Engineering
What’s My Story: Zoologist
Roland Kays started studying animals in a physics class. He thought he wanted to work in a genetic engineering lab but thought better of it when he saw a film about a zoologist peering into prairie dog mounds looking for burrowing owls. He switched his major to zoology and fell in love with mammals. Today, he keeps tabs on thousands of mammals in their natural habitats with the aid of new technology and citizen volunteers at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.
What's My Story: Ph.D. Research Assistant in Chemistry
It took Tana Villafana some time to figure out that she wanted to be a chemist. She started out hoping to be a writer and a musician. But as things worked out, she got to combine her love of the humanities with her love of electromagnetism.
Ph.D. Research Assistant: employed by a university to conduct research while seeking to earn a doctorate degree. They are typically responsible to a principal investigator.
Art Under a New Wavelength
What's My Story: Aeronautical Engineer
Dr. Ashok Gopalarathnam is an associate professor of mechanical & aerospace engineering at NCSU. As a boy he read adventure novels about a detective in Special Air Police. Today he uses wind tunnels and computer simulations to understand the physics of vortices and stalls of airplanes, helicopters, and hand-held drones.
When did you discover you wanted to be an aeronautical engineer?
Riding the Wind
InfoGraphic: How The Rain Flows
Related Resources:
Rain Catchers
NCSU Solar Grant
What's My Story: Water Quality Engineer
Maverick Raber has been a Water Quality Engineer in the Stormwater Division for the City of Durham since 2011. Over the course of his 10-year career, he has worked for private, federal, state and local agencies improving water quality. His career was following a dream driven by a love of fly-fishing for brook trout. When did you discover you liked stormwater?