James Loy:

Major Insight is a production of Miami University. This is where we showcase successful students, their promising new research and its relevance in our world.

As a mechanical and manufacturing engineering double major, Laura Mayer is fascinated by how things work, how they’re put together, and how they can be built even better. She is also interested in exploring the connections between engineering principles and business fundamentals.

Laura is also a member of the Society of Women in Engineering, which is the world's largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology.

And on this episode, she talks about discovering her own engineering passions, her mission to get more young girls involved in the field, and how engineering connects to so many hidden aspects of everyday life.

Peter Everett:

Hello, Laura, thank you for joining us on Major Insight. How are you doing today?

Laura Mayer:

I'm good. How are you, Peter?

Peter Everett:

Awesome. Could you just introduce yourself to everybody listening? What's your major?

Laura Mayer:

Sure. So I'm Laura, I'm a senior this year. I'm double majoring, actually, in mechanical and manufacturing engineering. And I'm minoring in supply chain and operations management.

Peter Everett:

So I know supply chain management is a business school minor, correct?

Laura Mayer:

Yes.

Peter Everett:

So how is the merging of the engineering major and the business school minor? How's that going for you?

Laura Mayer:

It's actually going quite well. I've actually completed quite a few of my supply chain courses. I actually first started the supply chain minor after my first internship. Being a manufacturing engineering intern, I realized there's a lot of great opportunities within supply chain and there's nothing but benefit that can come from somebody overlapping supply chain within business and engineering. So I found that doing that and then applying it to courses, it feels like every single Farmer's course that I've been in they've mentioned engineering and a lot of engineering courses mentioned supply chain. So it's really cool to see those parallels.

Peter Everett:

So how did that look in your internship? Where did you intern, and then what did that look like?

Laura Mayer:

Sure. So my first summer, the one where I kind of decided I wanted to look into supply chain, I worked at Swagelok, which is a fitting and valve company in Cleveland. I worked again as a manufacturing engineering intern. And I actually interned there again the following summer and worked in a department called technical services, which is pretty close to technical sales, where we would reach out to customers for their technical needs, whereas customer service is reaching out for their marketing needs and so on. So interning in that I got to use a lot of my people skills and, again, some of those lead times and logistical knowledge that I gained from supply chain, but also having a good technical knowledge of what types of products are they looking for. And from a technical perspective, how can they meet their specs and those types of things.

Peter Everett:

What classes here at Miami were the most influential or most helpful in maybe implementing that kind of a style of leadership?

Laura Mayer:

Two really big ones come to mind. The first is one, it's called manufacturing processes. It's in the engineering department. And we really talked about the most cost-effective ways that people can produce parts and different types of manufacturing processes that might apply to that. And part of that class was a lab where we actually got to go in and build our own things. And the final project was actually pretty cool for that class.

Peter Everett:

What did you build?

Laura Mayer:

It's kind of funny. We built a pump system, which sounds kind of basic, but we had to source all the materials ourselves. We had to build it and go and machine it. And we had to work in separate groups and come together to put all the components together. And then the final was having it actually pump a bunch of water in the engineering lab. So it sounds kind of lame, but it actually was pretty cool and did take a lot of work. The other class that really comes to mind is one I took, which was marketing 415 ...

Peter Everett:

You don't have to down sell it, by the way. It doesn't sound lame. Just so you know. Don't down sell that, that's impressive. I couldn't do that. I feel like I'm getting an education right now.

Laura Mayer:

Well, there you go. When I say it, engineering people think, "Oh, did you build a car? Did you build an engine?" "Oh, I built a pump. But it was cool." Yes, this marketing 415 class was pretty cool. It was called marketing to corporations and was specifically looking at business to business marketing, whereas we as consumers are super used to customer marketing. So with business to business marketing it was more strategic, and then also combining supply chain. And we even focused, in that class, on manufacturing firms. So that was a really great class to tie things together. And it was really nice to see, again, that connection between engineering and business.

Peter Everett:

I'm curious, how did you discover your passion for engineering and for building things?

