>>CIARA: Originally, like I wanted to be a chef
and I was really interested in like pastries and things.
And I had a high school teacher say like,
"Oh, you should look into chemical engineering.
"You're really interested in chemistry."
So I was in the nuclear engineering
and radiological sciences department.
I was in the master's and PhD program.
I got a master's in 2015 and my PhD in 2018.
I always thought this idea of like,
how can we, like, use this science
to solve different problems?
And that's kinda how I got interested in engineering.
>>ZOE: And so how did you decide to
then turn to nuclear engineering here?
>>CIARA: Yeah, so I did my undergrad at MIT,
and so when I went to visit my host
was actually a chemical engineer.
And so I started talking to her about like,
"Oh, I'm interested in atoms
"and I'm interested in antimatter, and all of these"
and her response was kinda like,
"Well you know, chemical engineering
"might not be what you really wanna do.
"Maybe you wanna look into nuclear engineering."
I ended up trying and I started,
you know, when I got to MIT doing that
and I ended up really liking it.
So once I started learning more about
like all the different applications
and I was really interested in
the Non-Proliferation aspect and radiation detection
and that thing, that's kinda where Michigan
came in for a grad school, 'cause like,
Michigan is known for their radiation detection expertise.
A lot of the things I work on an APL,
are like I can't talk about them.
So, [laughing] yeah.
>>ZOE: As much as you can.
>>CIARA: Yeah, I'll try to, yeah, so APL is in Maryland.
It's its own separate entity from Johns Hopkins University,
but it's affiliated.
I'm in the air missile defense sector.
So I still have a title of nuclear engineer.
A lot of my work is focused on simulations
and radiation effect right now.
And I've also, you know, trying to
do some radiation detection work
in different avenues and there's
a lot of different sectors within APL.
So like I said, I'm in AMDS,
but there's like a space sector that I do work in.
There's a asymmetric operation sector
that also does some security and radiation detection work
that I'm interested in working on.
So that's kinda what I'm doing right now.
>>ZOE: So what do you find most exciting about your job?
>>CIARA: Oh, the most exciting thing I think,
for me, is that there's a plethora of projects to work on.
So there's always something new happening,
everything's very timely.
So a lot of the things that you work on
you'll maybe won't see immediate effects,
but you know that there are effects
that will come out in the next five, 10 years,
something like that.
I also like too, that there are aspects at APL
that have a RND element, so you can do some more
like forward thinking type research.
But a lot of this stuff that I find more exciting
is like very application driven.
>>ZOE: And then what do you find most tedious about your job?
>>CIARA: I think because a lot of these projects
are like for the government or like the government
is a contractor, that can sometimes be
the most tedious because you have to be very careful
and you have to, you know, abide by different contracts
and there's deadlines that may come outta nowhere.
>>ZOE: How might you see your work,
making a difference in society?
>>CIARA: With what was going on at the time
during my PhD program, it was really timely
'cause this was around the time
that North Korea was doing a lot of their testing.
And so I think whenever you're able
to have these technologies, it's kind of
an additional deterrent from people doing testing.
If they're never able to do it
in a way where it's secretive,
then that can kinda deter them from testing.
And so there's always this policy aspect
of treaty verification in that type of work.
>>ZOE: What are your favorite memories from your time in college?
>>CIARA: So my favorite times at Michigan, for sure,
because, like I said, I went to MIT,
so Michigan is like really big in sports
and so that was like a fun, like something new
that I had never experienced,
especially like football season.
That was a lot of fun for me, just like seeing
how many people come and how big and serious people are.
I think my time in college really prepared me
for my career because especially at Michigan,
like you have the opportunity to work
on so many things and learn so much from
your lab mates, you learn about what projects
they're working on and you just start
to build like this wealth of knowledge.
Even though like you're kind of focused
in your one area because you're interacting with your peers,
I think it prepared me in that way
to kind of have a breadth of knowledge.
So now, you know, how do we still thinking
of this as an engineer?
How do you solve problems?
How do you use the knowledge that you've learned
and you've gained through your programs
and apply it to these different problems?
And I think that Michigan really helped prepare me for that.
>>ZOE: What advice would you have for current
or prospective students who are going into engineering,
especially going into nuclear engineering?
>>CIARA: I think you have to be very open-minded
to be an engineer because I mean, like I said,
there's gonna be, there is a million ways
to solve problems sometimes right?
And so you have to kind of be open-minded
that there's not just one solution.
There's not just one way to get to a solution.
And nuclear engineering is a small field.
And I think that if you're interested in that path,
you should really, you know,
explore all the different avenues that it has
because you may come in thinking you wanna do X,
and really when it comes down to it, you wanna do Z.
And I mean they're all fundamentally rooted
in the same physics, in the same processes,
the applications are just different.
And so I think that's something that
I didn't even realize when I got into
the nuclear engineering program, how broad it was, so.
>>ZOE: So if you were a student now,
what would you pay attention to in college
knowing what you've been through?
>>CIARA: You know what, I think I would have done
more professional development
because I think in engineering
you do get really bogged down into the science
and technology and sometimes we get so bogged down
that we have a hard time communicating, so to say.
And so I think, that's why I think,
and I'm like, everyone in my group
knew I hated giving talks, like I never wanted
to do presentations, like defense was like
the scariest thing ever.
But I think in the long run, you'll benefit
from doing those things and you'll benefit
from having the professional development
and doing things outside of the classroom,
'cause it just makes you a more well rounded person.
>>ZOE: And did you ever at any point in your undergrad,
like second guess and think about going back
to like chemical engineering? >>CIARA: Oh of course!
[laughing] Well, I even thought about going back
and just not doing engineering at all at sometimes
because I just wasn't prepared for
that type of academic lifestyle,
and I had to adjust very quickly.
And that's just everyone has their own path
and their own journey that they have to take, right?
And so for me, that journey got me
to where I am today, but I think, yeah,
I mean, there were plenty of times where I was like,
you know, maybe I should just go to culinary school.
Like that will probably be a lot [laughing]
different than trying to take
this differential equations class
or taking this optics class that I know nothing about, so.
But I mean yeah, I think it's all about you.
Your goals are always gonna motivate you
even in the dark times, so.
>>ANNOUNCER: Dr. Ciara Sivels.
[applauding and cheering]