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!
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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! 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! 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! Jennifer Grigsby is pursuing her mechanical engineering degree at Georgia Tech. Here 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? Just about every product you come into contact with on a daily basis, big or small, was worked on by a mechanical engineer. Here are just a few examples:
The list goes on... mechanical engineering is a very broad field and there are infinite applications beyond making cars and building machines! What traits might a child possess that may indicate an interest or aptitude for your STEM field? Practical and creative thinking. Lots of engineers will say they were obsessed with Legos, Lincoln Logs, Marble Run, Hot Wheels, etc. when they were kids - or they took apart and rebuilt pens, TV remotes, desks, even computers. This enables them to work with their hands, which breeds spatial reasoning, an understanding of how things work, and a confidence in their ability to create – all essential to engineering, especially mechanical. What did you know about your STEM field when you were a child? I didn't know about engineering until high school, when I started looking at colleges. I was nudged toward it by teachers, college counselors, and my family since I was always good at math and science (of course, job security and salary were part of that encouragement too). I didn't know much about engineering, so I went to Cornell's summer engineering program for girls (CURIE Academy) to learn about the different opportunities in each field and was able to dip my feet in the water by working on a robotics project with a team. After that, I had a better understanding on what engineers do, and knew I wanted to be one! Why did you choose your STEM field? Were you inspired by someone? I chose mechanical engineering kind of arbitrarily because I can go in virtually any direction I want since mechanical engineering is so broad. I think it's a good fit for me because it allows me to think about how things work in a tangible way, I get to work with my hands, and I can apply the things I've learned in school (mechanics, fluid dynamics, system dynamics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, design & manufacturing principles, etc.) to pretty much anything you can think of. What are some really cool things that people in your profession work on? There are so many cool things you can do with Mechanical Engineering. You could design parts of an airplane, test the aerodynamics of cars in a wind tunnel, work on a satellite that will be launched into space, design and manufacture toys, build robots, anything! At my current job as a co-op at GTRI's Electro-Optical Systems Lab, I get to design, order (or sometimes make them myself on a 3D printer), test, and assemble mounting structures for optical, electrical, and mechanical components in laser systems. It's so cool to me that the parts that I've designed actually work and are important to the functionality of the system - that I contributed to a lidar system that will go onto a US Navy destroyer-class ship and help protect our country! What inspirational message would you give young girls to inspire them to pursue STEM? Try and get exposure to and experience in different STEM fields so you can discover what you like (and don't like)! I may not have gone into engineering if I hadn't sought out a summer engineering program like the one I did at Cornell, but boy am I glad I did. Thank you for contributing, Jennifer! |
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