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! 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! Tamara Robertson is a chemical and biomolecular engineer. She is passionate about sharing her love of science and engineering, especially in ways that inspire young girls to pursue STEM. Tamara is the host of The Feeding Tube, a web video series bringing real facts behind popular food myths. She was also a finalist on the Science Channel’s “Mythbusters: The Search”, a series featuring the next generation of fearless contenders with killer build skills, science smarts and nerves of steel. Tamara earned her BS degree in Biomolecular and Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University. Below she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it. What is your specific area of STEM? Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? Engineers in my field get to work on lots of different cool items, designing new ways to make products. We work on fun household items, like toys for kids or lotions, life saving medicines like vaccines, and even future-focused technologies like biofuels. The sky is the limit when it comes to ways to utilize a Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering degree! :) What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? STEM is all about imagination and curiosity. If you like to tinker with real life products and figure out how they work, or maybe even rebuild them in a cooler way, then you would love the STEM field! STEM is like an adventure with lots of different paths that lead to cool discoveries so if you enjoy learning new things, this is the place to be! What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? When I was a child I had never heard about STEM. I didn't know any engineers outside of Scotty on Star Trek and he was very different from me. Yet from a young age I loved to tinker! I enjoyed working with tools and watching my dad build things and often times I got to help, which made me love it even more! Even in school I really liked my math and science classes but didn't know that people other than my teachers were in these fields. It wasn't until I was in college that a teacher talked to me about engineering and for the first time I felt challenged and excited about school work! Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? My decision to pursue Chemical & Biomolecular engineering was spurred by a few items:
What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? There are so many cool things you can do in this field. One of my first jobs was making biofuel that smelled like popcorn when used in a car engine! I got to set up a way for our local restaurants to donate their old oil to us so we could make fuel for our college’s farm equipment! :) Then when I graduated I got to help design and build a vaccines facility, and even work in conjunction with the WHO (World Health Organization) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control) on making vaccine for the Swine Flu pandemic that was making a lot of people sick around the world! After that I got to work with cool companies like Burts Bees, Nestle, Target, General Mills, 3M, McDonalds and so many more designing packaging for awesome products like cereal, toys, and candy. Other people in my field get to design awesome things like makeup, lotion, fuel for cars and rockets, and even yummy food like pizza! What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Always remember that where your journey begins doesn't define where it ends - you do! You can be anything you want to be as long as you're willing to work for it. Also there's no such thing as failure in Science as long as you learn something. Thank you for contributing, Tamara! Jill Meyers learned to fly an airplane at age 17, joined the Air Force, and later earned her Aerospace Engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Here 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 Engineering is about designing and building aircraft (aeronautical) and spacecraft (astronautical) of all shapes and sizes. You can work on small airplanes like a Cessna or big military jets like the F/A-18s that the Navy Blue Angels fly! You can work on rockets or capsules that will carry astronauts to Mars someday. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? A child that enjoys math and science in school may exhibit an aptitude for engineering. Many kids play with radio-controlled aircraft or toys like Legos that allow them to build things. Even paper airplanes often lead towards careers in Aerospace! What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? My first indication was my love for building plastic models - I built airplanes and aircraft carriers when I was very young. I went up in a small Cessna when I was 13 years old, and that was IT for me! So I learned to fly at the age of 17 and then joined the Air Force, where I later got my engineering degree. My parents were very supportive of my dreams to either fly or build airplanes when I grew up! Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? As I mentioned, I fell in love with airplanes at a young age. I was going to be a doctor until the first Space Shuttle launched into space. At that time I decided to be an Aerospace Engineer. I wanted to be an Astronaut but didn't have perfect grades in college which is required. I really didn't have a mentor, although I really wish I had. I just read a lot about pilots and astronauts when I was a teenager. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? I'll just use my own experiences to answer this one!
