Extreme Engineer: Jessica Heier Stamm
Extreme Engineer Quote
"As you do [volunteer], you will recognize the ways that the skills you're learning in school can be applied and discover exciting ways that engineers can contribute to society..."
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What She Does
As she pursues her Ph.D. in industrial engineering, Jessica is focusing on ways to improve the logistics and distribution systems of humanitarian aid and public health organizations. "It is interesting and challenging to make processes as efficient as possible so that food, water, medicine, and other supplies get to the people that need them," says Jessica.
Her goal is to become an industrial engineering professor after she finishes her Ph.D. "I am really excited about teaching others about these topics and continuing to do research that will help humanitarian organizations do their work more effectively," says Jessica.
Jessica's engineering research involves many different tasks. Some days she meets with leaders from health and humanitarian organizations to identify their challenges and discuss ways that they can improve their logistics systems. Then she uses the information she has gained to develop mathematical models that help the organizations make better decisions about how to design and manage their systems.
Many times, this research requires the development of new techniques and approaches. For that reason, she also spends time writing papers and giving presentations to communicate the findings to other industrial engineers so that they can continue to build on what the research group has learned.
Making a Difference
Jessica's work makes a difference by improving logistics systems in humanitarian and public health organizations. One project she worked on helped improve the vaccine supply chain for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which supports 37 countries in Central and South America with vaccination and disease prevention. Her project helped PAHO identify ways to improve their forecasts of vaccine demand. Ordering too little vaccine means that there could be shortages or the organization might have to pay a higher price to get more vaccines, but ordering too much means that some vaccine will be wasted. She also developed a more accurate method to estimate transportation costs for vaccines shipped throughout the region so they could plan the best ways to distribute the vaccines.
Secondly, by teaching students, writing research papers, and giving presentations to other engineers, Jessica helps others learn about the ways that industrial engineering can impact humanitarian and public health organizations.
Why Engineering?
Jessica did not meet an engineer until the summer before her senior year in high school and still knew little about what they did when she started college. However, thanks to the encouragement of several of her teachers she chose industrial engineering because she liked the challenge of designing and improving systems using skills in leadership, management, math, science, and communication.
She was inspired to get her Ph.D. when she recognized that the concepts she was learning in her industrial engineering classes could help humanitarian organizations improve disaster response in ways that can make a difference in people's lives. Humanitarian organizations face obstacles such as forecasting demand for items, getting in to the right place at the right time, and designing systems to manage all of these processes. "However, there is a huge opportunity for industrial engineers to improve these processes and make a difference in the lives of people affected by disasters," says Jessica.
Advice
Jessica explained that it is useful to volunteer, shadow, or work with community organizations that address issues that are important to you. "As you do, you will recognize the ways that the skills you're learning in school can be applied and discover exciting ways that engineers can contribute to society," says Jessica.
Hobbies
Jessica and her husband enjoy cooking and experimenting with new recipes. Jessica says, "There are some parallels between cooking and doing research - both involve problem-solving, trying new ideas, and a bit of uncertainty!" She also enjoys hiking, spending time with family and friends, and playing the piano and flute.
Education
During high school, Jessica attended Quinter High School in Quinter, KS and graduated in 2000.
She then went on to Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS to earn a degree in Industrial Engineering and a minor in Music in 2004. Currently, she is pursuing a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), in Atlanta, GA and is expected to graduate in the summer of 2010.
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