FUN FACTS: Women in STEM
(above) Ursula M. Burns
Winifred Edgerton Merrill: First woman to receive a degree from Columbia, and first American woman to receive a PhD in Mathematics (1886).
Ursula M Burns: Received M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia (1981), Chairman and CEO of Xerox, first black-American woman to head a fortune 500 company.
Gloria Reinish: First woman to receive a degree from Columbia Engineering (after the school began admitting women in 1943). Received her B.S. in 1945 in Electrical Engineering, M.S. in 1948 in Electrical Engineering, and her Eng.Sc.D. in 1974 in Bioengineering. She is a pioneer in Bioengineering and became one of the first Columbia women to receive a doctorate in the field (‘74). She is the only woman who has been a student at Columbia at the same time as her child, and the only Columbia alumna who can claim that both her child and grandchild attended Columbia Engineering.
Anna Kazanjian Longobardo: First woman to receive a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia (1949), received M.S. from Columbia in 1952. One of the first women in the United States to work on board of Navy ships and vessels and first woman to receive and Egleston medal. She is the former directory of the engineering firm Woodward Clyde Group and executive at Unisys Corp. She is one of the founders of Society of Women Engineers.
Eleanor Leland: First woman to receive a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Columbia (1945), joined General Electric shortly after.
Professor Kathleen McKeown: First woman to receive tenure at Columbia Engineering (1989)
Professor Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic: First woman at Columbia woman to be elected to the National Academy of Engineering (2012)
Dean Mary C Boyce: First woman to become Columbia Engineering Dean (2013)
Ursula M Burns: Received M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia (1981), Chairman and CEO of Xerox, first black-American woman to head a fortune 500 company.
Gloria Reinish: First woman to receive a degree from Columbia Engineering (after the school began admitting women in 1943). Received her B.S. in 1945 in Electrical Engineering, M.S. in 1948 in Electrical Engineering, and her Eng.Sc.D. in 1974 in Bioengineering. She is a pioneer in Bioengineering and became one of the first Columbia women to receive a doctorate in the field (‘74). She is the only woman who has been a student at Columbia at the same time as her child, and the only Columbia alumna who can claim that both her child and grandchild attended Columbia Engineering.
Anna Kazanjian Longobardo: First woman to receive a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia (1949), received M.S. from Columbia in 1952. One of the first women in the United States to work on board of Navy ships and vessels and first woman to receive and Egleston medal. She is the former directory of the engineering firm Woodward Clyde Group and executive at Unisys Corp. She is one of the founders of Society of Women Engineers.
Eleanor Leland: First woman to receive a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Columbia (1945), joined General Electric shortly after.
Professor Kathleen McKeown: First woman to receive tenure at Columbia Engineering (1989)
Professor Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic: First woman at Columbia woman to be elected to the National Academy of Engineering (2012)
Dean Mary C Boyce: First woman to become Columbia Engineering Dean (2013)
Prof. Kristin Myers Earns Presidential Early Career Award
Mechanical Engineering professor focuses on mechanical stresses on female reproductive system during pregnancy, specifically pre-term birth.
Kristin Myers, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has won the Presidential Early Career Award (PECASE), the highest honor the U.S. government gives to outstanding young scientists and engineers. Myers, who studies the material behavior of biological soft tissues with a focus on the female reproductive system and pregnancy and specifically pre-term birth, joins a select group of researchers noted for their exceptional promise to advance the frontiers of scientific knowledge and for their leadership in science and technology.
“This national award is a great recognition of the work we’re doing in exploring the mechanics of the cervix and determining the biomechanical mechanisms that may cause preterm birth,” says Myers, who was nominated for the PECASE by the National Science Foundation (NSF). “I’m honored to join such a distinguished group of researchers. This is an award you shoot for early in your career and it is such a thrill to receive one. I am especially honored to be nominated by the NSF, who has supported my academic career since the graduate research fellowship.”
“This national award is a great recognition of the work we’re doing in exploring the mechanics of the cervix and determining the biomechanical mechanisms that may cause preterm birth,” says Myers, who was nominated for the PECASE by the National Science Foundation (NSF). “I’m honored to join such a distinguished group of researchers. This is an award you shoot for early in your career and it is such a thrill to receive one. I am especially honored to be nominated by the NSF, who has supported my academic career since the graduate research fellowship.”