Laura Mayer:

That's a good question. My grandpa and my dad were both engineering majors. Well, actually my dad wasn't an engineering major. He works in an engineering job. His degree was in industrial design, so a little different. And growing up, I always helped my dad fix things. Whenever we would go see my grandpa, he was always fixing something and I was always curious as to what was going on. Growing up, I kind of realized I had a fascination for figuring out how things work and it's really become more of a mindset than it is a task. And that kind of happened in high school, that fascination with how things work. And also in high school, I realized I'm pretty good at math. I enjoy math, and talking to some of my teachers in high school, they said, "Well, most people don't like math. And if you do, you should really pursue engineering or something like it."

Peter Everett:

Could you explore the mindset versus task parallel that you just mentioned?

Laura Mayer:

Yeah, absolutely. So I'll just give an example. In some of my classes, we have to reverse engineer a component from our household and then 3D print it and go through the whole manufacturing process. I would say that is a task. Whereas I might be in a store and I might look at something and think, "I wonder how they made that. I wonder how the pieces fit together." Or even watching How It's Made, that show is fascinating to me. I just like thinking about that type of thing, or even around the house, "Why did they put the cabinets together this way? Why couldn't they have done it that way?" Or, "Why does the washing machine work this way?" And I think kind of having that mindset is really why engineers get the reputation of, "We can fix things." And that's just something that I've kind of built on through the years.

Peter Everett:

What's been your most enjoyable class?

Laura Mayer:

There are ....two I already mentioned. Another class that comes to mind was engineering materials, which is a deep study into engineering material science. So in that class we really explored what makes certain metals better than others in certain applications. So like, why would we want to use steel beams in a building instead of aluminum? Well, we kind of did a deep dive into the actual molecular structure of the aluminum seeing this is why it works and this is why it doesn't. And we also applied that to things like plastics. And with plastics, you can really look at medical stuff like implants or aerospace stuff like airplanes. And the lab for that class was also pretty cool. We ended up getting to weld and we also got to melt metal in an oven, which was really cool.

Peter Everett:

That's awesome. And also, you head the Society of Women in Engineering, or are you least a member of that?

Laura Mayer:

I am, and I actually used to be on the executive board for that.

Peter Everett:

Okay. Can you talk a little bit about the mission of that group and what that group means to you?

Laura Mayer:

Absolutely. So Society of Women in Engineering is a club at Miami. Our mission is to promote women in STEM. And a lot of people question why that's so important. And just as an example, I was the only person in my circuits lab... Or sorry, not only person, only woman in my circuits lab last year. So really giving younger girls the confidence that women can do engineering, women can do STEM. And although it's a male dominated field, that doesn't really mean anything. One of our biggest events with that club, and unfortunately it's virtual this year, is something called Girl Scout Day, which is where we have a bunch of Girl Scout troops from the surrounding area come in and we do a series of different experiments with them. Talking about, "This is why STEM is cool. This is why STEM is fun." Just proving to them that we can be role models and that there are options for them if they choose to pursue that. And it's not weird, it's not unladylike. It's totally cool.

Peter Everett:

And so would you say the reason why maybe there aren't as many women in STEM, is it just because of maybe a girl's perception of the field? Would you say there's a stigma around it, or is there some sort of outside force maybe preventing? What do you think it is?

Laura Mayer:

I think it's twofold. I think one, there's just not a lot of role models right now. In the past, it seemed that men always get all the credit for it. And granted, in the past, it has always been men in engineering and that kind of feeds into the same issue. There haven't been many major big women engineers in history. You've got scientists like Marie Curie and others who have definitely been role models, but everyone always seems to look at them as exceptions to the rule and we're trying to not do that. And I think that's kind of where the stigma comes in is they're not exceptions to the rule. It's totally normal. It's totally equal. Anybody can be an engineer and-

Peter Everett:

And their work is exceptional and their life is exceptional because of the work they've done, not because just the mere fact that they're women too, right?

