Christina (Tina) Seimetz has come full circle in the CEED community, beginning in 2006 as a first-year engineering student in Hypatia, and in June 2011, when she joined the staff as a graduate assistant for the Galileo and Hypatia residential communities, teaching the Hypatia seminar for first-year participants. Tina received a B.S. in mechanical engineering and an M.S. in biomedical engineering. She is currently a PhD student in the Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University School for Biomedical Engineering and Sciences.
During her undergraduate years and the first year of graduate school, Tina was a coach and supervisor for the VT Recreational Sports Gymnastics Instruction Program. Her athletic endeavors in high school sparked her interest in the mechanics of the body, and she discovered that biomedical engineering is a path to pursuing the field. She decided, "Since VT does not offer a B.S. in biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering seemed like a good choice that could easily segue into biomechanics."
Besides her work in graduate school and as a GA in the CEED office, Tina is a research assistant in the Locomotion Laboratory in Whittemore Hall. Her research focuses on biomechanics, and currently she is researching quantitative methods of balance assessment. And when she is able, Tina finds time to indulge in two of her favorite activities, scrapbooking and reading.
Regarding her continual involvement with CEED, Tina says, “Participation in Hypatia and the connection with the CEED office has helped me see the value and necessity of promoting diversity and advocating for women in engineering. As the current graduate assistant for the Hypatia program, I see much of the same experiences in my students. They are a very close community, even more so than when I was a participant. It’s great to see that they are benefiting from the program just as I did.”
“It was a great experience. The community was a great support network for transitioning from high school into a college engineering program. The program was helpful academically and socially. All of my neighbors took the same classes, and we often did our homework together. I also met new people and even made a life-long friend in the community. “
Tina considers her parents to be her role models. They are both engineers, and she says, “They taught me how to think like an engineer – logically and analytically. My mother has excelled as a female in engineering field, and my father has taught me to always ask questions and to continue learning. They have also shown me that it is possible to successfully manage a 40-hour a week engineering job and a family of five (one girl and two boys), including the sports practices and other activities that come with it.”