Elizabeth "Ellie" Younger '02
Graduate Student and Graduate Teaching/Research Assistant
Position Description:
Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA): Teach lab sections for
undergraduate (and sometimes graduate) classes. Responsible for
reaching lab methodologies, supervising the lab sessions, updating the
lab manuals, some lab maintenance and grading student work related to
the laboratory classes. I use a prescribed lab manual but am allowed
to
set my own requirements for written assignments and grading guidelines.
Graduate Research Assistant (GRA): Perform directed research under a professor. I was assigned a problem and am working towards a solution/investigation. This work will be related to my thesis and is being directed by my thesis advisor.
Necessary education or experience:
Undergraduate degree in related field. GTA: knowledge of material
to be taught; GRA: senior design or similar experience.
Key skills that are necessary to be successful in your position:
Organization, patience and a willingness to forfeit spare time when
something doesn't work. Both are very independent positions, with
little guidance. Professors expect professionalism and self
motivation. Students expect a lot (just think of how you feel/felt
about your professors as a student).
A description of your path to your current position:
I applied for a program that I liked. The faculty had some familiarity
with MSOE and were very happy to have me enroll. I see my current
position as a stepping stone to an eventual faculty position. I have
had some great experiences and learned a lot about what being a
professor
entails. I recommend that students get a master's degree only if they
see it as vitally important: too many people graduate with an M.S. and
then don't know what to do with themselves.
Good (and bad) aspects of your current position:
Again, the teaching and research have been a perfect opportunity to
see what I would be doing as a professor. It has given me a different
view of being in an educational institution, and definitely recommend
that individuals interested in being a professor try and get an
assistantship; if nothing else for the experience. The people (both
staff and other students) are both the best and worst parts. State
universities are run very differently from MSOE and seeing that is also
very important.
What do you enjoy about your current position?
The freedom of autonomy is very nice. I am able to decide a lot of
my own hours and I usually have no problem motivating myself to get
work
done. The students were really nice to work with in labs and I get a
lot
of personal satisfaction from instructing others. Having the GTA
position has given me the most satisfaction, but the research position
has the benefit of having a physical result.
On MSOE and Biomedical Engineering
Do you think a degree in BE is a good choice?
I think a degree in engineering is a good choice, because it allows
you to do nearly anything you could wish. Biomedical engineering has
its appeal in that it covers the life sciences in addition to
mechanical, electrical and some computer engineering. If you aren't
sure which type of engineering you like the best and know you like the
sciences, there is something in BE you can accomplish.
Do you think MSOE is a good choice of colleges?
MSOE offered me an incredible education. Did I work hard? Yes.
Did I sometimes stay up all night doing homework? Yes. Is engineering
easy? No. It doesn't matter what school you go to; engineering is
not
for the faint of heart. MSOE's BE program has a unique four-year design
program that gives you a different, and I think better, set of tools
than a one or two year design program. You will know your stuff when you
graduate and have the design project to prove it.
Why did you choose MSOE's BE program?
I chose MSOE primarily because I liked the people there; I had
friends who already were enrolled and spent a lot of time with them.
This allowed me to see what it was like before I got there. Once I was
there, I liked that I didn't have to take two years of classes that had
nothing to do with engineering. I got to take laboratory and
engineering classes as a freshman.
What did you like about MSOE?
I really liked the size and location. I appreciated that I knew
most of the people at school and could always find someone who could
relate to my ups and downs. I also liked the location. I spent two
years living off campus but was able to walk to school daily. This
meant I could go home for a break in the day but not have a long
commute. I spent my first two years commuting from New Berlin and it
was miserable.
What did you like about the BE program?
I liked the quantity of labs and the quality of staff and, in
retrospect, the high caliber of the other students, both socially and
academically .
What did you like about the student activities and student life at MSOE?
Student life is something that each student has to get involved in
on their own but if you are willing to look, there is almost guaranteed
to be something going on that you will want to be involved in. The
Student Life Office is great and they provide a lot of excellent
opportunities to get involved. Other schools have far fewer social
events and family events, and I believe these students miss out on
development opportunities.
Now that you are in graduate school, are
you happy with the education that you received in the BE program at MSOE?
I am thrilled with my education. I am currently pursuing my M.S. in BE
and realize now how much I learned and how much more challenging MSOE
is than other schools. It is definitely for the student who wants a
challenge but also wants to do great things in life.
Any other advice?
Regardless of what school you attend, be sure and shadow a current
student and talk to everyone (both staff and students). College is a
great place to learn knowledge, but you also will learn much about
yourself.
| For information about MSOE's B.S. in Biomedical Engineering program, contact interim program director Dr. Charles Tritt at (414) 277-7421. |