With an Aerospace Engineering degree, you can work on so many things! What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? My primary message is that you CAN be anything you want to be! Find things that you LOVE doing and figure out how to turn that into a job. Find people already doing that job and talk to them! Look for mentors - they are all around you! Reach for the stars and never give up! Thank you for contributing, Jill! Katy Milne earned her engineering degrees from the Imperial College London and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Here she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it. What is your specific area of STEM? Research/Manufacturing/Digital Engineering/Measurement and testing How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I check manufacturing parts using technologies like X-ray to check that they have no defects. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Curiosity What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I didn't know anything about my specific STEM field (manufacturing inspection) when I was a child. I was always interested in science, but particularly in space. I used to talk to my Dad, who is a pilot, about science a lot. My parents told me that I could do anything, and never told me that not many girls do Engineering. My school sent me to a summer space school when I was 14. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I wanted to be an astronaut but realised early on that not many people get to go to space. I decided that being someone who built stuff that went to space would be a good backup - so I decided to study Mechanical Engineering. I ended up in my specialism (manufacturing inspection) by accident - but I do get to see loads of cool stuff, and even inspect things that do go to space! What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? Inspectors of oil rigs have to scuba dive to check the safety of the structure that is under the sea. I worked on projects to print the largest ever component printed for an aeroplane jet engine. What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? I get to work with people. I get to be creative. The work that I do makes peoples' lives better. Thank you for contributing, Katy! Annie Jones-Wyatt earned her Ph.D. and Master’s in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech, and her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University. Here she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it. What is your specific area of STEM? Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I use science and math to design airplanes and the technology that goes inside them. Aerospace engineers make decisions about the shape of the wings, how high and how fast they can fly, and how they interact with other air and ground vehicles. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Curiosity about the natural world - why is the sky blue, etc.; enjoying building/taking apart things, or arts & crafts (design). Constantly asking questions, even if you annoy your parents (I'm channeling my younger self here). What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? My parents were always encouraging; we regularly visited science museums, children's museums, went to air shows, and watched documentaries/history programs. My father is a scientist, and my mother is an accountant (good at math). I had a very influential high school physics teacher who helped me towards the path of physics/mechanical engineering in undergrad. I didn't really know about the various engineering disciplines until I reached college; until then, my understanding was that it was all pure physics/math, even though I was exposed to scientists all around. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I was always interested in science of some sort. In elementary school I wanted to be an archaeologist or paleontologist from reading National Geographic. I volunteered at a nature center, so in middle and early high school I wanted to be an environmental biologist. When I did high school physics and robotics, I shifted towards mechanical engineering, and towards the end of undergrad decided I wanted to pursue a postgraduate degree in aerospace engineering. I grew up around NASA but it wasn't until 7 years after we moved away from Houston that I really dove into aerospace engineering. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? In an internship, I got to work on parts for the International Space Station. In another internship, I did mechanical engineering work for the James Webb Space Telescope. Since then it's been more nuanced work, but in general, aerospace engineers design airplanes, helicopters, and rockets, which I think is pretty darn cool! What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Always ask questions, learn about the physical laws governing the universe around you, and then draw/sculpt/design/build your own inventions and creations! Thank you for contributing, Annie! Ifigeneia Metaxa earned her doctorate and undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. Here she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it. What is your specific area of STEM? Chemical Engineering How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I coordinate everything that happens in research and development projects, factories, organise multi-national teams, work in a challenging and inspiring environment. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Do you like construction toys? Did you enjoy looking through the microscope? Do you get that thrill when you got the right answer in math? What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? My father encouraged me to play with "boy toys", so toys like Legos, Playmobil and other construction and battle toys. All of this alongside with more "girl toys". So, avoid labels! A teacher who loved chemistry inspired me to look into this poetic world (yes, chemistry). Also, everyone who told me that chemical engineering was not for girls, encouraged me to prove them wrong! Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I was inspired by teachers, I asked women of the field about their experiences (please do that!). I wanted to choose a profession that was versatile and would offer more job opportunities. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? Want to turn used cooking oil to fuel? How about playing with reaaaally small (nano) diamonds? Are you in to mobile app development? Do you want to work with cool technologies, such as Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Robots interacting with humans, voice to text, blockchain (behind bitcoin), decision support systems, semantics? It gets exciting! What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Find what you are passionate about and go for it! STEM is not difficult, it is exciting and rewarding. You just need to learn the way to approach this wonderful world. Oh, and yes, it is cool! Thank you for contributing, Ifigeneia! Amanda Belding is completing her engineering physics degree, with a concentration in mechanical engineering, from the Ohio State University. Here she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it. What is your specific area of STEM? Engineering Physics/Mechanical Engineering How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? Engineering Physics is about a deeper understanding of the engineering disciple you choose to focus on. I focused on mechanical engineering, when I learned how to build and design moving structures that solve a problem. In engineering you learn the equations for building and designing parts, in engineering physics, you learn why those equations work. The fundamentals are taught and focused on so that you can apply them to any problem you face. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Problem solving, puzzles, playing with legos, taking apart systems to try to figure out how they work, learning about cars or bikes and how they are built. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I loved math, physics, and taking apart things when they broke to attempt to fix them. From that my parents and teachers suggested looking at engineering and I went to engineering camp to get a better idea of what each discipline had to offer. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I choose mechanical engineering because I really liked car engines. I found them fascinating and I wanted to understand how they worked. As I went through courses though I became frustrated when teachers would just hand us equations and expect us to accept them so I added physics to my disciple to get a deeper, fundamental understanding. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? I work on many projects. Some of the really cool ones include: design test structures for research on quantum computing and design mechanical components that are being sent out into space to collect weather data. What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Just because one person may think you aren't smart enough does not mean you need to give up. Having a big brain is only part of what makes a great engineer. The other half is being a hard and passionate worker. If you enjoy learning something, never stop. Thank you for contributing, Amanda! Katie Benner earned her civil engineering degree from Rose Hulman Institute of Technology. Here she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it. What is your specific area of STEM? Civil Engineering How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? I get to solve puzzles every day. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? I enjoyed all building toys like Legos, Lincoln Logs, K'nex, but I also liked dolls. I preferred building houses and things for my dolls rather than use actual doll houses. Puzzles and games have always been a joy as well. Anything with problem solving (even video games) may show an aptitude for STEM. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I didn't think about becoming an engineer until high school. For ages I thought I'd be an architect. My parents provided me building toys as a child. I had a natural aptitude for math, so my teachers put me in higher math classes since elementary school. And my parents heard about Excel, which was a one day per week accelerated learning class that I attended when I was in 5th and 6th grade. In 5th grade we focused a lot on building structures out of newspaper and bridges that had to carry load from Popsicle sticks. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I've always been interested in architecture, but as much as I love art, I'm not a great artist. I figured the math side of architecture - structural engineering - would be a better fit. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? Engineers are needed throughout the world. I'm currently living in New Zealand because of my career. You can design Legos or become an Imagineer for Disney or develop games or send someone to Mars. You can construct something with your own hands or design something and watch it get created. What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? When you're in the STEM field you are only limited by your imagination. If something doesn't exist - you can create it. STEM jobs can take you anywhere in the world and even out into space. There are still so many thing that haven't yet been discovered or explained or utilized. With STEM you can build the world you want to live in. Thank you for contributing, Katie! Kathy Silver earned her engineering degree from Georgia Tech. Here she shares a little about her career and the inspiration behind it.
What is your specific area of STEM? Materials Science and Engineering How would you explain your STEM field to young girls? A materials engineer is someone who creates new materials or discovers new uses for old material. What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Any child is capable of an aptitude for math/science and we should assume all young children (particularly girls) have the ability to go into STEM fields. The bigger challenge (in my opinion) is convincing children of non-STEM parents that they are capable. Where I work, I am one of only a half dozen engineers who does not have at least one parent in a STEM career and I'm the only employee whose parents do not have college degrees. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I didn't know much, though I recall a female ceramics engineer who came to talk on a career day that left an impact. Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? As mentioned above, I remember the ceramics engineer and decided to follow "what I know". 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? Read, do well at school and attend STEM camps. Thank you for contributing, Kathy! |
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