashley Stenzel’s career is focused on cancer epidemiology (a branch of medicine that deals with detection of the source and cause of disease). Ashley earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from St. Catherine University, her Master’s in Science/Clinical Research from St. Cloud State University, and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in cancer research from the University at Buffalo (SUNY). A STEM advocate, Ashley is also author of the book, The ABCs of Women in STEM. Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Cancer science, cancer prevention and control. How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I study different risk factors for developing cancer, or things that might improve how somebody survives after being diagnosed with cancer. I like to look at parts of the immune system and I really love working with global health. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Curious about why things are a certain way, wonder if more than one variable could play a role in certain outcomes. If you care about people's health this may be a good field for you! What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I knew nothing about it. I never heard about epidemiology or the study of controlling and preventing diseases. I started learning about it as an adult, after I had already gotten a degree in biology and a masters degree in clinical research. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I have worked in health care in various roles for 10 years. If there is one thing I know, it's how scary it can be when you feel like you have no control over your own health. I saw many patients with all different diseases feel sad and really upset, and I wanted to change this for the future. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on?
What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Nobody in this world can tell you what you are and are not capable of except yourself. If you ever hear somebody else try to put you down, remember that you know your own self-worth. You are smart enough and capable enough to join any field in STEM, and you are equally as deserving to be in these fields as anybody else. Follow your curiosities. Thank you for contributing, Ashley!  Alison Tidy is a research scientist, specializing in the field of plant science. She earned her PhD degree from the University of Nottingham (UK). Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? I specialise in Plant Molecular Biology in the School of Biosciences, focusing on flower development. How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I research how flowers develop, produce pollen and seed. I look at the effects of single genes on pollen development through using mutants and transgenic plants to increase our understanding and aid in breeding. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? An interest in nature and discovering things around them. Asking lots of why's and discovering the beauty in everything around them. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I had a few science and chemistry sets as a child, and I just had a general inquisitive nature and liked to know how things worked. By the time I entered A level in school, my focus was on genetics which sparked my career. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I was inspired by a single book, The Selfish Gene. This was when I choose to be a genetist. I studied Biotechnology as an undergrad and then focused on plants throughout my studies and PhD. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? Using mutant plants we see all ranges of interesting things, to plants roots that don't know to grow down, or plants stems that can't grow up. We do a lot of microscopy work, in particular I look at glowing plants which cause some spectacular images. And we have used X-ray CT to see inside plants and watch plant root grow in the soil. What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Follow your heart, do what you enjoy and you can do whatever you want to do. You can learn more about plant science, and see images contributed by Alison, at https://www.botany.one/. Thank you for contributing, Alison!  Being immersed in the exciting opportunities of STEM doesn’t always require a full-time career commitment. Wednesday Batchelor is a museum volunteer in Cambridge, UK where she combines her artistic talent with a passion for museums and earth sciences into a rewarding opportunity to share knowledge with the diverse people she interacts with every day. Below she shares a little about her experiences and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Museums (Earth science) How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I am very passionate about museums and passing the knowledge and enthusiasm of earth science to visitors of all ages. I am a volunteer, so I see all aspects of the museums that I work in, with the aim of getting enough experience alongside my Masters degree to earn a career full time within the industry. My roles include creating artwork for displays, running activities and events as well as working in the museum collections and working on encouraging young people to visit by thinking of ideas to attract guests, such as events, talks and crafts. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Perhaps a passion for animals or history or science, a love of museums or learning and passing knowledge to others. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I adored museums from a very young age and was a huge fan of dinosaurs and animals; my parents took me to the natural History Museum in London and encouraged me with dinosaur toys. I first started volunteering at 16 in a small museum, and it was the best fun. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? It’s a role I feel passion for, in buildings I adore, with people equally enthusiastic about the field. My role model was the curator of the first museum I volunteered with, who gave me lots of opportunities to gain experience, and with whom I’m still in touch now. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? I’m currently helping to prepare an Iguanodon dinosaur for display. I get to study and draw/paint lots of incredible animals such as smilodon and anomalocaris! Being behind the scenes in a museum and seeing all of the collections is an incredible feeling! What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Don’t hold back! Volunteering is a fantastic way to start in museums and gives you invaluable experience to support you in your future career! You don’t have to give up a lot of your time, but you’ll have loads of fun and gain so much! Thank you for contributing, Wednesday!  Franziska Sattler is a science educator, evolutionary biologist and vertebrate paleontologist. In other words, Franziska has achieved her childhood dream of becoming a “Dino Woman” and has traveled throughout USA and Germany discovering dinosaur bones. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Geology, and Master’s Degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Freie Universität Berlin. Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Vertebrate Paleontology How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I currently study the head anatomy and dentation of Tyrannosaurus rex, to see how fast their teeth have been replaced during their lifetime. I use the same software as doctors in the hospital to look at CT images of the jaw. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? I strongly believe that anybody can become a scientist! I am a first generation academic and all you need is curiosity, passion and the willingness to learn new things every day. Sometimes it is hard being a scientist, but you get to do a lot of super cool stuff and travel the world. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I always knew I wanted to be a paleontologist. Actually, when I was a little girl, I told everybody I wanted to be a "dino woman" and no one knew what that meant until I got older. My grandpa always got me little dinosaur toys and we watched A Land Before Time when I was really little and when I was five years old I watched Jurassic Park with my parents and knew I found my dream job, minus the being eaten by dinosaurs of course! Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I did not really have a mentor as a young kid, but before I started university in 2009, I applied for an internship at the natural history museum in Berlin and was accepted! My boss, and later supervisor, was a young woman and that greatly shaped my career. I finally had another female scientist to look up to, learn from and work with. We are still close today and are currently writing a paper together. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? What I always loved most about paleontology is that you get to do fieldwork! I went on several digs in the USA and Germany and there is nothing cooler than discovering your first bone that no one has ever seen or touched before. Those fossils are usually over 66 million years old! What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Don't ever worry about being the only girl interested in what you love! There might be a lot of boys, and later men, around you and you might doubt your place in the world sometimes - but DON'T GIVE UP. If you love what you do, and if you have passion for science and research, you will succeed! And you might even be the next generation of female scientists that will inspire future little girls to follow in your footsteps. Thank you for contributing, Franziska! Sarah Kumar earned her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles). She is a systems analyst in the finance industry, which combines her passion for economics and technology. Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Economics and Information Technology How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I work with software applications and systems for Finance users. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Problem solving skills, wanting to try something new, likes Lego, likes puzzles. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I did not know much about my field as a child. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? After working in 2 different companies for about 7 years, I started having interest in working with software systems/applications for Finance users. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? We get to customize software and build business rules so that users will have less work or calculations to do. What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Believe in yourself. Thank you for contributing, Sarah!  STEM Girls Books shares stories of accomplished women in STEM for the purpose of inspiring young girls to dream big. Every once in a while we discover a young girl who is already on her way to accomplishing those dreams…girls like Chandni Kumari (Astronaut Chandni) who, at just 15 years of age, is working toward her goal of becoming an astronaut. Read her story below and we think you’ll agree that the mysterious Blackhole is about to meet its match!
