STEAM Spark - Think STEAM Careers, Podcast with Dr. Olufade

From Working Class To PhD

• Dr. Ayo Olufade

Share episode
SPEAKER_01:

Happy holidays to everybody here in the United States and all across the world. This is Dr. Ayo Olufade, the host of Steam Spark Think Steam Career Podcast. Today, ladies and gentlemen, we have a really fantastic episode. Today we're going to be talking to Dr. Justin Rettenhouse. So the title of today's episode is From Walking Class Kid to PhD. Today's episode is all about storytelling. It's all about the story of growth and giving back. If we all kind of look back and think about our beginning, I believe that we have a lot of stories, good stories that can inspire many generations. So we are going to be talking with Dr. Rattenhouse today. So let's talk about Dr. Rattenhouse. Who is he? Dr. Rattenhouse is a product development engineer. And he's also a mechanical engineer. And he wrote a book. The title of his book is called Secret Keys to STEAM Degree. I just love that. The book he talks about the wisdom he wished he had while pursuing an engineering degree. It is designed to help students navigate the challenges of earning STEAM degrees and launching a career in science, technology, engineering, and maths. I've always said it's all about positioning. So today we're going to be talking to Dr. Rittenson, and he's going to be sharing a lot about his background, what inspired him to pursue STEAM degree, and what he can share with the young generation about what he could have done better. What he knows now that he didn't know then. Hopefully he can share that idea with you and help you navigate. So a little bit about him with a strong focus on research and development. He is passionate about driving innovation to solve real-world challenges. Over the past decade, he has gained expertise in structural mechanics, advanced analytical tools, material testing, project management. His RD experience includes leading the design session and facilitating open discussion to enhance project outcome, proposing and initiating the integration of AI into manufacturing. Ooh, I love that. AI, we all know about AI, the power of AI. So here's the person, one of the few people that you have in your tool, toolkit to reach out to on LinkedIn if you have any question on AI. We all could use a help on that one. Everyone is integrating AI into their workforce and into their businesses. He's the person, he's the go-to person. Also designing custom cable assemblies for commercial and defense customers, leading project from brainstorming, new concept through commercialization and manufacturing, leading the design of innovative manufacturing line, pioneering advances in efficient throughput, initiating and implementing automated testing, including the development of Aduino-based embedded system, and then building production equipment from repurposed components using Adeno as a new controller. What is that, Dr. Rattenhouse? What is that? Can you please call me on this one?

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So Arduino is a little gone. You're gonna put it cheap offline and not, I don't think it's technically classified as a computer, but for layman terms, call it a really small computer. It's not overly powerful, but it can handle a lot of input-outputs type commands.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, excellent. Dr. Rita Naz, did I do a justice in announcing you or sharing your profile, talking about you? Is there anything else that I miss, sir?

SPEAKER_00:

I think you did fantastic. The only thing I would add is if you look at the dates on my jobs, well and two things. You look at the date on my jobs and my degrees, you can see I work full-time throughout my degrees. Wow. And then as far as like obviously my end goal of education is to get a degree. I have done most levels. I'm done internships, I'm done co-ops, I'm done engineering management, and then I'm done normal engineering work. So I do have a broad background. So if anyone in Emma wants to reach out to me, there's a strong possibility. I'm done what Emma level at. We're applying for internships, I've done it. Co-ops, I've done it. So I do have a broad background.

SPEAKER_01:

Excellent. Excellent. Thank you so much for clarifying that. I appreciate that. And about your book, we're gonna get back to that later on. I'm really excited. I want to tell you I'm gonna buy that book because my daughter, as I've mentioned to you previously, she is pursuing engineering. So she also, yes, sir.

SPEAKER_00:

How about Rick?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, yes, sir.

SPEAKER_00:

Instead of you buying it, how about you email me your address and I'll send you a free copy? Awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much. I really truly appreciate it. I truly appreciate that. You see, he's giving back, he's giving back, ladies and gentlemen. That's the way it's supposed to be. I appreciate you for that. But we're gonna get a lot of gym out of this book or listening to you talking about your book. So the purpose of your book is uh guidance for STEM students, offering practical advice for succeeding in team program, career preparation. It also helps readers understand how to transition from academic team, and then you are gonna share a lesson from your own journey through aerospace engineering study and personal work. Okay, Dr. Ritenhouse, I want to change the format of our conversation. Why don't we start with your book, if you do not mind? Can you please tell us a little bit about your book? What is it about?

SPEAKER_00:

So basically, a little bit about my background. You kind of hit on it. I grew up working class, and my dad's a mechanic, and my mom's a factory worker. So I had no one to lean on to go to college. I wrote the book basically. I mean, you kind of send the some kind of a book, the wisdom I wish I had while pursuing a STEM degree. So I wrote the book with that in mind. Basically, all the information I wish I had. So it includes everything from why you shouldn't shouldn't go to college, how to get scholarships, how to apply for internships. Both of them are huge for your long-term success. And then even little basically everything I wish I knew when I went to a challenge.

SPEAKER_01:

So while writing the book, what were some of the challenges that you ran into writing that book?

