{"id":473210,"date":"2020-11-29T01:01:29","date_gmt":"2020-11-29T09:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/?p=473210"},"modified":"2026-02-12T17:19:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T01:19:24","slug":"ep-91-disabled-engineers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/2020\/11\/29\/ep-91-disabled-engineers\/","title":{"rendered":"Ep 91: Disabled Engineers"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--powerpress_player--><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_1068\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-473210-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/content.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/Final_Ep_91_Nov23.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/content.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/Final_Ep_91_Nov23.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/content.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/Final_Ep_91_Nov23.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/content.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/Final_Ep_91_Nov23.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/?powerpress_pinw=473210-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/content.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/Final_Ep_91_Nov23.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"Final_Ep_91_Nov23.mp3\">Download<\/a> | <a href=\"#\" class=\"powerpress_link_e\" title=\"Embed\" onclick=\"return powerpress_show_embed('473210-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Embed<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_embed_box\" id=\"powerpress_embed_473210-podcast\" style=\"display: none;\"><input id=\"powerpress_embed_473210-podcast_t\" type=\"text\" value=\"&lt;iframe width=&quot;320&quot; height=&quot;30&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/?powerpress_embed=473210-podcast&amp;amp;powerpress_player=mediaelement-audio&quot; title=&quot;Blubrry Podcast Player&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot;&gt;&lt;\/iframe&gt;\" onclick=\"javascript: this.select();\" onfocus=\"javascript: this.select();\" style=\"width: 70%;\" readOnly><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/disability-visibility\/id1282878324\u00a0?mt=2&amp;ls=1#episodeGuid=https%3A%2F%2Fdisabilityvisibilityproject.com%2F%3Fp%3D473210\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_itunes\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Apple Podcasts\" rel=\"nofollow\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/subscribebyemail.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe by Email\" rel=\"nofollow\">Email<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p><p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today\u2019s episode features an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.emilyeackerman.com\/\">Emily Ackerman<\/a>, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh and a disabled activist. Emily will talk about how she got into chemical engineering, her advice for disabled students who want to be scientists, her experiences last year on campus with a delivery robot, and the importance of accessibility in the design and development of technology.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hi! I&#39;m a 6th year chemE PhD candidate applying systems biology approaches to viral infections like the flu and COVID-19. I&#39;m a wheelchair user and am passionate about, among many things, the intersection of disability, tech, and education. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DEHEM?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DEHEM<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DisInHigherEd?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DisInHigherEd<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/DEHEMRollCall?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DEHEMRollCall<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EgFtrtQFp3\">pic.twitter.com\/EgFtrtQFp3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Emily Slackerman Ackerman (@EmilyEAckerman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EmilyEAckerman\/status\/1311725267250012170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 1, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Transcript<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1iNI3pHj-zuGHSYNqCgvMkhhcZaIhCfqE_QecLTvIXz0\/edit?usp=sharing\"><strong>[Google doc]<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1iNI3pHj-zuGHSYNqCgvMkhhcZaIhCfqE_QecLTvIXz0\/edit?usp=sharing\"><strong>[PDF]<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Related Links<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2019-11-19\/why-tech-needs-more-designers-with-disabilities\">&#8220;My Fight With a Sidewalk Robot,&#8221;<\/a> Emily Ackerman, November 19, 2019, CityLab.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pittnews.com\/article\/151742\/news\/starship-robot-wheelchair-incident\/\">&#8220;Starship issues new statement after reviewing footage of viral incident on Forbes crosswalk,&#8221;<\/a> Emily Wolfe, October 22, 2019, The Pitt News.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thecounter.org\/covid-19-outdoor-dining-sidewalks-public-space\/\">&#8220;As businesses adjust to Covid-19, a new take on an old question: Who owns the sidewalks?&#8221;<\/a> Dayna Evans, November 5, 2020, The Counter.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chemistryworld.com\/opinion\/disabled-scientists-excluded-from-the-lab\/4012695.article\">&#8220;Disabled scientists excluded from the lab,&#8221;<\/a> Krystal Vasquez, December 8, 2020, Chemistry World.