Linda Vick
New Jersey
In a picture featuring her parents , her husband , her sister , and one of her daughters , Linda Vick is not an anomaly . Five of the six in the photo are mechanical engineers .
“ I wasn ’ t the kid who took things apart ,” said Vick , now an associate professor of practice and academic and career advisor for undergraduate students . “ My dad was an engineer , and he would let us hang out at his workbench when we were kids and watch him fix and design things . He was always excited about sharing what he did .”
Vick ’ s first realization that engineering might be in her future was in middle school
"( my father ' s ) hobbies involved fixing things and he was excited about sharing what he knew ." when she had to do a career project and didn ’ t like the career she chose . “ Whenever you ’ re good at math and science , people always say things like , ‘ you should be an engineer ’ so there was always encouragement .”
By her senior year of high school Vick had earned an internship in a materials science group which set her course .
“ It was an internship for females and minorities and it made me think that , yeah , this is cool ,” she said . “ Once I got to that point , there was a family of engineers to egg me on . My father was an engineer , my older brother was an engineer , and my younger sister is as well .”
Receiving her bachelor ’ s degree in 1985 and master ’ s in 1987 , Vick made the jump
Linda Vick with children Everett and Alison , 10 months old when their mother received her doctoral diploma .
to industry and worked in several jobs before coming back to earn her doctoral degree .
In 1993 , as a married 30-year old with two kids , pursuing a doctoral degree in engineering made Vick something of a non-traditional student .
MOMENTUM SPRING 2018
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