A leading cause of death in children under five in the United States and around the world, pre-term birth (PTB, birth before 37 weeks of gestation) rates are high in both the United States and around the world. Its causes are still not well understood, and Myers’ research focuses on determining exactly what causes premature cervical remodeling, softening, and dilating, and the mechanical dysfunction of the cervix.
“What really motivates us,” she says, “is figuring out the structural antecedents of preterm birth, a major long-lasting public health problem with heavy emotional and financial consequences.”
Myers won an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award in 2015 for her project, “Growth and Remodeling of the Uterine Cervix during Pregnancy,” which was cited by the NSF in its nomination. As part of this project, her team is measuring the mechanical and biochemical property changes of the cervix under various hormonal cues in order to develop a set of equations that can predict the mechanical function of the cervix during pregnancy.
Using the experimental and modeling results from her CAREER award, the Myers group is collaborating with clinical colleagues in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center on building a fast and flexible computational mechanics framework to clinically diagnose and treat mechanical failure in pregnancy. They are using experimental, theoretical, and computational mechanics to calculate and study the loading environment of pregnancy and postpartum recovery.
“If we can predict pregnancy outcomes through non-invasive, patient-specific metrics that we assess early in gestation, and make an early and precise diagnosis, then we should be able to develop methods to truly restore the mechanical integrity of the pregnant abdomen,” notes Myers, who began her career studying the mechanical stresses and failure properties of over-heated automobile tires at the University of Michigan before switching to biomechanics while earning her MS and PhD degrees at MIT. Inspired by a new project exploring the mechanical properties of the cervix in the lab of Simona Socrate at MIT, Myers was eager to apply non-linear mechanics to such an understudied topic of pregnancy biomechanics.
“Applying large-deformation mechanics just makes sense when considering the female body during pregnancy and delivery,” Myers adds.
Myers will receive the PECASE award with 314 other honorees, including three Columbia University colleagues--Luis Campos, associate professor of chemistry, Cory Dean, professor of condensed matter physics, and Timothy Berkelbach, assistant professor of chemistry—on July 25 at a ceremony in Washington, DC. The PECASE was established in 1996 to acknowledge the contributions scientists and engineers have made to the advancement of STEM education and to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, and community outreach. The awards foster innovative and far-reaching developments in science and technology, increase awareness of careers in science and engineering, give recognition to the scientific missions of participating agencies, enhance connections between fundamental research and national goals, and highlight the importance of science and technology for the nation's future.
“This national award is a great recognition of the work we’re doing in exploring the mechanics of the cervix and determining the biomechanical mechanisms that may cause preterm birth,” says Myers, who was nominated for the PECASE by the National Science Foundation (NSF). “I’m honored to join such a distinguished group of researchers. This is an award you shoot for early in your career and it is such a thrill to receive one. I am especially honored to be nominated by the NSF, who has supported my academic career since the graduate research fellowship.”
“This national award is a great recognition of the work we’re doing in exploring the mechanics of the cervix and determining the biomechanical mechanisms that may cause preterm birth,” says Myers, who was nominated for the PECASE by the National Science Foundation (NSF). “I’m honored to join such a distinguished group of researchers. This is an award you shoot for early in your career and it is such a thrill to receive one. I am especially honored to be nominated by the NSF, who has supported my academic career since the graduate research fellowship.”
A leading cause of death in children under five in the United States and around the world, pre-term birth (PTB, birth before 37 weeks of gestation) rates are high in both the United States and around the world. Its causes are still not well understood, and Myers’ research focuses on determining exactly what causes premature cervical remodeling, softening, and dilating, and the mechanical dysfunction of the cervix.
“What really motivates us,” she says, “is figuring out the structural antecedents of preterm birth, a major long-lasting public health problem with heavy emotional and financial consequences.”
Myers won an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award in 2015 for her project, “Growth and Remodeling of the Uterine Cervix during Pregnancy,” which was cited by the NSF in its nomination. As part of this project, her team is measuring the mechanical and biochemical property changes of the cervix under various hormonal cues in order to develop a set of equations that can predict the mechanical function of the cervix during pregnancy.
