Allison Anderson, the 2020 Young Professional Engineer of the Year (Rocky Mountain AIAA), has been a professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead听Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the 麻豆影院 since 2017.听
Throughout her time, she has focused on research involving space and aviation biomedical issues in addition to spacesuit design. She has authored and co-authored numerous research papers and presentations, mentored and taught countless students, and gave a TEDx talk on spacesuits for Mars missions. Some of the notable awards she has received include National Academy of Science New Leader in Space Science in 2016听and National Space Biomedical Research Institute First Award Fellow in 2014.听
Highlights
Anderson has always loved space, but her curiosity catalyzed when she was in third grade, she nostalgically recounted.
鈥淥ur teacher spent the day telling us about astronauts, and I just thought that was the coolest thing ever,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淚t amplified my love for space because it was the first time I realized that people could go there, and it really fascinated me.鈥澨�
She began her journey into human spaceflight at the University of Southern California, where she earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in astronautics engineering. She then continued to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for double master鈥檚 degrees in aerospace engineering and technology policy as well as a PhD in aerospace biomedical engineering.听
Deciding to become a professor was an easy choice, she said.
鈥淚 got hooked on teaching through outreach,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 really wanted to be a professor because I couldn鈥檛 give up research and I couldn鈥檛 give up teaching.鈥�
At the 麻豆影院, she is on the 鈥済round floor of a true scientific debate of a really unknown (problem)鈥� that aims to discover why astronauts鈥� eyes flatten while they are in space.听
She passionately affirmed this research is 鈥渆xciting from a scientific breakthrough perspective. Understanding how the eye changes in microgravity is a relatively recent problem, and there was not a lot of certainty around what was causing it.鈥澨�
As for the future of her research, she said, 鈥淚 am excited because I feel like a lot of my research threads are starting to merge and integrate. I find that really exciting because I think we鈥檙e able to continue being interdisciplinary while pulling in from other areas.鈥�
She doesn鈥檛 shy away from giving thanks to the pioneers and the mentors who empowered her journey throughout her career as a professor in STEM.听
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e first starting this job, there is a lot you don鈥檛 know and don鈥檛 understand,鈥� she said. 鈥淓very single one of (my mentors) approached working with me from the perspective of helping me figure it out and advancing my career by providing really useful advice, which I have been very lucky to have.鈥�
She has also embraced her role as a female professor.听
鈥淥nce I became a professor and I noticed just how few female professors there really are, I realized how much my students in the classroom recognized that,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I think that is where I began to want to step into that role more.鈥澨�
When asked what advice she would give to her younger self, she takes a minute to think.
鈥淚 am a big believer that where you came from makes you who you are, and if you鈥檙e happy where you are, you shouldn鈥檛 wish to change things from the past, even if those experiences were negative,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ne of the things I would tell my younger self is just to not second-guess yourself and the degree to which what you鈥檙e doing is good or valuable or important鈥� 鈥� advice she still tells herself to this day.听
This advice provides reinforcement and courage for aspiring engineers across all domains and ranging from all experience levels in the STEM community.
Where does she envision her leadership at the university heading? She exhibits an eager smile at this question.听
鈥淥ne of the things that is really incredible about CU is you feel a vibrancy across the engineering school. I think you see that at a lot of other universities, people sort of talk about being stagnant or stationary, and you just don鈥檛 get that sense at all at CU. Every department across the college is growing. Every department has more professors, more buildings, more students, our reputations are rising and I think that is the growth period ... that is synced with this national and global emphasis on STEM and technology.鈥�
麻豆影院 the Author
I am Madisen Purifoy-Frie, and I am an aerospace engineering student in the class of 2022. Allie Anderson is such an amazing facility member, and I am honored that she let me highlight her.
Allison Anderson
One of the things I would tell my younger self is just to not second-guess yourself and the degree to which what you鈥檙e doing is good or valuable or important.听