Q&A with Dr Malika

Q. Your university career at Adelphi (undergraduate) and Cornell (graduate) is an impressive list of honours and achievements that are not only academic. Of note is an award for Hometown Hero. What is this an award for? A. I felt very honoured to receive the Hometown Hero award.

It is usually given to faculty and staff who have gone beyond the call of their requirements to impact the Cornell community. As a student, receiving this was unexpected.

Their decision to award a student with this prestigious award was due, in part, to my on-campus involvement in both the National Society of Black Engineers and graduate branch of Society of Women Engineers where I was the community service chair and the director respectively. During my involvement, I made it a point to reach beyond the university, by reaching out to the Ithaca Salvation Army, Ithaca Southside Community Center, and the local high school.

Q. There are also awards that recognise your achievements as a woman, especially a black woman. Tell us about the Women of Wind Energy award.

The Women of Wind Energy (WoWE) Award which is called the Rudd Mayer Memorial Fellowship is an award given to any woman, regardless of nationality, who demonstrates interest and involvement in renewable energy.

The award covers an all-expense paid trip to the American Wind Energy Association WINDPOWER conference.

Q. What is the significance of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)? You received three awards from this body over your years of study.

Tell us about them.

I received these awards for my involvement within the Ithaca community. As community service chair, the NSBE chapter at Cornell was able to reactivate our membership at the Ithaca High School. As an organisation, our goal was to engage with the Ithaca community by hosting Science Day for middle school and high school students, helping our local farmers, working at the local community centre, among many other things. The mission of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is “to increase the number of culturally responsible Black Engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.” This organisation has been a very integral part of my growth at Cornell. NSBE provided and continues to provide engineering students with not only a support system but numerous opportunities for mentorship and career guidance. I was actually fortunate enough to find my new job through my membership in NSBE.

Q. There is even recognition under Cornell’s diversity programme, for which you won two awards. What is this programme about and how has it influenced you? The Diversity Programmes in Engineering (DPE) is an office that works within the College of Engineering meant to promote diversity among faculty and students.

DrdrThe DPE community has provided me and hundreds of minority students from a multitude of cultural backgrounds with a strong, supportive network. DPE is actually home to many organisations (local Cornell chapters) such as NSBE, Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and others.

This office has been a refuge for me for the past few years, a place where I can get advice and career tips. Through many awards and scholarships, DPE recognises the students who mentor, lead, show commitment to diversity, and apply their skills and experiences by making outstanding contributions to not just the Cornell community but beyond the university.

Q. As an undergraduate at Adelphi (2008-2011) you founded Females of Culture United for Success (FOCUS), of which during that time, you were president.

Why did you establish this organisation? FOCUS was first founded because there was a need for a platform where women could feel united and empowered within the university setting. It was created as an advocacy group for women of all cultures so as to remove the ethnic barriers while creating awareness about diversity on campus. FOCUS wasn’t just for the minority or the majority, it was created for the entire female populace at the university. As an organisation, we hosted seminars that dealt with a number of topics including preparing women for success, stereotyping in the media, and women’s health. We also hosted events where we invited talented women to be featured performers. As of today, the FOCUS chapter at Adelphi University has grown and continues to encourage female unity.

Q. In March 2015, you were a guest speaker at the Women of Colour Conference addressing “Graduate Women of Colour in STEM” (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

What were your main points of discussion? One of the key points I felt needed to discuss was the importance of building a network with not just your peers but also professionals within the field. I also stressed that stepping out of your comfort zone and taking advantages of the opportunities that present themselves are beneficial to your overall confidence and growth. Being a double minority (black women) in ST EM, women often suffer with imposter syndrome. Many feel alone and inadequate in situations like this when in actuality there are a number of students who feel this way. At this session, the attendees were reminded that they are at the level they are at by their own merit.

Another factor that we all tend to neglect is the importance of being physically and emotionally healthy. In such a stressful environment, people tend to neglect their well-being, which can often negatively impact their performance and productivity.

Q. These honours originate from your field of study in mechanical engineering, which is not usually a first choice for women. What led you to this subject area? I always smile when I get a question like this because growing up, I was always curious about the way things worked. I would take things apart and put them back together and I even changed my first tyre at age 15. There are not many women in this field. In fact, I am the second black woman to graduate with a Mechanical Engineering PhD degree from Cornell University.

While this is an honour, it is also a wake-up call that we need to continue promoting ST EM to young girls. We must continue to encourage them to become the pioneers in fields where they are the only one or one of few.

Q. As a PhD candidate, you researched wind energy, specifically wind flow above and around buildings as a source of power.

