Choose to Challenge: Julie Steinbrenner
As a sophomore in high school, Julie Steinbrenner really had never heard of engineering before.
She knew she enjoyed math and science but hadn’t been exposed to the concept of engineering. She moved from Illinois to Colorado between her sophomore and junior year and was exposed to the idea of prepping for college and taking more challenging courses.
During this time, she was invited to a Women in Engineering day hosted at CU Boulder. She was able to attend the event (located in the Discovery Learning Center) with her teacher and a few other students from her high school classes. The volunteers at this event shared what it was like every day to do engineering, and Steinbrenner loved everything she heard. She was drawn to the idea of getting to solve puzzles all day and making an impact with her career.
Highlights
- Earned degrees in mechanical engineering, humanities with a French minor
- Conducted research in Switzerland
- Worked in research and testing for Parc, a branch of Xerox
- Encourages students to take the atypical path
- Foresees engineering becoming more interdisciplinary in future
Soon after, she attended Valparaiso University, where she graduated with a mechanical engineering degree, a French minor, and an associate’s degree in humanities. She was really passionate about engineering but also enjoyed her other passions and wanted to remain well-rounded.
She was incredibly inspired by her thermodynamics professor and worked with him in Switzerland doing research. This is when she started thinking more about graduate school and eventually a PhD.
When she graduated from Stanford with her PhD, she originally worked in industry doing research and testing for Parc, a research branch of Xerox. She enjoyed her time at Parc but was offered a position at CU Boulder when her fiance (now husband) applied to NIST and a CU faculty position. She quickly accepted and looked forward to continuing to work with students through teaching and being a key contributor to mechanical engineering’s senior design program.
Steinbrenner previously had experience teaching students from under-resourced high schools in a college preparatory program and said she really missed the connections with students.
Students who get the chance to take a course with Steinbrenner see how passionate she is about being a professor every day she is in the classroom. While some people have questioned why she would take the route of teaching with her background, she said she doesn’t regret a bit of it and knows she is doing what she loves.
Steinbrenner said she believes there’s “nothing more fulfilling than empowering other people, and that’s the amazing thing about being a professor.”
If she were giving advice to her younger self, Steinbrenner said she would encourage herself to take the atypical path. There were a few times that she took the typical path and didn’t get the unique exposure that would’ve come from expanding her horizons, she said.
“Do the things you think are important for yourself and watch how it shapes your career,” she said.
In the future, Steinbrenner said she hopes to see engineering continue to be more interdisciplinary. As the world is changing and the way we look at technology is changing, conversations about ethics, big-picture ideas and thoughtfulness will be heavily integrated into the design and work of engineers.
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