IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 31

By
NaNcy Salim

A Builder and Teacher

M

Meredith Danowski was interested in engineering before she even knew exactly what
engineering was. Growing up, her favorite
toys were LEGOs and toy cars, and she loved
to watch her grandfather at his workbench fixing things and putting new things together.
In grade school, she realized she had a serious
love for space and decided she wanted to be an
astronaut. She hasn't looked back since.
Currently, Danowski is a fifth year Ph.D.
student in astronomy at Boston University.
She jokingly calls herself the master of all
trades since her daily work often involves bits
of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, optical engineering, physics,
programming, and astronomy, which is
why she says she likes her job so much.
"I get a chance to get my hands on lots
of different components and learn how
they work, and it's never boring," Danowski says.
What's even more engaging and
exciting for Danowski is her dissertaMeredith Danowski, past
tion project which, she says, is one she
president of GWISE (August
holds close to her heart. Her project
2011-January 2013) and
is IMAGER-The Interstellar Medium
IMAGER team member.
Absorption Gradient Experiment
Rocket. Danowski and her team took a
picture of the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101) at ultraviolet wavelengths to see which types of complex stardust live in which parts of a galaxy.
They wanted to know where these complicated
molecules (silicate grains and graphite grains
and hydrocarbons) that form "stardust" exist,
and if the harsh environments in galaxies can
destroy them. These are the molecules that go
into forming stars, planets, and eventually life,
Danowski says, so they really wanted to know
what caused them to form certain places or to
be destroyed.

Danowski espouses
the benefits
of coMMunities

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MWIE.2013.2280393
Date of publication: 11 November 2013
©Can StoCk Photo/miChaeldb

DECEMBER 2013

iEEE women in engineering magazine

31



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013

IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - Cover1
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - Cover2
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 1
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 2
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 3
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 4
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 5
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 6
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 7
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 8
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 9
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 10
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 11
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 12
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 13
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 14
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 15
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 16
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 17
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 18
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 19
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 20
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 21
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 22
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 23
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 24
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 25
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 26
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 27
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 28
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 29
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 30
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 31
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 32
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 33
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 34
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 35
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 36
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 37
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 38
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 39
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 40
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 41
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 42
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 43
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 44
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 45
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 46
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 47
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - 48
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - Cover3
IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2013 - Cover4
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