Ayana Goin switched from cell biology to engineering because she wanted more math and problem-solving, less memorization. At Cummins, she diagnoses why unfamiliar fuels break engines, relying on teamwork with fuel specialists to figure out what's happening.
Started off in college in cell molecular biology, decided that, kind of, not that I didn't like it, I just, I wanted to do more math, I wanted to do more solving problems that way as opposed to memorization. Biology and medicine in general is a lot of memorization, right, you got to know what this bone is, what this bone is, and what this bone is, and how it connects to this. And I wanted more to solve problems and write equations and get to the right answer. So I moved to engineering. And people typically think of mechanical, um, they like to talk about cars, and that's not me. I went into engineering because I like to solve problems, and I figured that's a discipline where I can get to do that. So I did that, graduated, got a job at Cummins, might be more somebody who understands fuels, right? So this customer is using a different kind of fuel than we have ever seen, and something weird is happening with this engine. Oh, we've never seen it before. Maybe somebody in the fuel side has seen it before and they can help, right? So teamwork is definitely key. Teamwork is definitely key in this kind of role. In some more design roles, they are more kind of— they have this specific thing they've got to design, And they don't necessarily need to work with other people. It's a matter of, you know the parameters under which you have to deliver. It's got to be this big, that wide, these are the dimensions, make it happen. And they do whatever they got to do by themselves and give it.