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>About<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_473208\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-473208\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"473208\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/2020\/11\/29\/ep-91-disabled-engineers\/emily-ackerman\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?fit=4800%2C3200&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"4800,3200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Emily Ackerman\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Emily sits among plants in a power wheelchair behind a glass door. She is dimly lit, with long brown hair, a tan turtleneck, and black pants and boots. &lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?fit=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-473208\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?resize=500%2C333&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Emily sits among plants in a power wheelchair behind a glass door. She is dimly lit, with long brown hair, a tan turtleneck, and black pants and boots.\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?resize=1800%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?w=2720&amp;ssl=1 2720w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?w=4080&amp;ssl=1 4080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-473208\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emily sits among plants in a power wheelchair behind a glass door. She is dimly lit, with long brown hair, a tan turtleneck, and black pants and boots.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Emily Ackerman<\/strong> is a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering and a disabled activist. She is particularly invested in achieving equity in STEM education and technology for the disabled community. She lives in Pittsburgh with her cat, Poppy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Website: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.emilyeackerman.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">https:\/\/www.emilyeackerman.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Twitter: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EmilyEAckerman\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">@EmilyEAckerman<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Support Disability Media and Culture<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/donate\/\"><b>DONATE<\/b><\/a><b>\u00a0to the Disability Visibility Project\u00ae<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Credits<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SFdirewolf\">Alice Wong<\/a>, Writer, Audio Producer, Host<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhoAmIToStopIt\">Cheryl Green<\/a>, Text Transcript<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kut2smooth\">Lateef McLeod<\/a>, Introduction<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MikeeMort\">Mike Mort<\/a>, Artwork<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Theme Music (used with permission of artist)<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Song:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=N02wZiX7jso\">\u201cDance Off\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Song:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wKOU_Z6Y8yQ\">\u201cHard Out Here for A Gimp\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Album: NO BIG DEAL<\/p>\n<p>Artist:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/wheelchairsportscamp.bandcamp.com\/\">Wheelchair Sports Camp<\/a><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Music<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/freesound.org\/people\/Razor5\/sounds\/457011\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cRobot\u201d<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by Razor5 (Robot by Razor5 is licensed under the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creative Commons 0 License<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Sounds<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/freesound.org\/people\/Jack_Master\/sounds\/248096\/\">\u201cVOCODER countdown\u201d<\/a>\u00a0by Jack_Master.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/\">This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/freesound.org\/people\/sheepfilms\/sounds\/153583\/#\">8 Bit Beeping Computer Sounds<\/a>\u201d by sheepfilms.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/publicdomain\/zero\/1.0\/\">This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/content.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/Final_Ep_91_Nov23.mp3Podcast\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/content.blubrry.com\/disability_visibility\/Final_Ep_91_Nov23.mp3Podcast<\/a>: Play in new window | Download | EmbedSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS&nbsp; Today\u2019s episode features an interview with Emily Ackerman, a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering at &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/2020\/11\/29\/ep-91-disabled-engineers\/\" class=\"read-more\">Continue Reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Ep 91: Disabled Engineers<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":473208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[587152318],"tags":[159346,6942,3471,212829,587152982,148,587152981,587152485,47458,1342,587152482,587152984,1217563,587152933,587152488,587152983,587152483,4326483,587152623],"class_list":["post-473210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast","tag-ableism","tag-academia","tag-accessibility","tag-built-environment","tag-chemical-engineering","tag-design","tag-disabled-engineers","tag-disabled-scientists","tag-diversity","tag-education","tag-engineering","tag-equity","tag-inclusive-design","tag-internalized-ableism","tag-robotics","tag-robots","tag-stem","tag-stem-education","tag-systemic-ableism","post-has-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Emily-Ackerman.jpg?fit=4800%2C3200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4H7t1-1Z6q","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}