Haley Antoine

I work in the Safety and Crashworthiness department at Toyota. We focus on designing and testing safety features like air bags, seat belts, and strategically place different types of foam, in conjunction with the structure of the car itself to make our vehicles as safe as possible in case of a car crash! Not only are we concerned for those inside the vehicle, but we are concerned about those outside the vehicle! This is what I do! I work on designing and testing the outside (and a bit of the inside) of the front of the vehicle so it doesn't cause major head or leg injuries for pedestrians! 

When I was in high school, I thought I wanted to be an engineer because I was good at math and science. I thought that majoring in Biomedical Engineering would be the perfect blend of these. And while that all is true, when I got to college, I came to know engineering as much more than just math and science. Whether you are designing a bridge, building an artificial heart valve, creating a phone application, or researching a vaccine, the end user of whatever you do as an engineer is always another human being, and I think that is incredibly special.

I got my Bachelors of Science from Cornell University in Biomedical Engineering. I am currently a part-time Johns Hopkins Masters Student in Mechanical Engineering. Engineering companies will often partially or fully sponsor a graduate degree which is a great perk of being an engineer! 

Engineering is exciting because it is incredibly interdisciplinary. This means that when you go to work you won't just collaborate with one type of engineer - it takes a team of engineers to create something. Your individual work also might not be just purely one type of engineering! Also, you might work with artists, designers, marketing, manufacturing, legal or policy groups, and more to produce your product. 

I grew up in the world of FIRST Robotics in San Diego. I had incredible female mentors whose dedication to sharing their knowledge of engineering with the team gave me the courage to pursue Biomedical Engineering (BME) in college. It was pretty awesome that they took time after an exhausting work day to mentor a bunch of high school students on not only the technical aspects of our robot but also in leadership, communication, presentation skills, and more. They paved the way for me to become an engineer and I am incredibly grateful for that.

My advice to a future leading lady in engineering would be this: You have to be your own advocate. Being in a STEM field isn't easy, it takes hard work and you have to be the one to push yourself along. Seek out and take opportunities when they come to you. Make connections with those around you because you never know, your freshman year of college intro chemistry lab partner might just be your co-worker at a huge biotechnology company one day. I always remind myself that I am riding on a smoother road that groundbreaking women paved before me - so don't forget to lift others up as you go along your path, and when you get to where you want to be, return to the communities who built you up - your high school, your soccer team, your robotics team, your Girl Scout Troop, etc. There is always work to be done and others to help. Your impact on your field will never end with you because you have inspired an army of people coming up behind you with who will continue to push change, inclusion, and innovation in STEM.

Outside of work I love anything to do with the outdoors - hiking, walking, biking, swimming, paddle boarding, kayaking, snow shoeing - the list goes on and on! I am also a competitive Irish Dancer!