“I grew up as a little kid hearing about what a special place Lehigh is from my grandparents,” says Hannah Dailey, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics. She says her grandparents worked on all their grandkids, hand delivering admissions packets so they could read them over, and hopefully, apply. “I was their last hope, and I actually took the bait.”
After obtaining all her degrees at Lehigh, Dailey—who is also chief scientific officer of the startup she cofounded, called OrthoXel—is now (among many other things) leading a research team in the development of a virtual mechanical test that will someday enable surgeons to better determine how well a fractured bone is healing. It’s one of the many perhaps unexpected routes that mechanical engineers can take, she says, and one with real potential for societal impact.
“I want to help broaden perceptions around what mechanical engineering is,” she says, “so that more students from more diverse backgrounds can see it as a pathway where they can fit.”
This episode is the first in a series that we’re running to mark the Soaring Together celebration of 50 years of female undergraduate education at Lehigh. We’ll be featuring women faculty who are making an impact on every level—with their students, in their field, and on the world. In this episode, Dailey takes listeners through her own evolution as a scholar, and describes how the mechanical engineering department itself is evolving to better reflect the university’s student body, and society at large.