SPEAKER_00:

It's a lot of work, but it took me five, six years probably write it, so it took a very, very long time. So that was probably the biggest challenge. And then I also I also didn't want it to be a hundred. So a lot of it is my experiences and give him good examples and stuff like that in the book of things I've done and my experiences, and I know people can learn from that. But I also did a lot of research. If you look in the back of the book, yes, I have 79, I believe, citations. Wow. So I didn't want it to be 100% opinion. I also wanted to make sure it was fact-based. So I did a lot of research and stuff like that as well to make sure the book was factful as well. So just how long it took to write was gonna be like a challenge.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, I asked you that question for a reason. There are many people like you and I who have come from the bottom up to the top that want to tell their story, but they don't know how to start. So I'm hoping that by hearing from you, that can inspire someone in regards to what to do in writing a book or writing a story and help to guide those that are coming behind. So your book is a guide to the next generation of students interested or pursuing STEAM degrees. Can you offer some practical advice for succeeding in college or STEAM program, please?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, for sure. I'll get to that in one second. To go back to how to help someone who doesn't know where to get starting, my recommendation is always just start. Like when I started writing the book, I had no clue how to get it on Amazon for sale. I knew none of this. I just knew I wanted to run a book, so I wrote the book, and then once I had the book done, I Googled and I researched how to edit the book or editor. And basically, you have to break things down into steps. You do one step at a time. Who cares about steps two, three, four, five, six, ten? You're not there yet. Focus on step number one, and then focus on step number two, and then three. So that's my advice on getting started. As far as guidance on going through an engineering degree, I have a few thoughts on that. Again, it's all laid out well in my work. The first is experience matters. When you apply for internships and you apply for jobs, they ask about your experience, whether that's a higher internship or even a school project. So when you do a school project, like for a class, don't pick something randomly. Pick something you want to do. Um, if you want to look at NASA, pick a project that is actually aligned with their mission and their goals. Try to align your projects the best you can with what you want to do long term. And then couple with that, experience matters so much. I've had interviews with companies for even internships that won't hire you unless you had previous internship experience. So while it's difficult to get a good internship after your freshman year, you need to try. Then you definitely need to try after your sophomore year. You need to be applying for internships. You normally apply in fall, so like September, October, and then springtime. You have your interviews often, and then you look at your internship in the summer. So don't wait to apply come fall. In some companion internships, you actually have to apply in the previous summer. So make sure you're not waiting. Apply early and apply often to many internships. And then also don't be afraid to reach out to professors. If you know, like I went to Western Michigan, and just using NASA as an example when you know you want to work for NASA, there are plenty of professors at Western Michigan that work with NASA. So don't be afraid to reach out to those professors and ask if you can look for them on one of their projects or one of their research projects. So I would say trying to get trying to get experience in what you want to do as often and early as you can.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much. You know, while listening to you, it really took me back to when I was in college. I wish I knew what you're saying. Now. So for example, when I was given a project, I was just trying to survive. I was not thinking in regards to okay, let me do that project in the area of interest or the career path that I want to pursue. Right? Because had I done that, not only will it give me a lot of wealth of information about that career path, but at least it will position me to be well versed in that career path. So when I go for an interview, then I will be in a better position to be able to impress whoever is interviewing me. I didn't think about that. The other thing that I didn't think about when I was in college, I never thought about reaching out to my professors and really asking them for a lead. You mentioned the school that you went to in Michigan, there are a lot of professors that have that collaborate with NASA. But I'm pretty sure that Iowa State University or at John Hopkins University, Gran V University, there are many professors that have collaboration with NIH, with NASA. Had I reached out to them, probably I would have to get a head start. But I didn't do that. But so that is why I feel this book would be great for a young person coming up. Do you want to add any more to that, Dr. Rittenhouse?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I think that's pretty good. And like I said, don't be afraid, I guess I elaborate on that. A lot of freshmen or even earlier education or like right out of high school might not think they know enough to reach out. Professors know where you're at academically, and they're not giving you more than you can handle. It might give you more than you think you can handle, but they know where you're at. So if you're a freshman, reach out. And the professor, if she or he has an opening, will give you paths that you can handle with the knowledge you have, and of course, they'll make sure you're growing your knowledge as well. Excellent.

SPEAKER_01:

