Susan McKenna-Lawlor - 2016-17 SPIE Women in Optics Planner
Director, Space Technology Ireland Ltd., Ireland
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Country of Birth: Ireland
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The realization hit when I was entering university that my education in “the polite subjects” was unbalanced and that an introduction to the second pillar of civilization–science–was required.
I am a leader for my group in providing technical inputs to challenging missions that go, for instance, to Mercury and to Jupiter. Also, I lead an international group for the International Academy of Astronautics that considers the radiation hazard incurred by humans in traveling to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The biggest challenge was at the beginning in transferring from topics related to music and literature to experimental physics and mathematics. I almost immediately recognized the wonderful beauty of science and so worked to gain the necessary skills to function in this regime.
There is nothing that I needed especially to be told; I was following the beat of an internal drum.
STEM will repay you a thousand-fold for the effort you put into it and will fill your life with beautiful and inspiring things.