Laura Mayer:

Exactly. Exactly. And it doesn't need to just be that. And I think another thing about the field in general, and this is something I haven't heard for a very long time, but it used to be, girls are bad at math. And that's also not true, but I've heard that before. And I think things like that sometimes maybe lead girls to not want to go into that. And I think that might be why a lot of girls are just turned off by it.

Peter Everett:

Is this is part of the club too, for example when you have Girl Scout Day, are you going through and showing, "Hey, here's different things you could be doing in the field." But I think there's also, I don't know, at least when I hear that major name, I have a very narrow view, I think, of what that major constitutes. I don't really know. I was kind of thinking that, "Oh, there's a lot more things that this major applies to than I probably think." I'm thinking of some robot or Elon Musk type situation, right?

Laura Mayer:

Right. Yeah, there's definitely, with that Girl Scout Day, we have different stations for each major that Miami offers. So we have one with paper science where they actually make their own sheet of paper using paper pulp. We have one that's chemical engineering where we taught them the science behind how slime forms and how it bonds. There was one with mechanical engineering where we built marble roller coasters, talking about the physics behind that and how what's the best way to put these pieces together so that they're structurally sound. So those types of things, kind of saying, "Well, yeah, it's not just robots. It's not just that kind of stuff. It does apply to things that we see every single day."

Peter Everett:

That's fantastic. And then I know you're interning at this pipe fitting company, right? Is that something you're thinking about career wise, "I'd be interested in building stuff like that?"

Laura Mayer:

Absolutely. So what interests me the most about that company is you can really take it any way that you want to because they have valves that are sourcing the military and are in tanks. They have valves that are going to NASA. They have valves that are in ventilators. They have valves that are creating the vaccine for COVID. There's really a lot of different places around the world that our valves go. And valves are one of those things that no one thinks about. It's going back to that business to business thing. No one thinks about valves unless you're someone who has to buy them for your machine. So I'm really interested in spending a few years in industry and that, trying some technical roles, trying some customer-facing roles. And I actually would like to go to business school at some point and get my MBA, definitely.

Peter Everett:

Have you gotten to do any cool tests on some things before, as your internship?

Laura Mayer:

I have, actually. I did something called a lean event. And lean is like a set of manufacturing principles that we apply at Swagelok. And it happened to be where we make our semiconductor valves. The semiconductors are what make the chips that go in the smartphones. So they have to be in a really, really clean process or else any particles in the air will ruin it. So that summer I got to be in the clean room, which is essentially like a big vacuum. You had to dress in a hazmat suit and go in and use the machines. You can't touch anything from the outside. Everything has to be sanitized. I got to do some cool testing in there, which was pretty cool. Just experiencing, "This valve when it comes out can't have any more than two particles in it or else it's going to ruin someone's smartphone." So I did get to do that, and that was pretty fascinating.

Peter Everett:

So are there any professors in particular that really impacted your college journey?

Laura Mayer:

One particular professor that really stood out to me was Dr. Khan. He taught my engineering materials class. He also taught my engineering dynamics class that I took last year. He was a wonderful professor, always gave the most real life examples and also made it just so easy to learn. He was always willing to help when there were questions. Very, very smart, too. Quite a genius. Just hearing him talk about some of the things he was passionate about, like cars, and biking, and stuff and applying it to what we were learning in class just was really fascinating to me. Another professor that is standing out is one of my current professors. Her name is Dr. Xiao. I actually do research with her for additive manufacturing. She is very, very good at what she does, smart. Has made some really cool advances in research, very recently, as has Dr. Khan. Very dedicated to her job, and I've really enjoyed learning from her.

Peter Everett:

And what kind of research are you doing with her right now with this topic?

Laura Mayer:

So Dr. Xiao does research with additive manufacturing. And additive manufacturing is just a very fancy word for 3D printing. What most people don't know is that in addition to doing the basic 3D printing with plastic filament, you can also do 3D printing with resin, and lasers, and metal. And it's really, really cool. There's actually seven different types of 3D printing that exists. And, again, most people think of the most basic form of 3D printing. But with Dr. Xiao we are looking at new technologies that she has actually created herself that involve 3D printing and reducing material costs, reducing material waste. And she actually is the one who kind of came up with that technology. We're trying to prove the quality of parts that come out of this new technology and we're finding ways to do testing on them. And we have a robotic arm coming in soon. It's also going to aid in that.