What is your specific area of STEM? Aerospace Engineering How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I study aircraft and learn about sending spacecraft to space. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Curious about nature. Always asking question, interested in learning, loves learning, excited about the space. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I was always fascinated by outer space and the Blackhole as a young child and I knew I wanted to go there. My family fed my curiosity about Blackhole and STEM and encouraged me to pursue my interest. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I have been taking college level science courses since 9th grade and have always been fascinated by science and math, and loved learning about it. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? Getting to explore Aircraft and spacecraft is a lot of fun. It’s fascinating and the opportunities are endless. What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? I encourage girls to pursue what they are excited and passionate about. And not to be afraid because 'NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE'. Thank you for contributing, Chandni! We’ll be rooting for you!  Daniëlle Suurlant earned her Bachelor’s Degree in ICT, Mediatechnology from Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. She is a software developer with specialties in web and mobile technologies. Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Internet Technology How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I write to computers in order to tell them what to do. When you see websites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Gmail, it is built by people who do what I do. And when you use apps on your phone, they also talk to websites. Web developers build everything on the internet. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Curiosity about how things work, and why they work; interested in puzzles, and building things, but also very imaginative. Coming up with stories and settings and characters is actually indicative of being able to mentally create new things that are not physically tangible. An interest in that indicates an aptitude for the creativity and abstraction that you need as a developer. It isn't just about math and algorithms. Especially in girls, this quality gets underestimated as being essential to programming. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? When I was a child in the 80s personal computers were just up-and-coming. My interest was sparked by getting a Commodore64 and a manual with printed code that I could copy onto the keyboard. I started writing my own programs and changing the values of variables to see different words on my TV. I feel that if you give these tools to children, their natural curiosity and creativity will come out. Later on we got a home PC because of the 'private PC' financing project in the Netherlands in the 90s. My dad was very active with finding new software and games, took me to computer stores, and I was never discouraged from my interest in computer technology. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I actually gravitated to graphic design in my late teens, and started an education focused more on media creation and design. Web development was a part of that education thankfully, and that's how I slowly drifted back towards the more programming side of things. I just found it more interesting, and I was better at it. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? My latest cool project is working on an app that takes a photo once a day and after a year, you can print your own photos. You can also see the daily pictures of other people. Another cool project in my company is about making sure mother pigs and their piglets stay happy and healthy, all by using technology and information! There is so much cool stuff you can do with computer science. Once you learn the basics of how to talk to computers, nothing is stopping you from building what you want. You can program a robot, build a website, build apps, or maybe the next YouTube or Instagram. You can help the environment, animals, people in a crisis... your imagination is the limit. What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? With technology, you can build whatever you can think and dream of, for yourself and for other people! Thank you for contributing, Daniëlle!  Swetha Manimuthu earned her Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Anna University in Chennai, India, and her Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M University. Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Electrical Engineering How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? Electricity powers every equipment and technology that you come across in your day-to-day activity. Electrical engineering involves generating electricity, transmitting electricity from where it was created to where it is used, and developing equipment that uses electricity to improve our lives. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Curiosity. Even as a child, I was known to ask a lot of questions and to want to look at everything that was kept on a shelf until my curiosity was appeased. ‘Why is it like this? Why does it do that?’ are some of the typical questions that my father had to contend with on a drive with me. Besides, I was more interested in my brother's home science projects than mine in middle school – his involved building a lamp! A natural aptitude for mathematics & science is an additional trait which may indicate a proficiency for STEM fields. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I did not know much about electrical engineering as a child except that it had something to do with electricity. But even as a kid, I would take on little projects such as building a lamp, stringing together LEDs with a battery and such. My focus was more on astrophysics growing up and I enjoyed learning about the universe, the big bang theory, and progress in rockets made by the Indian Space and Research Organization. Transition from physics to electrical engineering was smooth and I moved to bread boards and resistors from lamps and LEDs. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? Electrical engineering is an integral part of what makes our world function. Even the medical field has improved leaps and bounds with the invention of scanning and imaging equipment. It was an easy decision for me to take electrical engineering because I knew I could work in any industry with electrical engineering. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? Electrical engineering is the foundation for every technology we have. A world without electricity will be dark (literally)! Some of the cool things that me and my friends have done:
What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? With STEM, the world is open to you! Thank you for contributing, Swetha!  Jessica is a Masters Student Researcher at ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, where she is pursuing her Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at McGill University. Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Combustion Engineering.(Aeronautical + Mechanical) How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? Combustion is the field of engineering that deals with generating power (from coal, oil and natural gas), motors/engines (cars, tractors, ships), and propulsion (rockets and airplane engines)! What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? I think curiosity. Always asking "why?" Why does this happen? Can this be done another way? If it can be, why hasn't anyone else done it? What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I knew there were rocket scientists but I didn't think the possibility was within my reach. A stranger on a plane encouraged me to pursue my dream saying "it’s not that hard. You can do it!" Boy, was I in for a surprise! Of course, it was difficult, but my dream was possible. And that motivation was the difference. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? Kim Possible's dad was a rocket scientist and I thought that was really cool! I thought "why can't I be like him? I want to build rockets!" What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? Propulsion is really cool because usually, you add metals to fuel for an extra power boost. So I worked on a project which involved burning aluminum, iron, and silicon powder! That was super cool because they all act differently to traditional hydrocarbon fuels and they mainly look and act like fireworks! What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Not only do you get to choose between science, technology, engineering and math, but within each domain you have hundreds of disciplines! Your possibilities are endless and you are bound to find something you are passionate about. But at this point you don’t know what that passion will be, and that's exciting. Thank you for contributing, Jessica!  Tara Samuels is a private pilot and earned her Master’s Degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Business Administration from San Jose State University. She is also founder of Captain Safetypants, a free STEM education program that allows her to share her passion for aviation with kids of all ages.