Why is this important? In populated or urban areas, it is difficult to provide electricity using renewable forms such as wind.

This is a result of wind farms being located in rural areas, increasing transmission costs. By placing wind harvesting devices closer to populated areas, both transmission costs and external electricity demand can be decreased.

Q. In Port-of-Spain we now have towering buildings on a waterfront. Given your research, would you say such structures are suitable for our small capital? We may actually be able to take advantage of being on a waterfront.

The Caribbean and our multiple coasts has been the inspiration for my research because of our “breezy” conditions. The towering buildings in Port-of-Spain are great for mounting small scale wind energy harvesting devices because they are taller than the surrounding buildings, taking advantage of the higher wind speeds at high elevations. However, a separate analysis would have to be done to evaluate the economic feasibility.

Q. Is there a need to better utilise wind energy among the Caribbean islands and would you share your knowledge with local and regional researchers? This is an ongoing discussion within some Caribbean countries.

Since oil is a non-renewable resource, we need to take advantage of our renewable resources such as wind and solar. It would be great to share my knowledge and what I have learned with others.

Q. Since you are a PhD graduate of Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, are you also pursuing studies in aerospace engineering? If so, are you aiming to branch into aeronautics and redirect your research? The Sibley School is such a large department with a number of disciplines, many of which are cross-linked. Topics range from robotics to fluid dynamics to sustainability.

When I first started my programme, I briefly worked on an aeronautic project where I analysed the design parameters which shape airfoil blades. After one summer on this project, I wanted to create a novel project, and together with my advisor we decided on the Urban Wind project (my dissertation research) with the Caribbean being one of my inspirations.

Because of this, I found my passion in Mechanical Engineering.

Q. This month you are joining Northrop Grumman (an aerospace and defence technology company) for their Future Technical Leaders (FTL) programme.

What do you hope to learn from the programme? I am looking forward to both my professional and personal development within this programme. The FTL programme is a highly regarded programme that allows individuals to not just obtain training and technical skills, but it allows for mentorship by some of the top leaders within the company. Because this programme is a rotational programme, it is expected that I change project locations on a yearly basis. Therefore I hope to have a continuous development of new skills throughout this experience.

Q. You have had to guide undergraduate and Masters students in their own research.

What did they mean to you? Have you ever thought of being a teacher? Working with other students, you develop such a great relationship.

Not only was I there to guide them but I also had to rely on them to help me with my experiments.

So there is a level of trust that comes from that relationship and the longer you engage with these students and are able to not just guide them but work with them, the more they trust you. I have had the opportunity to work with nine students during my time at Cornell.

They have all either started their own careers or enrolled in graduate school.

When it comes to teaching, my father’s side of the family has many educators.

For me I had to be a teaching assistant to a professor for one year during my graduate programme.

I enjoyed sharing knowledge with students and being able to help them understand the subject matter, but I enjoy being more hands on within the field than inside the classroom.

Q. You co-wrote a paper with other graduates on ways to detect muscle damage, presented at the American College of Sports Medicine Conference in 2011.

Are you also interested in sports medicine? This paper presented findings from a Summer Undergraduate Research Experience I did at Georgia Institute of Technology.

While I never delved deeper into sports medicine, I enjoyed this programme and thought the way in which we detected muscle injury would be relevant to the sports industry.

Q. Are you athletic, what sports do you play? Athletic is such a strong word. I do not play any sports but I do enjoy hiking for fun.

Q. Have you shared your Trini culture with your ‘university family’? Treated them to some soca, a pealu? I wish they could experience Trini culture 24/7. Some of them have picked up some mannerisms from my accent. I actually brought two of my friends with me to Carnival 2015. We played mas and they had a blast! Q. You once won a local pageant, Miss Teen Trinidad and Tobago Teen. How old were you then and what was the experience like? I was 18-years-old when I won Miss Teen T&T and I went on to represent at the Miss Teen Worldwide.

It was such a fantastic experience.

I was able to meet other talented young women locally and internationally. As one of my platforms when I won, I donated food items to 20 homes in need.

That experienced showed me how much I enjoyed giving back and how important it was for me to continue doing so.

Q. What advice would you give young girls given the many challenges they face, especially in this age of social media? It is hard to not lose yourself in the social media frenzy. During a time when likes and comments dictate a person’s confidence, it is forgotten that the thoughts and images we put out, that once it is out there, it’s out there. My advice would be to never forget who you are and who you would like yourself to be. Grow comfortable in your own skin and be brave, bold and graceful. You are a queen like no other.

Q. What’s in the future for Malika Grayson? The sky is the limit! I guess we will just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I am headed to California for my first assignment.