PROFESSORS OF PURDUE: Elsje Pienaar

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Assistant Professor, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering




Advice for female engineers: Remember that for every one person that tries to bring you down, there are many supporters and advocates.


Best advice she received as a college student: Do what makes you happy and remember that you can always change the path that you are on.


More about Professor Pienaar...

 

What is she passionate about?


  • She has a background in math and is passionate about using math to rationally and systematically find better approaches to healthcare. Her career started in applied math and she then went to graduate school to study Chemical Engineering with a biology focus. She uses math to approximate all of the parameter space.

What advice does she have for female engineers?


  • Engineering can be a male dominated field, which can be challenging. Try to make others understand that as a minority, you bring a unique perspective. Just remember for every jerk, there will be many supporters and advocates. Seek out people who will support you. Find the faculty who help minorities in the field and lean on them. It might be intimidating at first to talk to faculty. Once you arrive at Purdue, you will find that many people will want to help you, so take advantage of that. 

What inspired her to begin your research and start in engineering in the first place?


  • It is important to get younger girls exposed to the STEM fields. She conducted a study on six year old girls and boys and asked them about what they want to do when they grow up. It was found that girls were less likely to see themselves as doctors and scientists. There is a subtle environment that early in life regarding what is expected of you based on your gender. It inspired her to work towards educating young girls about STEM fields.

What does she do in her free time? Both involving and not involving engineering.


  • She is married and has a little boy. Her family is very important to her. She knows that it is easy for her job to take over her life but she tries to maintain balance. She used to go horseback riding, which she really enjoyed. It was a challenging thing to learn. It is very difficult to get the horse to do what you want, and there are many subtle ways to communicate to the horse. 

What is her favorite aspect of her job?


  • She really enjoys the research projects. She is permitted to work on her own projects which allows her to have a creative scientific space to test. She enjoys including students in her projects and talking with them about the research. Her second favorite aspect of her job is the students. She likes communicating with the students and figuring them out.

What daily challenges does she face with her job? 


  • There are practical challenges with her job such as time management and prioritizing tasks. There is also the aspect of making sure she spends her time wisely, in regards to her research projects, in order to advance her career. 

What was the best advice she received when she was a college student?


  • Do what makes you happy, and if that is good enough for the job you want to have, then that is great. If it is not good enough, then there are other options. Remember that you do not have to stay on one path.




Look out for more Professors of Purdue features to come!



- Compiled by Women in Engineering Recruitment Project Committee Members

Annaliza Canda, Bailey McConnell, Cassandra McCormack, Dani Marty, Elizabeth Chattin, Hannah McGinness

Stay Connected with Purdue WIEP!
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Purdue Women in Engineering



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