So let's talk about career preparation. Can you help our readers understand how to transition from academia to professional STEM career, please?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, uh, talking about inconscients. I think inconscients and collapse while you're in school are huge. The first questions you're going to be asked when you have jobs are what experience do you have? And to build on that, you can also get experience by doing your own projects and stuff like that. Like if you can't work with a professor or something like that, you can still tackle projects on your own. So build that experience. And then when you're applying for jobs, one thing we might not teach you is personality matters. So make sure you don't come off arrogant or anything like that. You want to come off humble and kind. And while you're interviewing, you should show interest in the job. Industry is wildly different from academia. It's just different. And when you start industry, like I tell people, academia, like engineering, we don't know what industry, we know, like you pick mechanical engineering. We know you're probably going to be a mechanical engineer. But that topic is so broad, we don't know exactly what you're doing. So when you get a mechanical engineering degree, it's a foundation that you build off from when you join industry. When you start working in industry, you start building off that foundation, the bachelor's degree got you. But no one in industry is on the illusion that someone with just out of college with a bachelor's degree is worth having the knowledge of someone that's been working in that field for the last 10, 20, 30 years. So if you feel like you don't know enough, that's a very common feeling when you first get out of college and start. And then you go in industry and you realize, shoot, I don't know as much as I thought I knew. Perfectly normal. Over years of experience working in a particular field of mechanical engineering, then you become very knowledgeable about that. And actually, my book, I have a story about that from I went to a community college too for a couple of years. And I had a professor, Mr. Drake, and at the time I didn't get it. And now it it could not be more true. He wrote he had four circles on the board. The first one was like half full. He's like, when I got my bachelor's degree in mathematics, I thought I knew half of everything in the field of mathematics. And then the next circle was two-thirds of the way full. And then the next one was two-thirds, which was college. He got his bachelor's degree. And he thought, I learned more. I almost know all there is to know about mathematics. And then his first circle was like a third of the wayful. He graduated from grad school. He's like, so I went to grad school and I learned I learned more. I knew more math, but now I know more math it lists. So I don't I know more, but I know less in I know I know less in the whole math domain. And then the fourth circle, he had, he didn't have, he didn't even film, he had little cracks in the circle film, a few little cracks. And he said, after teaching mathematics for 30 years, I now realize I only know small cracks in the domain that is mathematics, nothing more. Because the domain is so big. That's kind of what happens when you go into industry. You get a foundation with your backside degree, but then you start specializing and you learn one domain, and it's just there's always more to learn. Excellent.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much for that advice. What about professors or teachers who want to go from academia into the industry? What advice do you have for them? I know this is not one of the questions that we wanted to talk about, but I I'm interested in that. Since we're giving to you're given a lot of wisdom to the young people, that I'd probably let's diversify a little bit. Let's give a little to the adults. Who are already academia teaching professors that are interested in going from academia to the industry? Any advice for them, sir?

SPEAKER_00:

My number one advice for everyone, even teachers and students, is use your network. Knowing people can often lead to a job interview a lot faster than even like a kind GPA or something like that. So definitely reach out to your network to see it. Even like if you know someone that works at Company X, look online at Company X for their job posting, then reach out to your friend and apply in there. And then my second piece of advice is of course you have to apply. And then when I go to interviews, because the job posting has the criteria that they want. You almost are never going to reach it 100%. I don't think everything a criteria for job posting. And I'm like, I have all that experience. But what I do is literally I put it out, and then next to each line that they want, like next thing like job requirements or experience requirements, or however they want it, I put a little note on how I meet that experience, or if I don't mean it, how closely I do mean it, or what experiences I have that I think applies to that. And if it's something I don't know, I YouTube it or I Google it and I'm like, I don't even know what that means. So I Google it and I'm like, oh, it means this. I haven't done this, but I've done that. So I put that as a little note next to that job posting. So make sure you're well prepared. And that also applies when you apply. Like if you put in your resume things that are only poor teaching, you're probably not getting a job, right? Unless you're applying for a teaching job. It's to be blunt. That's what they care about. So you need to spin your resume, being honest, I'm not saying why by any means, but screen your resume to focus on the job you're applying for. Like, if you're a teacher and you teach robotics, some bullet points on your resume and you're applying for like a robotics job should be about developing robotics stuff. Not necessarily I taught a class with 500 students, because when you work in industry, you're not going to teach a class of 500 students. But what is super relevant is your class developed this awesome robot, which is completely relatable to the job you're applying to. So always think about how your experiences align with the job you're applying for. Not necessarily all because we can all have a resume that's 10 pages long, but if 99% of it is not relevant, we're just gonna skip it. So make sure every single bullet point is relevant to your job you're applying for, or you can also have bullet points that show that you make an impact, that you you're successful, that you're a hard worker, would be my advice there.

SPEAKER_01:

Excellent. Thank you so much. So this is I'm sharing the wrong file. Excuse me for a second. It's gonna share your book. Give me a moment. So can can you see it, sir? I can see it. I was saying a beautiful book color. It is a beautiful. I love the I love the color. That's a beautiful book color. Yes, cover. The secret keys to steam to stamp degree, the wisdom. I wish I had while pursuing engineering degree. Justin Rittenhouse, PhD. Please, everyone, go and get this book. This is a good book to buy, not only for the young generation, the students who are coming along, but it is also very important for anyone pursuing or thinking about pursuing STEM degrees or thinking about transitioning from academia to the industry. This is a very good book to have. Dr. Redenhaus, can you tell us a little bit about your background, please?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So your beginning, for example, what inspired you to write this book? What led you to the field of mechanical engineering?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so that's a good question. I wish I had some amazing story about how when I was in Tabla, I invented something, but that's not my story. If I was wiser when I was younger, I should have knew that mechanical engineering was my calling call, or at least some kind of STEM degree. For example, like in third grade, I used to do laundry for fun. My third grade teacher even gave me a toy car for doing, like, I used to do long division on like recess and luxury stuff like that. My school advisors used to get mad at me, like literally mad at me. I used to tell them I wasn't gonna go to college into waste of time. And that made them not happy. I thought that's what I thought at the time. I remember. So I tell this story a lot. So I remember very vividly. When I was I didn't go to college immediately after high school. So I was a at this time I was a protest doctor, and I was standing in the back out of Hallett, holding another pallet, waiting for we called him Skype, he was not a truck driver. I was waiting for him, and I was just thinking to myself, there's no way I can stop groceries and produce for another 40 years. I can't do that. So that moment in time completely changed my life. I thought, man, I gotta do something different. I ended up, I don't know how I decided to go to college from that moment, but I ended up going to college. And again, I had no one to lean on, so I had no clue what to do. So I actually went for a business degree my very first semester. And then when I got to college, I realized all my friends were engineering majors, so that's probably why I ended up switching to engineering. And it was one of the best decisions of my life. I know we kind of briefly talked about other career opportunities, diploma, electrician, they're all great career options, but I could not imagine not going to college and not getting a degree staff. That was was the best decision of my life, I would say.

