DETROIT – Michele Grimm, interim director of Wayne State University’s Transfer Student Success Center and associate professor of biomedical engineering, just may be one of Michigan?s most active and successful science, technology, engineering and mathematics supporters and advocates. Her track record is like a guidebook for service to STEM fields; her work is paving the road to driving more women to STEM.
In her 20 years at Wayne State, Grimm?s dedication to teaching, STEM promotion and student success has earned her a reputation for developing programs and helming initiatives to meet students? needs. She serves as biomedical engineering undergraduate program chair and is faculty advisor of Wayne State?s Tau Beta Pi engineering honor.
As a Michigan native, Grimm spent a majority of her youth at the Waterford Hills racetrack. Her father, Michael Royce, had previously raced cars as an amateur and, along with Grimm?s mother, Suzanne Royce, worked as a scrutineer (or tech inspector) at the local races. They often took their toddler with them to the track.
?The racetrack exposed me to things most kids never encounter,? said Grimm, whose mother is now the chief scrutineer for Formula One and MotoGP in the United States. ?It showed me that math, science and engineering could be part of fun activities, not just school. I knew from an early age that I?d go into a STEM career, but leaned toward medicine at first. It wasn?t until I volunteered at a local hospital in high school that I realized I really wanted to go into biomedical engineering instead. It allowed me to work toward solving medical problems, but without the added stress of having a patient?s life depending on my daily decisions.?
Grimm quickly learned that teaching was a passion and decided to pursue that path.
She?s been instrumental in developing both the graduate and undergraduate programs in biomedical engineering (in 1998 and 2010, respectively) and founding the BME department, which involved developing the curriculum and recruiting students to these top programs. As associate dean for academic affairs from 2003 to 2010, she spearheaded the development of the College?s Engineering Bridge program for at-risk students, as well the Engineering Honors program to support its top students. With her racing experience from childhood, Grimm has also ensured that Wayne State is home to a student Formula SAE (FSAE) team.
?I knew what FSAE was and that it would be incredibly beneficial for our students,? Grimm said. ?It teaches them teamwork and provides them with real-world engineering problem solving, budgeting and time management experience. We?re in a very auto-centric region, and companies realize what projects like FSAE bring to students. Our students graduate knowing how to be engineers. Many alums credit it for helping them get their first jobs after graduation.?
Grimm is also a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering and serves on its Bioengineering Division Executive Committee, is a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, and a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Her experience serves as a reminder that STEM exposure at a young age can truly last a lifetime.
For more information about engineering at Wayne State University, visit engineering.wayne.edu.
Associate Editor Nicole Johnson leads MITechNews.Com?s efforts to foster STEM education, as well as provides coverage for her fellow women in computing. If you have a story idea for Nicole, email [email protected]