Peter Everett:

All right. So while not all engineering jobs are like Elon Musk, that particular one is a lot like Elon Musk-y.

Laura Mayer:

It does sound a little Elon Musk-y.

Peter Everett:

That's cool though. That's awesome.

Laura Mayer:

Thank you.

Peter Everett:

All right. And then what kind of parts are you making? What kind of stuff are you making for the tests?

Laura Mayer:

So as far as testing goes, a very classical engineering principle to do material testing is to use like a dog bone shaped piece of material. You put it in a tensile test machine and it pulls. And then when it breaks, you record how much force it took to pull it. And that tells you how strong the material is going to be. That of course is not really useful in the real world. So as far as real-world parts, you can really make anything out of this type of material. But we're looking at trying to prove this quality for applications, like, again, in the military or in bigger industrial applications.

Peter Everett:

So it needs to be super strong.

Laura Mayer:

So it needs to be super strong and something that could replace a part that might currently be made by a different manufacturing process, one that might waste more material. We're looking at how we can replace [crosstalk 00:14:35]

Peter Everett:

So the innovation is really in how much material is being saved and like the cost-effectiveness of it. It's not necessarily like a different type of laser. It's just the laser is cutting away less waste.

Laura Mayer:

It could be that. It could be that. Another example is let's say your tires on your car, the rims inside of them are made with cast molding. So they take a mold and then they pour a bunch of material into it. It solidifies, and there's your car rim. It's a lot of engineering time. It's a lot of material. So it is really that, but it's also looking at new ways to create parts that you can, again, manufacturer economically.

Peter Everett:

Oh, that's super awesome. As a super successful college student, what kind of advice would you give to an incoming college student on maybe how to discover that passion or how to navigate maybe this, I guess, new college world? And even, too, to just make sure your college education really counts for what you want it to count for?

Laura Mayer:

I would say always go in with an open heart. Then I'm going to take this from the perspective that COVID doesn't exist and people are living on campus as normal. And if you want to go over a COVID perspective, we could also do that. But from my experience freshman year, going in with an open heart and realizing that you've got to anticipate it's going to be more difficult than high school. Your free time is going to be a little bit less, but never be afraid to ask for help. Never be afraid to reach out to people. Odds are people are more willing to talk than you think. So I think really it is what you make of it. And it's all about mindset and making sure that you're, again, open to it.

Laura Mayer:

You really have to do what you can with what you've got. So as far, again, I mentioned networking. Getting your name out there, reaching out to professors, other students, just not staying isolated in the sense of speaking to people. Maybe you should stay isolated from a physical sense, not isolating yourself and putting up those walls, trying your best to reach out to people.

Laura Mayer:

I found both at school and in internships, when you reach out to higher ups, like professors, it really makes a difference to them because they remember you more and your name is out there, but also you've got a connection now. You feel a little bit more comfortable doing work in their class. You feel a little bit more comfortable asking for help if you need to.

Peter Everett:

Well, this has been awesome. Thank you so much for coming on.

Laura Mayer:

Thank you for having me.

Peter Everett:

Absolutely.

Laura Mayer:

I enjoyed speaking with you.

James Loy:

Laura Mayor is a senior double majoring in Mechanical engineering and manufacturing engineering, with a minor in supply chain management.

If you've enjoyed this episode of Major Insight, please share it with a friend, with students, or with anyone who hopes to make a powerful impact on their world. You can find more episodes wherever podcasts are found.

SHOW NOTES:

Featured Majors: 

Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain and Operations Management

Featured Organizations and Internships:

Society of Women in Engineering, Swagelok

Faculty Shout Outs:

Fazeel Khan, Professor of Engineering

Xinyi Xiao, Assistant Professor of Engineering

Career Clusters:

Engineering and Technology

Management, Sales and Consulting