This Editor’s Note will appear in the June Edition of ECN.
They say all good things must come to an end, but I’m sad to say this will be my last issue (Editor’s Note: And my last day!) of ECN.
When I started at ECN as an associate editor just four short–or super long, depending on the day–years ago, I didn’t know a capacitor from a hole in the ground. Now I annoy my friends and family with conversations about the latest advancements in LEDs after every LightFair and how GaN is really making progress after hitting up APEC. Needless to say, it’s been a learning experience.
As I move on to adventures unknown, I’d like to take a brief walk through my ECN timeline.
Many moons ago, I wrote my first piece for ECNmag.com about using technology just to use technology versus utilizing it to improve an experience. Honestly, I still think QR codes are the most useless technology to ever come along. Some things haven’t changed, but I’ve learned a lot along the way.
If you had asked me when I started if I would be as fascinated with the potential for 3D printing as I am because of this job, I would have told you not a chance in hell, and no, I’m not interested in purchasing a bridge. Honestly, I thought we had the same chance of having flying cars as we did of having autonomous cars, and now I can’t wait until I don’t have to do anything but tell my car where to go. Drones held no interest to me until I found out how useful they are. (Amazon drones, guys!)
Sure, there’s been a lot of technology that has fascinated me, even things like power leakage in wearables are pretty interesting. But one thing that I did not expect to get as swept up in was diversity in engineering and STEM education. I’ve always been a pretty passionate advocate of providing girls with the same opportunities as boys. You might even say, I’m a feminist—pause for effect—but this was something different. Sometimes it felt like I was shouting into the void. I would often receive emails and private notes from women in the field who thanked me for writing about the topic but didn’t feel welcome in the comment section or just didn’t want to rock the boat. The emails are great, but the reason behind them indicated there is still a lot of work to be done. While I’ll continue fighting the good fight and pointing out inequalities for women and minorities in STEM, I’m officially passing the torch for ECN.
So, dear readers, who love your careers and claim to have “had a calling” to be an engineer, I challenge you. I challenge you to mentor a younger engineer—male or female—and teach them about engineering. I challenge you to buy your daughters and nieces blocks and erector sets and encourage them to destroy every clock, electronic, and toy to figure out how it works. I challenge you to be a team leader for a high school robotics team or help a group build a trebuchet for a pumpkin chunkin’ contest. It’s the age of the nerds, man, so I challenge YOU to share with the world why you became an engineer.
While I’m sure you’ll all have plenty to say about that, I won’t be reading anymore comment sections. I leave you in capable hands and hope that you’ll continue to read and enjoy ECN for years to come.
Until next issue (where you won’t see me),
Kasey