SPEAKER_01:

So so you also consider a career path in CTE. That is good. Were you thinking about becoming an electrician when you were in high school?

SPEAKER_00:

So in high school, I would have never thought about being an electrician. So I probably wouldn't have been if I didn't go to college and I switched careers, it probably wouldn't have been along the lines of my dad as a mechanic. I even took small engines in high school. I went to high school, but half of my junior and senior year, I went to a trade school, but I got certified as small engines. So that probably would have been a different route with being a mechanic.

SPEAKER_01:

I wanted to stress that to highlight the importance of the CTE career path because that is important. I teach in a CTE school currently. And we do encourage our students to consider career path and also college. You decided to augment your profession by going to college, and I just want to highlight that that is okay too. I was speaking to the young generation, a doctoratinhouse will agree. Find a career path that you're interested in, but you can add more value to that career path by going to college. Going to college increases your earning capacity.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I actually couldn't agree more. Actually, there's a study out there that 88% of millionaires went to college. So it definitely increases your earning potential. I would say getting a degree in engineering was the wisest financial decision I've ever made. I make far more money, not rich by any means. I don't have a yacht or anything like that. But I grew up very blue-collar and I definitely make far more money than I thought I would make, for sure. There's no doubt in my mind. I could not have fathomed making more than like 15, 20 bucks an hour when I was growing up. And obviously, engineering needs make a lot more than that. So I think it was a wise decision. But you can also make a lot of money being an electrician. You can be a millite, you can be, you go to the army. There's so many paths that don't have to go to college. But for me personally, it was one of the best decisions of my life. I do recommend getting a degree in STEM or STEAM.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much, Dr. Rittenhouse. So, what were some of the biggest challenges you faced as a first-generation college student from working class background? You mentioned your father was a mechanic, correct? If I'm not mistaken.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I think how do you even navigate college? Like you don't know anything. People who have parents that went to college underestimate how much their parents help them navigate college. When you have no one to lean on, you really don't know what to do, right? You have advisors, school, college advisors that help you pick classes, but you've seen them one hour in the fall and one hour in the spring to help maybe not even that long, a half an hour to help you pick classes. I didn't really know how to pick classes outside of that without talking to advisor. I didn't know what classes I should take. I didn't know what I should do as a major. Like I said, I started out as a business major and I only switched because my friends were engineering majors. I also didn't know how to pay for college. I actually started out, I went to a community college. Thank God I'm mad because there were significantly cheaper, which I completely recommend community colleges. I started out there. So my first couple of semesters, I was working full-time, I was able to pay for out of pocket. I wasn't able to pay for out of pocket, and I had no clue how to pay for it. And then thankfully, I was able to talk to someone I can't a friend of a friend type thing. They told me about like FASFA and Pel Glance and stuff like that. So I was able to apply that. But like all these little things that your parents just tell you, no one told me. So I didn't know. So that's just how to navigate college in the early years was the toughest. And I want to I wanna also say I didn't learn none little things, but obviously my parents still taught me a lot of other little things. Like I know how to change links on a car, I know how to change oil. Like I learned different things than how to go to college.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I have a similar idea. Science has always been something that sort of interests me. But but now sometimes I wonder, I wish. And also my dad, one of the things I want to say about my dad is he loved to walk on his car. So that is one trait that I regret not really learning. My focus was science and books. But it worked out really well. Sometimes, you know, when you have to fix your car, those skills really comes really handy. Thank you so much for sharing. You mentioned parents. It's very important that we're talking to you. So, any advice on how parents can support their children who are interested in going to steam school, as you and I know. You were interested in mechanical engineering. Your dad was a mechanic. My dad was a policeman and he loved to walk on his cars. My dad probably wants me to join the police force. Probably your dad would have liked you to pursue a career in a CTE career part based on my own experience. There are many parents who are in that kind of situation. My dad at that time, maybe you can relate to this, I don't think he understood my vision when I had to choose between career path. I chose science. I can't remember any moment in which he was able to give me a good support. So, and that is why I'm asking you, what advice will you give parents who have no experience on Steam or what it is, but their children are interested in pursuing STEAM career path? How can they support their children? What can they do?

