In a groundbreaking achievement for Florida A&M College (FAMU), Second Lieutenant Briona Carswell has turn out to be the primary graduate of FAMU’s Supplies Science and Engineering Program on the FAMU-FSU School of Engineering. Her accomplishment marks a major milestone for each the establishment and illustration in STEM fields, significantly for underrepresented communities in engineering.
Navy service meets tutorial excellence
What units Carswell aside isn’t simply her historic tutorial achievement – it’s her distinctive potential to stability navy service with rigorous tutorial pursuit. Finishing her grasp’s diploma in simply 18 months whereas sustaining energetic navy duties, she targeted her analysis on the solidification and crystallization of biodegradable polyesters, work that addresses urgent environmental challenges.
FAMU’s Carswell says the trail to navy service wasn’t all the time clear. “It wasn’t one thing I initially needed to do as a child,” she mirrored. A good friend’s expertise on the Air Power Academy sparked her curiosity, resulting in a tour that modified her trajectory. “I fell in love with the thought of serving my nation, doing one thing greater than myself, ” she displays.
Management growth
On the Air Power Academy, Carswell distinguished herself as director of operations for her squadron, managing 100 cadets. This position proved foundational for her later tutorial success. “Transferring round 100 individuals, getting all of them to do one factor on the similar time may be very troublesome,” she famous. These management expertise translated on to her analysis work, the place collaboration and exact timing had been essential.
Her navy service additionally included a major position within the Academy’s range and inclusion program, the place she labored to combine new views throughout models. This expertise enhanced her potential to work with various analysis groups and strategy issues from a number of angles.
FAMU’s innovation in analysis
Beneath the mentorship of Professor Rufina Alamo, a revered determine in polymer science, Carswell’s analysis broke new floor in understanding materials fabrication processes. “Her focus and philosophy had been extra so on the entire mission of how these smaller issues we see within the supplies have an effect on the bigger scale once we take it to trade,” Carswell defined. This consideration to element proved essential in her analysis success.
When confronted with analysis challenges, Carswell’s strategy exemplified scientific curiosity. “After we first performed the preliminary soften processing, we had been truly fairly confused,” she mentioned. “So, we acquired curious, and we’re like, ‘Effectively, let’s simply put one thing that’s just a little less complicated collectively and see what occurs.’ ”
HBCU legacy and future influence
FAMU, Carswell’s HBCU alternative for her graduate research, was influenced by each private historical past and institutional excellence. Coming from a household of HBCU graduates, together with her father, {an electrical} engineer from Tuskegee College, she sought out an HBCU program in her discipline. FAMU stood out among the many solely three HBCUs providing applications in supplies science and engineering.
“I’ve a really lengthy household historical past of HBCU graduates,” Carswell famous. “After I needed to go for my second diploma, I seemed for an HBCU.” Her success opens doorways for future generations of underrepresented college students in STEM fields. She emphasizes the significance of seizing alternatives: “It doesn’t actually matter the place you come from… any alternative that’s given to you, regardless of how small it might or will not be, take it since you don’t know the place it’s going to steer you.”
Wanting forward
As she strikes ahead in her profession, Carswell stays humble about her historic achievement. “It’s really a testomony to my household, my mates, all my mentors out and in of the Air Power, my mentors on the School of Engineering and FAMU,” she mirrored. “They’re the the explanation why I’m standing right here at the moment.”
By way of her achievements in navy management, tutorial excellence, and pioneering analysis, Carswell exemplifies the potential for excellence when willpower meets alternative. Her groundbreaking accomplishment at FAMU not solely marks a historic first but additionally serves as an inspiration for future generations of STEM students from underrepresented communities.
Her message to aspiring STEM college students is obvious: “Lean in your help system, it doesn’t matter what that will appear to be… That’s what’s going to get you to your final objective.”
This text was crafted utilizing AI to remodel an intensive interview with Second Lt. Briona Carswell right into a concise narrative whereas preserving the integrity of her historic achievement.