Hello Everyone! We are almost done with the URSA program so I wanted to do one of my last check ins.

Networking:

I have increase my LinkedIn connections from fiffty-seven to eighty, which has been very exciting. I have been working to improve my networking abilities and LinkedIn has been a great way to track that growth. I have met with some people in regards to my research project, but there’s one person in particular I wanted to highlight. I met with a research and devlopment director for Protor and Gamble (P&G): Stephanie Niezgoda Moss. She’s a family friend that I’ve known since childhood. I had the opportunity to interview her about her position. She currently works on product design and devlopment of razor blades and related products. However, her journey to this position can be traced back to high school. She attended Clackamas High School which has a program with a local Professional Center – Sabin-Schellenberg. The professional center offered a CAD design class which featured a fieldtrip to a small buisness that allowed the students to explore parts of the product design process. Ever since, Ms. Niezgoda Moss has had a passion for product design. Out of high school she did her undergrad at Univeristy of Portland, then went on to join Northwestern University’s Engineering Design & Innovation program. Going on to work at various branches of P&G, now settled into the female shave buisness side of P&G. During her over thirteen years at P&G, she has overlooked many product designs, led consumer research, and pushed innovations on womens personal care products. I asked her about any advice she would like to give younger generations. She expressed that a very important thing for younger people to look for is existing intersections in topics they enjoy. She was able to find an intersection between design and product creation, there’s hope for other people to find similar niches.

Current Work:

I am in the process of completing my final poster for the OSU Spring Poster Symposium (SPS). I have signed up for the event and I just need to finish and print out my poster. I am also working to get my workshop set up for later this month.

Next Steps:

I’m going to finish up my poster and prepare my elevator pitch for the SPS. I am very excited to share my research and see all the wonderful research brought by my fellow URSA peers.