SPEAKER_00:

So, my first thought is I I do want to say my dad did support me. He was very helpful. He did he didn't do college himself, so he didn't support me in navigating college. But my dad's role when I was in college was as long as I was in school, I don't have to pay rent. So one way he supported me was giving me a place to live, which is obviously pretty huge. And then another way is in letting them know that a STEM career is an amazing career. We already talked about obviously it can pay pretty well with stuff like that. But also, like it's a white-collar type job, meaning you don't have to work outside in the conditions. Most of the time, I have worked outside some days, but most of the time I'm in an office, I'm in AC, I'm not doing any physical harm to my body. So, and so it's such a good career to get into. And then probably the best way to support them is teach them about that. And students need to limit the amount of debt they take out. Ideally, to none, but I didn't take out student loans, so I'm not gonna be hypocritical and say don't take out student loans, but you do have to limit that the best you can. And on that, I think people need to learn about scholarships. I mean actually learn. A lot of people think scholarships, this is what I thought back in the day, were only for quote-unquote smart students. Now I know smart is only relative to the topic that you're talking about. But yes, there are scholarships that are only for those that have a past history of academic success. But there are so many more scholarships out there. So I'll give you some examples. So obviously, it's no secret. I talk a little funny, I can't hide it, it's who I am. I was born with a cleft palette.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't think you talk funny. So thank you. You're welcome. I can hear you, I can understand you very clearly aloud. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you, thank you. Uh when you talk a little different, yeah. And yeah, I was born with a cleft palette and a class lip. I think my palate caused my voice, but I got a scholarship for that. And that I'm from a small town in Michigan. In that small town, they give out scholarships. Those ones are competitive, but it's only for people from the town. So I don't have to compete with anyone all over the USA. I only compete with people from my town. So a lot easier for that. And then my one friend, he got a minority scholarship for his PhD program, meaning it paid for all his all his PhD classes, and it gave him a cycle in a limb off him. So he lived off that scholarship for like three to four years because he was a minority. And then not only that, you can get enough scholarships, depending how many you apply to, to cover not only your tuition, but your books, and even some cases your housing. So apply for many, many different scholarships. And what one piece of advice I like to give people, in my case it was a class palette, but think about what's unique about you. Do you have a book decent? Or what town you're born in, are you a minority? Think about what's unique about you and look up scholarships in that area. Because when you're unique and all of us are, it limits how many people can apply for said scholarship. So you're fishing in a smaller pond and it's easier to catch a fish when you think about what's unique about you and how to apply for scholarships that uniquely are you.

SPEAKER_01:

This is wonderful. That leads me to another question. How educators, community leaders can better reach out to the BIPOC community. BIPOC means Black Indigenous People of Color, LGBTQ, and non-traditional students, given the current dismantling of DEI and affirmative action. This is one way in which educators and community leaders and parents can help students in the marginalized communities applying to colleges. I think it is very important for students to focus on what you said. In the application, there has to be a section in which they can talk about themselves, what makes them unique. Because people with the own application are no longer looking only at just the GPA. Let's say John Hopkins University receives many applicants. A lot of those applicants have great GPA. But now a counselor, admission advisor, have to make a decision. Which one of the students will be a best fit for our university? I think that's where you know your story comes into the conversation. Talking about something unique about you. And Dr. Rittenhouse, you talked about what is unique about you. And you actually did more than that. You also applied to looking for scholarship. And I think that this is one way in which parents, teachers, community leaders can. And actually, help students in the marginalized community. Do you want to add more to that, Dr. Riton?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I would love to. So, and I think people underestimate how many scholarships are out there. Do some research. What you find is roughly$100 million in scholarship funds goes only one in every year. There's a ton of scholarships out there. And one thing that I didn't say is I kind of hinted at it when I say it out loud was you can stack some, you have to read the walls on the scholarship. Some say you don't get X funds if you have other funding. But a lot of scholarships, at least the ones I got, you can stack them. So I got the Fleck Palette one, it was only$500. I shouldn't say only I got a$500 scholarship for Hammond Fleck Palette. But I got that with other scholarships that I stacked together. So I paid for undergrad out of pocket. I didn't know about scholarships back then. I didn't get a teacher assistant in grad school. And when that ran out, that's when my professor told me to apply for scholarships. That's when I started applying. And all my grad school was free. The first half was because I was a TA teaching and research assistant. In the second half, I applied for a ton of scholarships. And I got I don't know what percentage I might have got, and probably less than 10%. The ones I applied for, I actually got. So you definitely get your applied for money and then stack them together. And then not only that, you shouldn't be filling out your FAFSA, especially for teams from the inner cities. I know people in them environments tend to be closer than the poverty line. So if you are from a poor household, you can probably get talents paid for full free by Pell Grants. So all that is say is if you do your research, you apply, you fill out the FASFA to get Pell Grants, and you apply for scholarships, you can probably get college for free. Including money to pay for housing and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01:

Excellent. Thank you. Thank you so much, Dr. Rittenhouse. Let's talk about role models. That is very important. I want to start our conversation with an icebreaker, but I went directly into the book. This would be a good place to talk about the icebreaker. So who was the role model for you, sir?

