>> GRACE: For those of you students who, maybe your on the fence,
thinking about, you know,
"Is engineering the right fit for me?"
I almost didn't choose engineering.
Not a lot of people know this,
I'd taken the LSAT twice.
>> CELIA: Wow!
>> GRACE: My name is Grace Hsia,
and I am a material science engineer graduate
from the class of 2012.
And I am a master of entrepreneurship graduate
from the class of 2013.
I've had a chance to be
on the startup portfolio management sites
in economic development with a group of 200 companies
in my portfolio, in addition to working
in operations excellence engineering
at a Fortune 50 company, UPS.
So, when I was at the University of Michigan,
because of the innovative side
of material science engineering,
my senior design team and I,
created an infant incubator blanket
that has now become a startup
that is warming 10,000 babies in 35 hospitals
in 15 countries.
>> CELIA: That's amazing.
>> GRACE: Yeah, so when we first started Warmilu
we just learned that there was a big problem
of over one million infants needing warmth
during the first, you know, 48 hours of their life
because 80% of infants born
in these resource-scarce countries
have a lack of access to, you know,
reliable electricity, having enough incubators
and other medical equipment.
So, what we did was over the course of,
you know, prototyping, talking
and hearing the stories of the doctors and nurses
of serving resource-scarce hospitals
in India, or Kenya, Uganda, or Israel,
it really took root that what we were doing
was touching lives beyond the classroom.
So when we were sending our first prototype,
that's kinda when it really hit home
that we were creating something
that could actually save lives.
>> CELIA: How do you feel like your project went
from a project in class to a venture
outside of the university?
>> GRACE: Yes, first off, congratulations
if you're at the university of Michigan.
You are a leader among the best.
You are learning from some of the top-notch professors,
and I really encourage students
to leverage those resources and those professors.
We wouldn't have been able to even talk
to our first doctors and nurses,
if we hadn't been at the University of Michigan
where our professor, Max Stein, was helping us
become introduced to different doctors and nurses.
In addition, we were accepted into,
the university of Michigan has a startup accelerator,
called TechArb.
It gave us a place to have a physical startup location
and do things like weld our first warming hatch
with a blowtorch and a piece of steel
and not have to do things like pay rent or overhead.
In addition to accessing really needed,
early accounting and legal services
that allowed us to form the company,
receive about a $112,000 in grant funding
and then be able to submit our first patent application.
>> CELIA: Oh my gosh.
Were you aware of those resources
early on in your undergrad career?
>> GRACE: No. >> CELIA: No?
I'm sure that a lot of students don't know
that those things exist at the university.
>> GRACE: That's right.
And so something that I do recommend
to all incoming students who are current undergraduate
or graduate students, take advantage of these resources.
And even if your idea's new, go and start,
you know, getting yourself out there.
Even though you're at the early stages of your journey,
these resources are available to you,
especially if you have a great idea
and you know how to share what you're trying to do.
>> CELIA: Did you know going into engineering
that first of all you wanted to study material science,
but that you also wanted to be involved
in something other than strict engineering?
>> GRACE: Yes, and that's actually,
so I chose material science engineering
specifically because I've always loved building things.
And I remember thinking that this major
was one of the best ways
to learn about the specific properties of material
and then figure out how to make new, better materials,
things that the world has never seen.
There's something about that kind of level of discovery
and being at the forefront that was exciting to me.
So that being said,
I chose material science engineering
and learned along the way how interdisciplinary it is.
It brings in the best of biomedical engineering,
chemical engineering, physics.
And because of that, it also is
a really interdisciplinary
collaborative field
where you find yourself often working
with colleagues who are in other departments.
And that helped prepare me for the real world
where I was working on diverse, multidisciplinary teams
and having to spearhead projects
with many different moving parts.
If I had any advice for students,
[indistinct] try out a major, take a class
and see, you know,
if the subject matter is interesting to you.
You know, don't hesitate to take another class.
And then even someday declaring that major.
>> CELIA: I think that was really great advice.
And I think that a lot of students could use it.
You know, I definitely remember when I was a freshman,
thinking about, "Oh it's so scary
to choose what I'm gonna study;
it's gonna be the rest of my life, you know."
>> GRACE: And the good news
is that you are not alone in that journey.
One of the things that I initially thought was,
"Okay, if I caught this
and I do all the things that I know how to do,
you know, I'll be in a happy place.
But when you express yourself
and you take on those roles or assignments,
this might be your first time learning
that you're really good at something.
And so that was something that I wish I had told myself,
you know, years earlier.
I really learned that when I was a junior.
And I wish I had, you know,
I kind of sense this calling on yourself
that trying new things,
taking on leadership roles and responsibility,
it's never too early for you to try something.
>> CELIA: I had a question about
your kind of place where you are now
and you mentioned kind of your path.
What would your college self think
of everything you're doing now and who you are today?
>> GRACE: Wow, yeah, I would definitely say
that my former college self,
might be, you know, looking and learning
how valuable it is to not just do a whole bunch of things,
but to really do the work that matters.
So to focus in good deeds or something.
It might take longer, so it wasn't easy warming babies
it took, we're on our ninth year as of this fall.
But that has been one of the most rewarding
aspects of my entire career
and my life actually is warming babies.
So I think my college self would maybe hope
with fingers are crossed
see the value of like committing
and choosing something that really resonates with her.
[gentle music]