Using the experimental and modeling results from her CAREER award, the Myers group is collaborating with clinical colleagues in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center on building a fast and flexible computational mechanics framework to clinically diagnose and treat mechanical failure in pregnancy. They are using experimental, theoretical, and computational mechanics to calculate and study the loading environment of pregnancy and postpartum recovery.
“If we can predict pregnancy outcomes through non-invasive, patient-specific metrics that we assess early in gestation, and make an early and precise diagnosis, then we should be able to develop methods to truly restore the mechanical integrity of the pregnant abdomen,” notes Myers, who began her career studying the mechanical stresses and failure properties of over-heated automobile tires at the University of Michigan before switching to biomechanics while earning her MS and PhD degrees at MIT. Inspired by a new project exploring the mechanical properties of the cervix in the lab of Simona Socrate at MIT, Myers was eager to apply non-linear mechanics to such an understudied topic of pregnancy biomechanics.
“Applying large-deformation mechanics just makes sense when considering the female body during pregnancy and delivery,” Myers adds.
Myers will receive the PECASE award with 314 other honorees, including three Columbia University colleagues--Luis Campos, associate professor of chemistry, Cory Dean, professor of condensed matter physics, and Timothy Berkelbach, assistant professor of chemistry—on July 25 at a ceremony in Washington, DC. The PECASE was established in 1996 to acknowledge the contributions scientists and engineers have made to the advancement of STEM education and to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, and community outreach. The awards foster innovative and far-reaching developments in science and technology, increase awareness of careers in science and engineering, give recognition to the scientific missions of participating agencies, enhance connections between fundamental research and national goals, and highlight the importance of science and technology for the nation's future.
Chemical Engineer Allie Obermeyer Honored with NSF CAREER Award
Obermeyer is focused on improving human health by developing protein- and polymer-based materials for biomedical applications.
The National Science Foundation has awarded Allie Obermeyer, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, with the NSF CAREER Award, its most prestigious honor given to early-career faculty. Obermeyer, whose research bridges chemistry, biology, and engineering, is focused on improving human health by developing protein- and polymer-based materials for biomedical applications. The five-year $600,000 NSF grant will support her project, “Complex Coacervation in Cells.”
“Proteins are an incredible class of polymers,” Obermeyer says. “The precise sequence of amino acid monomers is rapidly biosynthesized and encodes the necessary information to transform the simple polymer chain into a folded functional biomacromolecule. Protein biopolymers have many amazing properties, including spectacular strength, the ability to dynamically assemble and disassemble, and they can function as reliable machines and catalysts.”
Obermeyer’s lab capitalizes on the diverse structure and function found in native proteins by engineering complementary functionality into new protein-based materials. The group makes genetic or synthetic modifications to gain responsive control of protein assembly and activity. One of the ways they do this is to use interactions with charged polymers as a method for encapsulating and stabilizing proteins.
When the conditions are right, the charged polymer and protein can “de-mix” to create a new liquid phase in a process known as complex coacervation. This new liquid phase can be used to stabilize the protein component, mimic the cellular environment, or enhance protein activity. In fact, in the past decade it has become apparent that cells use a similar strategy to organize cellular contents into structures termed membrane-less organelles. As in a salad dressing of oil and vinegar, the phase-separated membrane-less organelle and the surrounding cellular contents do not mix together.
Obermeyer’s NSF project is focused on using complex coacervation to create artificial membrane-less organelles in E.coli bacteria. “Our central hypothesis,” she says, “is that electrostatic interactions can be used to drive the liquid-liquid phase separation of proteins with other biological molecules to mimic the formation of natural membrane-less organelles.”
If she is successful in engineering the formation of artificial organelles in a range of organisms her project will be a major advance in synthetic biology.
“We’ll be able to better study, in a systematic way, the factors that influence complex coacervation of proteins and to develop new protein-based materials with a broad range of applications, ranging from drug delivery and protein purification to metabolic engineering,” Obermeyer observes. “Receiving this NSF grant is both a great honor and a huge boost to our research efforts to address challenges in protein engineering, biotechnology, and synthetic biology.”