SPEAKER_00:

So growing up, I mean I know it had to be a little controversial here. My role model, probably. You're not Calvin family. Obviously, I looked up to my dad a ton, but non-family members was the most still basketball player of all time. Yeah, I said it. Kobe Bryant.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I don't know. Yeah, that's controversial. I know. Why not say it? I I still debate between you know LeBron James and Michael Jordan. But Kobe, Kobe was yeah, I mean it's so S in Ps. Kobe is good. Yeah, he is good.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, I so actually I don't go bowling often. I'm not really good. I wake a honey, I'm happy, but every time I go bowling and you have to claim me a name, I always put Kobe. Kobe is my bowling name. Relative to NBA players, obviously relative to me and you, he has a lot of traits that make him really good at basketball. But relative to NBA players, he is average across the board. There's no reason he should be in the top 10, top five, number one, best basketball players of all time. Yet he is. He doesn't have LeBron's gun-like knees. He doesn't have Michael Jordan's hands or adjusting ability. He doesn't have Shaq's body. Like there's nothing special about with man except how hard he worked. And yet he made it into. If you don't want to put him in your top five, okay. But if you don't put him in your top ten, you're just hating. Yeah, he made it into definitely the top ten of basketball players of all time with no traits that made him special other than what I say.

SPEAKER_01:

I totally agree. He is in my top three. So my top ten. I think my top three. I'm still versatiling between LeBron James and Michael Jordan. So those are my one, and of course, Kobe is going to be my third. I second your motions. You know, everything that you have said, your points on, I agree with you. It's quite an inspiration. His story is quite an inspiration. His athleticism is quite an inspiration. And I think that we actually can translate or we can use that as a way to inspire ourselves in any career paths that we choose. Never never count yourself out, never think that you don't really belong. It just takes hard work and just like Dr. Rittenhouse has said from his story. Networking, reaching out, you know, applying yourself, and and then the sky's the limit. And there are other advice that you can get, other nuggets, genes that you can get from Dr. Rittenhouse's book. Go get his book. A lot of ideas that he has shared in that book. He's going to send me a copy so I can share it with my daughter. Thank you, Dr. Ritenhouse. There's so much I want to talk to you about. But our conversation cannot be complete if we do not talk about AI. Because that is the elephant in the house. Right. Yeah. So you and I discussed the impact of AI and STEAM education. What are your thoughts on how AI is shaping the future? What advice will you like to give underrepresented or marginalized students?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so AI, as we all know at this point, is a very, very powerful tool. And I think they can definitely use it to help solve problems. And it also is very good at helping you fix grammar and learning issues, especially if your native language is not English. The caveat is you want to use AI as a tool to help you, not a tool to do your work. Obviously, if you use it as a tool to do your work, A, you're not learning. And then B, well, I guess it kind of builds off A, if you're not learning, you're probably going to field the exams. So use it as a tool to help you. Don't use it to do the work for you. As far as underrepresenting, I think the best thing about AI is it gives you a, while if you go to a teacher, you don't feel this way. But in most cases, that is a judgment-free zone. Me as a professor, I'm not going to judge you. I understand where you're at. I've been there to you. I didn't know what I know today when I was in your position, in your scene. But you don't think that. You think, uh, what if it's a dumb question? Well, that's rebuttal AI. You can go home and you can ask AI all the questions you want to ask. And even though there wouldn't be any judgment if you came to meet, you know there's no judgment if you go to AI. So I think it gives people that are kind of shy or don't want to raise their hand in class, even though they all have the same questions, a place to ask questions and not worry about, oh, is this a dumb question, which it's not, but not have to worry about that.

SPEAKER_01:

I like everything that you're saying. Me being based on my experience when I was coming along, for example, when I was trying to get into engineering school, one of the things that we had to do is come up with, well, in all of my classes, before the exam, we try to get into the professor's head. To try to imagine the type of questions that the professor could ask on a test. Have you ever been in that situation? I'm pretty sure Dr. Ruttenhouse, you've done that. You know, try to get in the head of the teacher, the professor. Try to imagine the type of questions that the professor could come up with on a test or a quiz. Been in that situation, sir.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, absolutely. And I would say it's very difficult for some professors the first time you take them. But as if you take the same professor a few times, then you kind of get what they like, it becomes a little easier. Homework are often assigned for a reason. So you kind of get in your professor's head, look at homework problems. And don't while a lot of times exams can be as easy as copy and paste, meaning if you can walk through one homework problem step by step, you can walk through the exam step by step. But don't necessarily, not all of them are gonna be quite that easy. Some professors like to mess it up. So instead of knowing exactly how to do a homework problem step by step, I call it copy and paste. But why you use this equation? And if you learn why you use this equation for this type of problem, then regardless of what problem the professor asks on the exam, you'll be able to solve it. You'd be like, this problem looks so hard, but hmm, it's asking a question about force. And I know I F equals Ma, so how can I use that equation? Because normally we use it when force is in motion, and we have something moving, and you if you know why you use that equation, it becomes clear what equations you need to use after exam.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. And it becomes the reason why I made that statement earlier was to make this point that AI now has made it easier. Instead of me coming up with all of that, I would have been so happy had we had AI back then. So I didn't have to come up with all this question. Now I can plug this prompt into an AI and prompt it. So, Dr. Ratinaus, I'm pretty sure you've had this experience. All the things that we have done, that I have done in the past, particularly in the engineering school. Back then I love to befriend my friends who are in the frat house because they keep copies of the past exam papers. I don't know how they access it, but they do. We used to go to the union, union hall. We put a table together, and a bunch of us would sit around the table. We're talking about the problems based on the past exams. This way we can anticipate what the question, what the test is likely going to be about. You know, you now you can do it with uh at least with an AI. This is one advantage. Am I correct? Do you want to add more to that, Dr. Reddenhouse?

