Fort Dodge Senior High recognized 108 students Monday night during the 24th annual mathematics and science recognition evening event where former Fort Dodge student Nicole Grosland spoke about the possibilities each subject has.
‘‘I originally intended to go to medical school but opted for a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering,’’ Grosland said, in an interview prior to the ceremony. ‘‘I went into engineering because of my interest in math and science along with the human body.’’
Grosland, a 1990 graduate of Fort Dodge Senior High, attended the University of Iowa and has never really left the campus.
‘‘I’m an associate professor with the department of biomedical engineering with the university,’’ she said. ‘‘I enjoy what I do very much. I enjoy working with the students in the classroom and the laboratory.’’
After receiving her bachelor of science degree and then her doctorate four years later, Grosland started teaching and has been there for seven years. She teaches numerous classes of undergraduate and graduate students in things such as: Statics, Applied Finite Element Modeling and Mechanics of Deformable Bodies.
Although many of the phrases seem complicated, much of Grosland’s work has to do with the functions of a human body. She is currently working with a number of people to create a software for patient-specific model development in which she wrote a grant for and received more than $1.5 million.
‘‘We’re developing a technique to create a mathematical model,’’ she said. ‘‘For example, if we look at human bones and joints we might want to analyze the bone quality or the effect of an implant, and that’s what this software will do.’’
Although you might not see Grosland’s work sitting in the software aisle at a local store, in the future if you have implant surgery done it is likely an engineer and surgeon might use it to solve a problem.
Even with the busy schedule, Grosland found time to come back to Fort Dodge and speak about the fun she has with math and science.
‘‘One of my favorite classes was my calculus class taught by Mr. Lee,’’ she said. ‘‘Partly because of his teaching style and partly because of how he challenged us to learn the stuff.’’
Monday night’s presentation isn’t Grosland’s first, as she has traveled the United States and even made it abroad for a presentation.
‘‘I’ve been to San Francisco, New Orleans, San Diego, Washington, D.C., Salt Lake City and probably the most interesting place I’ve presented in was Singapore for a meeting right after I graduated.’’
Grosland has presented her work on 93 different occasions, most of which were out of state, but she still doesn’t see herself going anywhere anytime soon. She plans on continuing her work with the University of Iowa, doing research and teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses.
Contact Sarah Gengler at (515) 573-2141 or sgengler@messengernews.net
