Oh the Places You'll Go: An Interview with Purdue Alumna Anna Giesler

By -


Anna at the Formula 1 Track in Abu Dhabi this past December

About Anna

Anna Giesler graduated from Purdue in 2020 with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering. During her time at Purdue, she was on the Purdue Swimming and Diving team and balanced her life as an engineer and a student-athlete. During one of the swim meets her freshman year, Anna encountered Dr. Jan-Anders Mansson, a professor in Materials Engineering at Purdue, who introduced her to the world of sports engineering. Under Mansson, Anna worked on a research project on the permeability of swimsuits for the Fédération Internationale De Natation (FINA), the governing body of international aquatics. She was able to present her work to the federation in Switzerland where a new regulation on swimsuit materials was made (“FINA Approved” Swimwear). Since this project, Anna has worked alongside Mansson to build the Ray Ewry Sports Engineering Center (RESEC) which was founded in 2019 to help grow the intersection between sports and engineering within the Purdue community. Now Director of RESEC, Anna has been able to travel the world for different events and programs to help build the sports engineering program such as the Abu Dhabi FINA World Championships and the IMD Business School’s Innovation in Action Program in Lausanne, Switzerland.


What made you decide to come to Purdue and pursue Materials Engineering?

When I came here on my official visit for swimming, I really felt like Purdue is a family. Everyone here is so welcoming, and I truly felt at home when I stepped on campus. This sense of community was really important to me as I pursued engineering because I knew I would be supported by everyone around me. Engineering is a very challenging major, but because I had the support of my peers and professors, I knew that the challenges were not impossible to overcome.

I had not known about materials prior to coming here. In fact, I was planning on studying Mechanical Engineering and then going to graduate school for Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. However, Mansson gave me an incredible opportunity to combine my love and passion for sports and engineering. This is one of the things I loved most about my time at Purdue: the unique opportunities you can have here that are not often advertised. Also, materials engineering is such a cool field where there are so many industries you can work in, such as sports, that people don’t know about. Materials is a small, but growing, field, and it will be awesome to see where the materials industry is going in the future.


Anna took part in the IMD Business School Innovation in Action Program in Lausanne, Switzerland this past winter


What have been some of your favorite parts about your position as Director of RESEC and what are your goals as director?

I have really loved all the opportunities to travel and meet some incredible people across the globe as we build the center. Traveling to Switzerland and Sweden in particular were very interesting experiences since I got to immerse myself in a different culture and see quite literally the work we have been doing from their perspective. That is not something you get to experience when conducting business over zoom.

As director, I really hope to grow the center and create more opportunities for people who may be interested in pursuing a degree they can apply in the sports industry. As I said before, Purdue has so many incredibly unique experiences you cannot get anywhere else. We really want to make working at RESEC at Purdue one of those experiences and make Purdue be a global powerhouse in the sports industry. This will help provide even more opportunities for students and rising professionals. Sport is a great industry to be involved in as an engineer, and we want to open more doors for Purdue students to be a part of it. Also, we recently made our official announcement for the MS Interdisciplinary Engineering Masters Program Concentration in Sports Engineering which is very exciting. We hope to use this program as a way to get your masters in one year and prepare future students for a successful career in sport.



Purdue’s new sports engineering concentration under the IDE Master’s Program hopes to prepare students and professionals to excel in a career in sport.


If you could go back and give your freshman year self advice, what would you tell yourself?

One thing I would tell my freshman self is that as an engineer, you can do more than just “engineering”. Engineering helps you develop a skill set where you can problem solve in a variety of ways, and it does not have to be an identity. I am so grateful to have been able to gain the skills and knowledge from engineering that I can apply in entrepreneurial work.

I would also tell myself to not be afraid of failure. Failure is not a bad thing. You can still hate it, but just because something does not work the first time does not mean it's the end of that thing. If you play it safe, you get safe results. College is the perfect time and environment to try new things, so give yourself permission to have crazy ideas because it is the journey from these ideas where progress is made!


If you have any questions, comments, or want to find out more about the unique experiences you can have at Purdue, tag us, leave a comment, or follow us!

Becca Jennings, MSE

WE Link Leadership Team


Stay Connected With Purdue WIEP!

Facebook: Purdue Women in Engineering

Twitter: @purduewiep 

Instagram: @purduewiep

Blog: purduewiep.blogspot.com

Email: welink@purdue.edu

Use the hashtag #PurdueWIEP on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
Purdue Women in Engineering

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Understanding Purdue Housing

By -
Image
One of the many concerns incoming freshmen have is what to do regarding their housing options. In addition to the roommate selection process, you may be interested in seeing your on-campus options in terms of amenities and the communities available within the building. For example, when I accepted my admission to Purdue as a freshman, I knew I was interested in a standard double that I had experienced at a summer college program. To ensure my University Residences housing, I applied to Vertically Integrated Projects so that I would be able to pursue a research project as a freshman while also guaranteeing my housing within Earhart Hall through the connected learning community. For more information on learning communities, read our previous blog! Many freshmen will live in a residence hall, even if they are not in a specific learning community. Now, as a Resident Assistant or RA in Earhart Hall, I have been trained on the term “residence hall”; our halls go beyond a traditional “dormito
Read more

A very (sub)objective review of dining options at Purdue

By -
Image
Jenn and her friends after the Thankgiving dinner Food is an integral part of our day. For some people, the very first thing they do in the morning is eat breakfast. I personally prefer my cup of coffee to a stack of waffles. Nonetheless, food has the power to pick up a bad mood, enhance a good mood, and even ease the stress you are feeling about exams and homework. The awareness I have of how food impacts my mood is recently found since I started college in August. at home I usually came home to my mom or dad making something delicious in the crockpot. Suddenly I arrive at college and there are so many options that it can get overwhelming at times to figure out what to eat. Navigating the dining options at college did not seem like something I should have been worried about, yet it was something that took a month of experimenting to perfect.  The key is knowing where to go and what is consistent. I decided to help you out and give you some insight into how I view each dining option on
Read more

Top 10 Extracurriculars Purdue Students Want You to Join Outside of Engineering

By -
Image
1. Purdue University Dance Marathon (PUDM):  The biggest student-run organization on campus! You can join as a dancer, where you get to fundraise leading up to the 18-hour long event or be even more involved and join a committee! Some of the committees include Riley Relations, where you fundraise to sponsor events for the Riley families throughout the year & are paired with a Riley family for the night of the event, Special Events Committee, where you organize 5K’s and other events around campus throughout the year, and so much more! 2. Boiler Gold Rush (BGR):  Whether it be as a new student, a team leader (TL), or even a Supervisor, there are so many ways to get involved with BGR! This week-long event is held the week before classes start in August. As a new student, it is your first chance to meet your new colleagues and participate in many games, fountain runs, and other fun activities throughout the week. It is also a great way to familiarize yourself with the campus an
Read more