SPEAKER_00:

No, I I would like that. You are 100% correct. All exams are definitely a thing. Sometimes we're like a hot button issue within academia, within the professors. My take is if you're professor, you know all exams are out there, and you also know people talk to each other. So I always tell my students, if you have one of my own exams, use it to study 100%. I know you have it, I know you talk to someone. I'm a professor to kind of change off the exam. And to your point, that's why AI is so amazing. So when you create an exam from scratch in the old days, it can be time consuming. But now we have AI, it still takes a little bit of time, but it can definitely make it a lot quicker than you come up with similar type questions.

SPEAKER_01:

And I think that this is going to put some people out of business because if you go online, you will see a lot of old tests or worksheets online. Now you don't have to pay someone to have access to all of those information. You can use your assistant, you can work with your assistants, but just like Dr. Ridenhaus has said, do not let the AI do the work and then you copy and paste. If you are using the AI for writing, remember the AI, it has to be as an assistant, right? You're working with the AI, you're working together. You can prompt, you can get ideas, you're working together. And when you do use the assistant of the AI to write, it's very important to personalize that writing, to put it in your own perspective rather than just the AI, because AI is a machine. Doesn't have the lived experience you do. Dr. Redenhaus, I don't know anything about coding at all. But I've always been fascinated with apps. I want to create my own apps. So so there is something called famous AI and cursor. I have really been researching that to use it to create an app. What's your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_00:

But from what I do know, I think the term is vibe coding is a great way to build a prototype. Vine coding is a great way to build a prototype and maybe even test it out a little bit. But I think it has trouble with the nuance completely developing the app. Like so you can have it vine code the app, but if you want little changes, the issue is if you have again, I haven't used these programs, is what I learned. If you have it change it, it ends up changing your whole creature. It's setting up or changing more than you wanting it to change, I guess is better. So I think you can I think you can use it, but you still have to learn how to program to some degree. And on that note, again, learn as you go. You learn as you go, you learn from dealing. So I think it's a great tool and can help you, but you still have you still have to learn how to program to some degree.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much. And I know that you have taken uh programming or you teach a programming class, correct?

SPEAKER_00:

I have programmed pretty heavily for I actually haven't programmed in like a year, year and a half, so maybe I'm getting a little lusty. Yeah, I do have a background in programming, yes. And I actually talked about that in my book. It's not as scary as some people make it out to be. You hear people say it's like learning a second language, and I actually say this in my book. The only people that think learning how to program is like learning a second second language are those that know how to program and don't know a second language. It is so much easier than learning a second language. It's scary at first, but once you get into it, you realize you use a lot of the same commands repeatedly, and it really isn't that hard. Of course, you can get more skill at it, like playing soccer isn't that hard, but you can also be the world's greatest soccer player. So you can definitely take skills to a linked level, but for most people, just doing it isn't that difficult.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you, sir. So we're coming to the end. So let me ask you this question if you could have a dinner with any famous person, this is still under the role model. If you could have a dinner with any famous person living or dead, who will it be and why? I know you've talked about Kobe. Do you want to continue with Kobe or somebody else?

SPEAKER_00:

So Kobe was my answer for that question. However, since we already talked about him, I will mess it up. We put right on the spot with putting no thought into it. One that comes right to my mind would be have you ever heard of a motivational speaker called Les Brown? No, I haven't heard of him. I love Les Brown. So when I worked out, a lot of people listen to music when they look out. I actually listen to motivational talks. And one of my, not even one of my favorite, I'll go ahead and I'll put it in stone. My favorite is Les Brown. Basically, he grew up really, really poor and yet he ended up doing really, really well for himself. I highly recommend everyone looking into him. But one of my quotes, not my quotes, one of his quotes that I love a lot is don't let someone's opinion on yourself become your reality. And I'll take that a step further to build on that. Also, don't let even your own opinion on yourself or your negative opinion of yourself become your reality. You are capable of doing so much more. I think people forget we're all human and we're all capable of the same stuff. Like, I my I'm a mechanical engineer, my PhD is in mechanical engineering, but my bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, like 18,000 people, the general population, it was like 300 some on aerospace engineers, and they measured six different domain conditions, like problem solving speed and stuff like that. You know what they found out? There was no significant difference between the general population and aerospace engineers.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, all human. Like I think only means you've had experience. So I always say being the smartest person in the room has less to do with the people in the room and the topic at hand. So if we have a room full of people, I might be the smartest engineer in the room, assuming it's just a general room with general people, but I'm not the smartest mechanic in the room. I'm not the smartest hairstylist in the room. So being smart is kind of all about experience. If you want to be smart, you need to study, you need to do your homework, and you need to get experience in whatever you want to be smart in. Let's do one more fact. I think Elmer Einstein, who we all call incredibly smart, and he definitely was in a lot of different things. I think if you look it up, his brain was actually smaller than Average. So, like, you have no excuses. If you're human, you can do everything I'm done, you can do anything you. Done, you can do anything Einstein is done. You can just have money in the wood.

