Dr. Kristin Warren ‘11 made history in 2016 when she became the first African-American female to receive a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Warren’s accomplishment occurred exactly 40 years after the first African-American male graduated from Carnegie Mellon’s Mechanical Engineering program in 1966.

“I think it speaks to the environment that we live in as far as the education system in America,” Warren said. “I think there could be more preparation at the high school level to get students more interested to pursue careers in science.”

Warren believes that kids genuinely like math and science in elementary and middle schools but there’s a cultural shift away from the fields of study at the high school level. Based on her own educational experiences, Warren hopes to dedicate her life’s work to altering this narrative and inspiring students to pursue careers in science and engineering.

Journey to Kettering University and Carnegie Mellon

Warren was attending the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science (MSMS), a residential high school located on the campus of the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Mississippi when she was awarded the prestigious Gates Millennium Scholarship (GMS) from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The GMS covers all educational expenses for a student to pursue an undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. But it’s also more than a full-ride scholarship, it’s an entry to a lifelong academic fraternity that provides academic empowerment services to encourage academic excellence; mentoring services for academic and personal development; and an online resource center that provides internship, fellowship and scholarship information.

After earning the scholarship, Warren received a pamphlet in the mail from Kettering. The mailing catalyzed her visit to campus where she met with Dr. Pat Atkinson about concentrating on Biomedical Engineering. She then made the trek from Mississippi to Michigan and majored in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Bioengineering and a minor in Business.

“I had a lot of great interactions with people on campus during my visit,” Warren said. “I liked the idea of the co-op. It was the only school I talked to with a co-op program.”;

Warren completed her first three co-op terms at General Motors in Milford, Michigan, where she worked on noise and vibrations, human-vehicle interactions and corrosion. She then transferred her co-op position to Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis where she worked on delivery device assembly operations for the pharmaceutical company.

On campus, she became involved with the Black Unity Congress (BUC), National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), student government, Pi Tau Sigma and represented her 2011 graduating class as the student commencement speaker.

As a Gates Millennium Scholar, Warren’s education was funded through her Ph.D. so she opted for graduate school after Kettering as opposed to working in industry. She joined the Mechanical Engineering labs of Dr. Philip R. LeDuc and Dr. C. Fred Higgs III at Carnegie Mellon.

“The original research idea was a little different than what I ultimately worked on,” Warren said. “My project focused on efficiently using microalgae for biofuels. It was a combination of things that I was interested in including environmental protection and biology.”

Focusing on the education of others

After completing her Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon, Warren became a policy fellow for the California Council on Science and Technology in Sacramento in November 2016. She will spend the next year advising policymakers on a variety of issues that reach the state-level House and Senate floors.

“They are looking for fellows who think critically and can analyze the science behind the bills,” Warren said.

Warren is one of nine fellows selected to the program. Each of the fellows will advise the legislature on various topics including utilities, natural resources, health, cyber security and the environmental justice.

Warren’s drive toward public service stems from her experiences as mentor to students in Pittsburgh while she attended graduate school. Mentoring youth in the community further exposed her to the inequalities in the education system. After completing the fellowship, Warren hopes to remain in public service and specifically focus on K-12 public education. She wishes to use her own educational journey as an example to inspire others.

“Being more involved in the community really helped me see what I was called to do and that’s advocating for education for the upliftment and advancement of the marginalized in America,” Warren said.