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Design007-Aug2019

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46 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2019 It was great to hear the feedback from the girls. They enjoyed it. Three years ago was the first year that they were able to find someone in STEM. We're trying to find other local fe- males who are in engineering or a hard science field to share with these girls what it means to be a scientist or an engineer and to encourage them. Becoming a scientist/engineer is some- thing that's obtainable. It's not just geared to- wards men. You have the skills and brainpow- er to do this. They also liked the hands-on aspect. I did an acidic solution project. We used lemon juice on paper and made an invisible ink. Then, if you apply heat, the acid from the lemon oxi- dizes at a different rate than the paper. You can bring about a secret message. They request- ed a more messy and explosive experiment for next year. It's just those little things that they can get their hands on that can be impactful. You can demonstrate a fundamental scientific concept to someone who is young; hopefully, that piques their interest. My main goal was to get them interested. Shaughnessy: Right. Now, you're a chemist. How did you get interested in this field? Campbell: I was always studious. My first bach- elor's degree is in nursing and I took several semesters of anatomy and physiology. I had a professor who was very difficult and bright. After three semesters of those classes, our fi- nal was to take a chocolate chip cookie and put it through the body. You had to name all of the structures of the body that the cookie encountered and name the biological process- es and enzymes. There was a lot of biochem- istry, and I loved it. It was a huge essay, but I thought it was a good way to summarize what you learned over a year and a half in anatomy and physiology. She always encouraged me, saying, "Brooke, you have a great brain. You should go into a harder science." I said, "I struggle with math sometimes." She said, "Yeah, but you can over- come that. It doesn't have to be a hindrance." I worked as a nurse for about 18 months, and while I greatly respect people in the medical community and wanted to help people, I found that nursing just wasn't a good personality fit for me, so I went back to school. I considered molecular biology or chemistry. After intern- ing at a molecular biology facility at the Uni- versity of Cincinnati, I found out that the mar- ket was pretty flooded at the bachelor's and master's levels. I knew some Ph.Ds. who were struggling to find full-time work, so I thought, "This isn't as lucrative as I want." I took a pragmatic approach to what I went back to school for. I started enrolling in more chemistry classes. I thought, "This is lucrative at the bachelor's level, and this is at a master's level." Organic chemistry kind of stinks and I'm saying that as a chemist. Once I started getting to a higher level, understanding how everything interacts and how molecules come to be, it's beautiful. The whole universe is based on energy, and it correlates well to sym- metry in molecules. It fascinated me. A lot of people say, "You're smart," but I had to work hard. I took some classes over again because differential equations are difficult. I've been fortunate to work in a heavy R&D position for the past three years with BTG, helping customers solve adhesion issues from a surface chemistry standpoint. I've also been involved with bonded structures, electronics, implantable medical devices, and the automo- tive world. I love solving problems; I always loved puzzles as a kid. And I learn something new every day. It keeps me on my toes, so I

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