When it comes to choosing a career, our society puts a lot of emphasis on professional fulfillment. It makes sense.
The more passionate someone is about their work, the better they are at it. One of the reoccurring criticisms of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is that they aren’t social enough, they aren’t relevant to everyday life, and as a result they simply aren’t fun.
The truth is that a STEM degree is whatever you make of it. If you’re passionate about something, then a STEM career can catapult you to succeed in any number of professions including the food, fashion, and entertainment industries. Take these three STEM success stories, for example. From them you’ll find that the key to finding the perfect STEM job just might mean doing exactly what you love the most.
Ronald Hickland, Jr.
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University
Ron Hickland Jr., 34, is proof that jobs in science and engineering aren’t isolated and lonely. As the lead bowling ball designer at Ebonite International Inc., the Purdue University mechanical engineering graduate bowls 40 hours a month, works with two teams of people across several states, travels globally to share his rare expertise, and gets the opportunity to rub elbows with celebrities such as “Sugar†Shane Mosley and Swizz Beatz, who want him to design customized bowling balls. He even has a patent on a bowling ball restoration product.
At age 15, while traveling with his father, a competitive bowler, Hickland met a bowling ball designer who explained to him that mechanical engineers design the core of the ball and chemical engineers design the cover stock or the outside of the ball.
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From that point on, Hickland had his sights set on engineering. He took a job at a pro shop, where he drilled bowling balls, learned about the products, and spoke regularly with bowling ball manufacturers about new balls being released commercially. He also spent a lot of time bowling, since he needed to be a good bowler in order to grasp an understanding of ball motion. In college he chose to study mechanical engineering and for two spring breaks he worked for free at different bowling ball manufacturers with the intent of segueing into the industry.
He credits organizations such as the National Society of Black Engineers and a college study group he organized for teaching him how to collaborate with his team at Ebonite. “We would go back and forth until each of us understood all the core concepts,†says Hickland about the study group.
At Ebonite, which manufacturers 60% of the world’s bowling balls, they apply that same model. Hickland works with brand managers on four different product lines. “If they want a ball to hook more, hook less, go longer, hook earlier, it is my responsibility to figure out how to create that,†he explains. He uses CAD (computer-aided design) software, to design the core shape that he thinks will mimic the properties they are looking for. From one group of researchers he sources the materials needed to develop this core and then consults with another team who develops the part of the ball that touches the lane. He decides which cores go with which covers and finally, using statistical analysis, he oversees two staffs of five people to test the balls and ensure that they meet the desired standards. “The ability to work with other people is the difference between the average engineer and the engineer that excels,†says Hickland. “Some engineers don’t have those people skills, they don’t demonstrate the desire to go up to the next level or they are so wrapped up in the details of things that they can’t see the broader picture so they stay where they are. To get people to work together as a team and charge toward a common goal is the key.â€
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Ben Cooper
B.S., Biomedical Physics, Northeastern University
M.S., Exercise Science and Sports Studies,
Concentration Biomechanics, Boise State University
At 28-years-old, Ben Cooper, a footwear developer in the Footwear Performance Laboratory at Natick Soldier Systems Center, is the lead project engineer for the Army and provides technical support to the Marines and Air Force. Current projects include his team’s continued development of a hot-weather mountain combat boot that offers greater breathability without compromising key performance features such as ankle stability, traction, and durability–a necessity for soldiers deployed to the rugged mountainous terrain of Afghanistan.
For Cooper, no two days are the same. One day he could be working with boot manufacturers, the next day in a different city with material suppliers, or at his desk updating and improving technical specifications for any one of the many combat boots issued to military personnel. Many of the boots designed by his team are even available commercially.
Similar to his childhood hero, the fictional television character MacGyver, Cooper was a curious kid known to rip apart a remote control car or imagine games that required him to escape from far-fetched situations using only a hair pin and problem solving skills. But it was his days as a high school soccer and track athlete that most influenced him to pursue a degree in biomedical physics.
Cooper, a three-year Rhode Island All-State track champion, was always interested in maximizing his abilities. He started reading more on the subject of proper running mechanics and human performance. A quick Internet search led him to an astronaut who worked in that field. He e-mailed the NASA expert and received a response that he parlayed into a career.
