E14 Michelle Easter | Mechatronics Engineer | Powering NASA missions and empowering girls in STEM

Feeling stuck in your current path? Get inspired by Michelle Easter, a former make-up artist and model who pivoted to mechanical engineering in her late 20s and now makes robotic spacecrafts for NASA.

Proof that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams, our second season opener is a fascinating story of switching careers, summoning the courage to start something new, ignoring the naysayers, and following one’s curiosity.

A gifted communicator, she explains in layman’s terms the work she is doing on the Mars Perseverance rover, the Mars Sample Return project, as well as NASA’s low-cost ventilator project in response to the pandemic.

Though she has received many accolades for her work, including the Charles Elachi Early Career Achievement Award, what struck us most about Michelle was her passion for mentoring others and supporting engineering outreach.

This episode is dedicated to all the women in STEM, and to Shana Watts and Kristel Cue for making this interview possible.

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Follow Michelle on IG @metheeaster, on Twitter @michelleeaster, and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmichelleeaster/

More on her work

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/people/4161/michelle-easter/

https://mars.nasa.gov/people/profile/index.cfm?id=23210

http://www.womenintech-swwa.com/uncategorized/michelle-easter-full-interview/

Women of NASA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIvSACh46YM

More about NASA’s low-cost ventilator project (VITAL)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB7SdwkBqHU

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-develops-covid-19-prototype-ventilator-in-37-days

More about Mind Makers, her non-profit that focuses on making robotics education accessible and approachable for new learners of all ages

www.mindmakersproject.org

@mindmakersproject on IG and @mindmakersproj on Twitter

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Correction: The commencement speaker at the BU grad that I referenced was Dr. Ioannis Miaoulis, former President and Director of the Museum of Science in Boston. He was also the former Dean of Tufts University's School of Engineering, not Boston University's College of Engineering.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ioannis-yannis-miaoulis-36123430/

https://trustees.tufts.edu/info/bios/miaoulis/

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Music: “Neon Laser Horizon” by Kevin MacLeod (imcompetech.com) licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Sound Editing by franticsong

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xoxo Jo