What I Do I teach courses in the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Utah. I also conduct research on applying machine learning to human gait to improve rehabilitation outcomes.
Why Engineering? I loved medicine and the human body and was really strong in math, biomedical engineering was the perfect combination. STEM allows me to make an impact on human health on a large scale.
School Days I went to high school in a really low income area, not many around me went to college. I first went to a community college to get a radiology tech certificate. Thanks to many mentors, I changed to 4 year program in biomedical engineering at a University. And I kept going, from bachelors, to masters to Ph.D.
My Day At Work Questions I get to solve: How to help the students better engage in the labs for Physiology for Engineers? How can machine learning on wearable sensors be used to inform doctors when a patient is developing complications? What body worn sensors provide the most information for controlling a neuroprosthetics?
Best Part Encouraging students and also making previously unknown discoveries that will help doctors treat patients better.
Proud Moments Last semester three female students told me I inspired them to pursue graduate degrees. My last study using machine learning on wearable sensors discovered an easier way to instruct patients on how to improve their healing following a lower extremity fracture. It goes against the current standard of care, but it is more straight forward and could positively impact rehabilitation for all patients who break their legs.
Challenges Balancing having a family with a career has been my biggest challenge. There are not appropriate maternity leave, childcare support and general flexibility in the work place. I make it work, but there is always this tension with work. They want me to follow the old model, where because one spouse is home full time with the kids, the other spouse can dedicate everything to career. That is not a model that will create opportunities or will get the workforce people with unique talents and skills, it's too limiting and needs to change.
My Family I have a husband who works full time in the tech industry. I have four kids (ages 13, 11, 9 and 7) and one on the way. My oldest is on the autism spectrum and we love being part of that community. We enjoy spending time outdoors and baking as a family.
Dreams and Goals Short term goals are realistically on hold while I have a baby. There is only so much a human can do and expecting women to maintain the same level of productivity they did prior to having a baby is not realistic. I will go back to have more ambitions when the baby is at least a year old. I want to apply for research grants and fund my own research. Develop a course on body worn sensors, and establish myself in the international communities as an expert in machine learning applications to machine learning on body worn sensors for rehabilitation.
Inspiration Honestly, myself. No one taught me how to dream big, I had no role model for that. I have had great support from the women around me. But I had to have the courage to believe in myself and that I could be successful at both motherhood of a large family, and in my career in academia. I still do not know of any women personally with 5 kids and my career.