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“The first time I ever heard the words kinesiology and biomechanics was on this e-mail,†says Cooper. The astronaut recommended that he pursue engineering as an undergraduate student so that he could get the technical background in mechanics and physics and then move on to graduate school for more instruction in biological studies, training philosophies, and anatomy. “That is exactly what I did. I’m here today, doing exactly what I wanted to do, based on this astronaut’s e-mail.â€
But not everyone was as helpful. During his first couple of years in college Cooper struggled with the transition and his grades suffered. By his junior and senior years he got his stride back and began to excel academically. A guidance counselor told him that because of his earlier grades applying to graduate school would be a waste of time. “This was mind-blowing to me,†says Cooper “Fortunately, I didn’t listen to him.â€
His senior year Cooper compiled a list of every biomechanics program in North America and in the United Kingdom, and e-mailed every full-time, adjunct, and tenured faculty in those programs.
He was accepted to every program that he applied to with the exception of one school and eventually received a fully funded graduate assistantship that included the cost of tuition to Boise State University. There he conducted a study to evaluate shoe surface interaction of athletic shoes on artificial surfaces for the National Football League, and graduated in the top of his class.
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Asmau Ahmed
B.S., Chemical Engineering,
University of Virginia
M.B.A., Columbia Business School
Asmau Ahmed enjoys not just the science of chemistry, but also the art of chemistry.
“With organic chemistry there are a handful of core elements: carbon and hydrogen. With some creativity and an understanding of how they interact with each other–and other elements–one can create a lot of different things from drugs to plastic. I just enjoyed experimenting and figuring out what would happen if I tweaked physical conditions, or added a new component, recalls Ahmed. I felt it was almost like cooking. What could I make? What would it look like? How useful would it be? There are millions of things you can do.â€
That natural curiosity also came by way of her father, a civil aeronautical engineer and entrepreneur, and her mother, a lawyer who turned their laundry room into a chemistry lab because she had an affinity toward organic chemistry. Their parenting not only helped Ahmed fit math, chemistry, and physics into the context of the world around her, but also identify the professions associated with them. “Literally everything I looked at around me I could see engineering in it,†she recalls. “For me there was a real connection.â€
Without hesitation she decided to pursue a degree in chemical engineering and didn’t understand why strangers were overly impressed or surprised at the revelation that she graduated with honors when the same reaction wasn’t aimed toward the white girl or Asian guy on stage with her. “I did not have any insecurity. I felt smart, I knew I was smart, and no one could tell me otherwise. I grew up with that validation in my upbringing.â€
Ahmed worked for Honeywell International for four years. She was
the lead manufacturing process engineer tasked with supporting two chemical plants that manufactured sulfuric acid and phenol, which were used in the nylon industry and to make fertilizer. It was a task that she was proud of, but she left to obtain an M.B.A. and realize her dream of running a business.(Continued on next page)
The idea for her company Plum Perfect came to her after monitoring color quality assurance for a product at Honeywell. She remembers thinking about the difficulty of navigating the colors of cosmetic brands as a dark-skinned African American woman. The idea was fleeting, but it reoccurred to her years later while working at Deloitte Consulting doing finance work. She envisioned a product where a user uploads a photo of their face and based on their skin, eye, hair, and lip color, the software engine would color correct the photo, extract the visual information, and then recommend cosmetics that complement the person. So she wrote a business plan, built the software in her spare time, and tried it out on friends and family.
Venture capital firm Kapor Capital caught wind of the idea and contributed toward Ahmed’s friends and family angel round of funding and the building of a website for beta testing. The 33-year-old Ahmed has also been inducted into Astia and Women 2.0; two high-profile Silicon Valley incubators for high-growth, women-owned technology startups.
The company has established revenue sharing relationships with some top brands and retailers. Now with a team of four that includes color scientists, sensory experts, and software engineers, she is relaunching a rebranded, more powerful website and mobile app for beauty and cosmetics. This fall she will add color matching for fashion, in which the engine will recommend complementary products such as ties for shirts; home décor will follow in 2013 with suggestions such as throw pillows for couches.