Nifty One Fifty:
Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010
Timeframe: 8:00am - 11:00 am
Alison Marsden has something to say to young students about engineering.
"Engineers do not just design planes, cars and other machinery," says the noted mechanical and aerospace engineering scientist, "Engineering is changing dramatically and is providing many opportunities to work in fields that impact virtually every aspect of our lives." For example, she says, engineers are now becoming increasingly involved in solving problems in medicine, biology, disease, energy and the environment.
Alison should know. She is currently using her skills in mechanical and aerospace engineering to design computer models in medicine, which after successful testing, will help heart surgeons improve upon an existing surgical procedure to treat children with severe heart defects.
To design the new variation of this procedure, Alison and her colleagues are developing computer models that help determine that the heart's blood flow behavior performs up to par under simulated surgical conditions before doctors actually use the procedure on patients in the operating room. The new procedure will be performed on children with heart defects for the first time at Stanford University Hospital later this year.
"This concept is similar to the way engineers use computers and analytical tools to design and test an airplane before pilots actually fly it," says Alison. In addition to her work in medicine, she has played a key role in developing methods that address other problems in fluid mechanics.
What influenced this native of Berkeley, CA to pursue engineering? Well, it was a combination of her childhood environment, parental motivation, and a love for music.
"I have always been interested in math and science, in addition to coming up with creative solutions to problems," says Alison, "mainly because I was exposed to these influences from an early age. "As a young child, my mom signed me up for fun science classes at the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, and I did a lot of fun nature things with my family. This led to an interest in plants, animals and natural biology."
She describes her parents as "always encouraging, but never pushy. They were always happy with my best efforts." Her father (himself a noted mathematician) exposed her to mathematics as a child, starting her out on math workbooks that he personally devised and put together. Her mother, an avid hiker and photographer who enjoyed traveling the West, brought out the adventurous, independent spirit in Alison.
And then there was her childhood love of music. "I played the clarinet quite seriously as a high school student in the local youth orchestra and school band," she says, and through music practice she developed a serious work ethic. "I also believe there is a strong connection between math and music that helped me develop analytical skills which also formed the basis for my interest in engineering."
Linked closely with her passion about engineering, is her interest in motivating more young girls to pursue the profession. Says Alison: "I worry that many girls are scared off from science and engineering because of stereotypes that you have to be a geeky guy to be an engineer. That's not true, engineering is for geeky girls too!"