SPEAKER_01:

Excellent, excellent. Many students, I mean, in my experience, many students don't like to be called nerds. I don't see anything wrong with that. I want to be called a nerd. What about you? Will you consider yourself to be a STEM nerd? What is one STEM topic or project that excites you the most?

SPEAKER_00:

No matter not. Don't let someone's opinion on me from your reality. I don't let other people's opinion on me necessarily affect my reality. So if they might mean meaning to say, if they might or even positive, I still have a role. But I think now I kind of grew up more sporting, playing more sports. My high school VPN was like three, I wasn't being amlined student, so I think it was like 3.0, maybe slightly under free. I was more into sports. But nowadays, I think you would definitely classify me as a STEM gun. I say that because like some of my hobbies are like messing with different athlete systems.

SPEAKER_01:

I thank you so much for sharing that. I asked that question for a reason. I I want the students to be proud of their skills and ability. As you've said, Dr. Rittenhouse, do not let other people's perspective change your heart condition or take your thunderbolt. It's really, really important for you to be who you're called to be. If you are good, for example, with AI, then be good with it. We are not all perfect in everything, but we can find something that we're pretty good at. So just because you're not good in one thing doesn't mean you're not good in something else. It depends on what we're talking about, right? So, Dr. Rettenhouse, I truly want to thank you so much for taking the time. I would like to encourage everyone, please go out and buy Dr. Rettenhouse book. The name of the book is The Secret Key to a STEM degree. A wisdom I wish I had while pursuing an engineering degree. This is a must. Buy book, make it be part of your collection. If you are an educator, please go ahead and buy this book as a resource. Parents, please go ahead. If you know your children are interested in scheme, please go ahead and get this book. And if you are a woman in scheme, this book also can be very useful to you. If you're marginalized, you're from a marginalized community. Let me ask Dr. Redenhaus, is there one last thing that you want to share that we didn't talk about?

SPEAKER_00:

I think we didn't talk about it. Well, I love to iterate because now I know what like I like saying we're all human, we're all human, we're all capable of doing anything money too. When I was in Ktoon 12, elementary school, junior high, high school, even undergrad, I didn't realize that everyone's potential is limiting unlimited if you actually want to believe in yourself in front of the work. So don't limit yourself to what you think your potential is. I just think your potential is just as good and limiting any only human on the earth.

SPEAKER_01:

So excellent. Well said, Dr. Rittenhouse. So this comes to the conclusion of our conversation with Dr. Rittenhouse. So today our focus was to talk about his book, The Secret Key to Steam Degree, the wisdom I wish I had while pursuing an engineering degree. I hope you all got a lot of gems out of our conversation today. Please go ahead, share, and also encourage our young ones in our BIPOC community and marginalized community to think about career in STEAM pathways. It will really change their life in a good way, especially in the age of AI. And also would like to advise the older generation: consider STEAM education, consider STEAM career. In the age of AI, consider using AI to leverage your game, right? So there is no reason why you should be sitting at the background and watching the world go around. Everybody is moving forward. You gotta move forward along with them. Would also like to share this thought. My podcast is not, I'm not representing any organization, but Steam, Steam Spark, Think Steam, Career Pathways. That is the organization, the podcast that I am representing. I'm not representing my day job. So my thoughts are my thoughts, not a representation of any other organization. And so I bring professionals like Dr. Rickenhouse onto this podcast to bring awareness to the benefits of STEAM education and STEAM careers, to try to encourage the younger generation in the BIPOC communities or marginalized communities, and even adults and women to consider career in STEAM education and career pathways. We often forfeit when we don't pursue this career path, you know, we forfeit the benefits that we could benefit from as a community. The STEAM education and career pathways have a low representation of minorities. We need to up that level. And this is one of the reasons why I am doing this podcast. And also to highlight some of our heroes in STEAM and STEM that you wouldn't even have heard of unless they come to a podcast like this one. There are many of them that are doing phenomenal work in this field, like Dr. Rittenhouse doing phenomenal work. There are others that I have interviewed that I've talked with on this program. So this podcast is a platform to hear their achievement, what they're doing in our community, leverage their skills to uplift our community. So when our community pursues degrees and career in STEAM, we are able to sustain our economic growth, our health. We're well informed, then we're part of the innovation that is taking place here in the United States and across the world. So I just want to thank everyone for taking the time to listen to this episode of Steam Spark Think Steam Career Podcast. Also, I would like to encourage everyone, please go and support this program. If you like what we're doing, please give us a thumbs up on YouTube, on Buzzprout, on Amazon, Spotify, wherever you hear this podcast. Support us, give us a thumbs up, ladies and gentlemen. Support us whenever you can. And go out and also buy my children's book. They are on Amazon. This kind of help this program too. I want to thank you once more again, Dr. Rettenhouse. Thank you so much for your time. And God bless and happy holidays, sir. Thank you. So until next time, everyone. Bye for now.

Head Shot

Dr. Ayo Olufade, Ph.D

Host