I am passionate about engineering - it is a beautiful profession that shapes every aspect of our world, solves our problems, and encourages creativity and elegance. Unfortunately, the contemporary image of engineering in the US is largely pocket-protectors and glasses, Dilbert nerds and antisocial dudes that spend more time looking at their shoes than looking up at people. This is reflected in the demographics of engineering: still over 80% male and 80% Caucasian/over-represented majority despite moderate gains over the last 20 years to encourage women and under-represented minorities to pursue engineering as a career. I believe that engineering can and should be so much more! After all, inventions and technology affect all of us - so shouldn’t they be designed by all of us, too?

I remain optimistic about getting more women and minorities involved in engineering - and I believe yoga is one way to make it happen. In yoga, we are constantly talking about engineering concepts like force, momentum, and energy, and feeling these concepts embodied through movement and breath. If we can take even a fraction of this tangible understanding into an engineering classroom and teach students these concepts first through their bodies instead of the canonical examples of planes, trains, automobiles, baseballs, pipes, and wrenches, we empower students to look within for the answers and realize them internally instead of relying on external sources or previous experience. By using the human body as the foundational starting point upon which we build an understanding of engineering, we begin from a place of equal footing across all students, a place of fundamental shared connection across each human body. In doing so, we can change the culture of engineering from an exclusive club whose membership is determined by past experience and reliance on outdated tradition to something entirely inclusive of all people. We can transform the culture of engineering so that it appeals to a broader, more diverse range of individuals.

It starts here, now. See the collection of examples on this page and for detailed examples, check out my blog. I am funded by the National Science Foundation through a Graduate Research Fellowship for the next three years to study teaching engineering through the body. For academic details, references, background theory and more see my downloadable research plan here: ResearchPlan_final.pdf