Tara works in the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA Ames Research Center and is a 1st Lieutenant, Mission Transport Pilot and Aerospace Education Officer for Civil Air Patrol, the civilian auxiliary of the US Air Force. Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it. What is your specific area of STEM? Aerospace Engineering. How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? Aerospace Engineers design, build and test aircraft and spacecraft. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? If you have an inquisitive mind and enjoy math and science, you'll do great in STEM fields. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I knew NOTHING about aerospace engineering when I was a child. When I grew up I got a pilot's license. To become a pilot you have to learn about aircraft systems, structures, aerodynamics, and more. Learning about how planes work made me want to become an aerospace engineer. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I was always an engineer at heart. Becoming a pilot made me want to be an engineer in real life too. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? Aerospace engineers make people's lives better! Right now people in my field are working on supersonic airplanes that can take you halfway around the world in just a few hours. Others are working on autonomous flying vehicles that will help us fly right over traffic. There are teams of people helping us explore other planets, and some are even working on sending humans to Mars! What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Aerospace Engineering is so fascinating. The classes are hard, but they are doable. And when you're done you have an opportunity to make aviation safer and faster, and help humanity explore and understand the universe. It's inspiring work and it's fun! Thank you for contributing, Tara!  Robyn Hartz earned her graduate degree in Transportation Engineering from Georgia Tech and her undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Robyn also serves as President of her local Women’s Transportation Seminar, which includes a mentoring program for young girls. Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Civil Engineering. Specifically, I’m a Transportation Engineer and am currently focused on noise and air quality. How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? When all those cars, trucks and buses go whizzing down the road, I figure out what kind of impact all that noise has on the local community. We can then determine if a noise barrier is needed (like the walls you sometimes see along the interstate that separate the road from the houses nearby). I also figure out how the traffic and transportation projects will affect the air you breath. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? An interest in the environment. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I didn't know my specific field existed until I started in it. Its a unique niche field and people get there from all sorts of paths. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? While studying in Atlanta, many of my professors were very involved with air quality research. It really sparked my interest in the area. I started on my path initially because I had dreams of becoming a fighter pilot and thought I would design airports after my flying career was over. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on?
What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't do something! You need to try, and believe in yourself. Thank you for contributing, Robyn!  Kaitlyn Bunker earned her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Technological University. Kaitlyn’s background includes a focus in power systems, power electronics, controls and microgrids, along with a passion for increasing efficiency and renewable sources of energy. Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Electrical Engineering How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? You might use electricity every day when you turn on the lights or use a computer. In my work as an electrical engineer, I design systems to make sure that you have electricity available when you need it, and that is comes from clean and low-cost resources. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Curiosity, creativity, an interest in helping others. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? My Dad is a mechanical engineer, designing the system in your car that decides whether an airbag is needed if you are in a crash. My Mom is a biochemist, managing a research laboratory focused on understanding arthritis. From them, I knew that I was interested in a STEM field, but I didn't know what specific type until I was older. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? My parents both inspired me with their examples of STEM careers, and I knew that as an engineer I would have the opportunity to help other people, which is something I always wanted to be able to do through my career. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? Go to the top of a brand new wind turbine. Design a solar energy system that will bring electricity to people who have never had it before. Travel to new places and find creative solutions to bring them clean, low-cost electricity. What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Go for it! With a STEM degree, you are opening so many opportunities for yourself. You can start in one STEM field and move to another, all with a great STEM foundation. If you're interested, go for it and find some aspect of STEM that fits your passions. Thank you for contributing, Kaitlyn! |
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