science career is the ability to make sense researchers and academic scientists present The Rewards
out of the data and, based on what it gives the latest findings, Brubaker explains. If you get your start in science and
you, decide ‘What’s next?’” technology tinkering with gadgets to see
Working with Others how they work, as Nors did, then it’s no
Continuous Learning Researchers not only come together to surprise that the same sense of play and
Because new discoveries are always being share the latest developments at meetings, wonder can carry over to your adult work.
made in science and technology, analyzing but also team up on the job to generate the “I love to go to work,” says Nors. “I refer
data and new developments is something developments in the first place. to the electronics devices I work with as toys.
you have to do continuously. “Many people have an image of a scientist It’s just like being a little kid; we get to play
“There are always inventions and creations as a guy with a beard, lab coat, and Einstein- with toys all day long.”
that will change our jobs. We have to keep like hair working in a dark lab all alone,” says Mahlmann says she gets “goose bumps”
up with what is new out there,” says Lisa Sharlini Sankaran, a biomedical engineer when she hears an airplane she helped
Mahlmann, a senior manager of utilities and and the manager of education programs at design take off. “The sound of the whole
subsystems at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Sigma Xi, a scientific research society. “In system working together is really fantastic.”
Company in Fort Worth, responsible for reality, scientists rarely work alone.” Reutner says when his work on pollution
design of the mechanical systems on military That makes communication skills critically control plays out on a big scale, everybody
aircraft built by the company. important, Reutner says. “You could be the benefits. “Many people say, ‘Think globally
Most people in the field stay on top of the most brilliant person in the world, but if you and act locally,’” he says. “I’m living it. I’m
changes by reading scientific journals and can’t write about your work or present it, actually making a difference in the world.”
attending professional conferences at which nobody’s going to get the message.”
5
Cool Careers
cHeck ouT THese excITIng careers In
scIence, TecHnologY, engIneerIng & maTHemaTIcs.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
OCEANOGrAphEr TV METEOrOLOGiST BiOTEChNOLOGiST VidEO GAME dESiGNEr NANOTEChNOLOGiST
understanding the world’s oceans on Tv, meteorology combines biotechnology harnesses living computer games are becoming In a world that has long
is a big—and important—job. the glitz of show business with cells and organisms to create more and more lifelike every day. thought that bigger is better,
oceans drive the earth’s weather, the fun of science. behind the useful products and answers to How? Through the hard-earned nanotechnologists work to
generate more than 70 percent scenes, meteorologists get to problems that previously had sweat of game designers. make things smaller. It was
of the oxygen we breathe, analyze and interpret weather no solution. This approach has game designers combine skills once a writer’s fantasy that
absorb carbon dioxide, and data to create their predictions. been around since people started in computer animation and a human could swallow a pill
replenish our freshwater supply. Then they use computer graphics using yeast to make bread rise. interactive design with a deep and have his or her insides
oceanographers team with other programs to build the dynamic but today, biotechnologists are passion for games to create photographed. now, it’s reality.
scientists to understand and maps that we see on Tv. with engineering living cells to create simulations that are almost as nanotechnologists work to
protect this valuable resource. weather patterns shifting and new strains of drought-resistant good as—and sometimes better get things down to the size of
as an oceanographer, you might changing every second, this can plants, to create drugs to treat than—reality. perseverance a molecule. researchers in
work on anything from pursuing be a fast-paced, exciting—even previously incurable diseases, is key. game designers spend michigan have even designed
ways to safely harvest food glamorous—career choice. and to make plastic or fuel from months, even years, making smart “nanobombs” meant to
from the oceans to studying the corn instead of petroleum. You their visions reality. These days, target diseased cells and kill
effect of sonar on ocean life. could be a part of this exciting there’s a whole lot of science or deliver drugs to them. for
oceanographers are definitely new research. behind the fun. patients who could be helped by
riding the wave of our future. the therapy, smaller is better.
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