A Path to Space Exploration: Systems Engineering Propels Williams

Abstract

When Ashley Williams was in high school, she decided that she would become a biomedical engineer. She didn't know many people working in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, but she liked the idea of a career that would allow her to use her talents and interest in math and science to help others. Williams enrolled at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and immersed herself in her major. While there, she joined Engineers Without Borders and led a biomedical engineering program to deliver unused medical equipment to hospitals in Guatemala. In the middle of her junior year, though, she came to the conclusion that something was missing. The question, as graduation loomed, was this: What did she really want to work on every day?