Like many students, Miranda Noack came to St. Ambrose University with a very particular goal: Helping people with disabilities live functional and happy lives with assistive technology. Like many Ambrosians before her, she leaves with a previously unseen path to her goal.
After graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Miranda will enroll at the University of Colorado Denver in pursuit of a master's of bio-engineering degree. There, she will be doing clinical work, product research, and development at UCD's Center for Inclusive Design and Engineering, fulfilling the mission she brought to St. Ambrose of enriching lives through assistive technology.
Miranda was drawn to St. Ambrose by Jim's Place, the Assistive Technology Lab that serves as a hands-on learning environment for students enrolled in the university's highly regarded Doctor of Occupational Therapy program. Jim's Place also enriches lives through inventive solutions for persons with disabilities throughout Iowa, Illinois, and the world.
Miranda originally envisioned occupational therapy would be the career path that would key her passion for finding assistive solutions. En route to the OTD program, many students opt for healthcare-adjacent undergraduate degrees, but given her interest in not just using assistive technology to help others, but in developing solutions, she opted to major in engineering.
The deeper she delved into the SAU engineering program, the better Miranda understood how she might best achieve her dream. Classroom interaction, hands-on learning, and easy access to one-on-one moments with professors helped her grow, both academically and in confidence.
"I really loved going to a smaller school because I was able to have such close relationships with my professors and other students," she said.
Those relationships were formed quickly during her first year, thanks to a work-study position, conducting research alongside faculty, and participation in the SAU chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and being an active member of SAU's PRISM and ADAPT clubs.
Miranda said her involvement in the ADAPT (Teaching and Promoting All Disability Awareness) club was particularly special. In high school, she worked as a one-on-one aide for a child with special needs and wanted to continue volunteering in that capacity at college. During her first ADAPT meeting, the club was looking to fill a position on its executive board, which she quickly offered to take on.
"It was so awesome," she said. "I got to see how the club grew and changed over the years. This past year we decided we wanted to get more involved in the community, so we partnered with Special Olympics Iowa to take on the Unified Schools model."
Thanks to the ADAPT club, St. Ambrose is one of only four universities in the state to fully incorporate a Special Olympics model that brings students with and without intellectual disabilities together to play sports.
While searching for summer research positions, Miranda came across an opportunity to participate in an AT Hackathon at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
"I thought it was a long shot, I was just a student from a small school in Iowa," she said. "I put my name in without really thinking much of it, but then I got invited to participate. It was such a neat experience working in an environment with people from all different places and different backgrounds that all had the same passion as me."
Miranda said her experience at MIT started to shift her perspective on plans for graduate school. "It really opened my eyes to a lot of different opportunities in AT, engineering, and the things I could do," she said.
Miranda spent a subsequent summer at Cleveland State University researching eye gaze tracking, a system used in specialized eyeglasses. The glasses can track pupil movements that could then be used to control a prosthetic limb.
The sum of her St. Ambrose experience will lead to the University of Colorado Denver, where her passion for engineering adaptive solutions that lead to fuller lives will continue.
"I always knew I wanted to help people in need with assistive technology," she said. "But it's such a broad area, I wasn't entirely sure where I was going to settle. Being at St. Ambrose allowed me to do so much exploring and that helped me and find a way that truly is the right fit for me."
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