All Tech Considered is leading a cross-platform storytelling project this week to engage with diverse innovators who are making an impact in the science and technology sectors. The series focuses onreal-time storytelling around the hashtag #RaceOnTech.
In an NPR interview, Lisa Dyson, CEO of Kiverdi, a sustainable oil and chemical company, discusses an early role model, her work and the need to boost technology education.
Share your personal story. How did you get into STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)?
My cousin is a space engineer. She was my role model. I always loved math. She loved math too and applied it to building satellites as an electrical engineer, initially at Hughes Aircraft Co. So, early in my life, I decided I wanted to follow in her footsteps. I ended up becoming a physicist.
Still today, there are many schools throughout our nation that don't offer things like programming and other tech courses.
My first research project in physics was at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab
where I saw math come to life in the form of magnetic field lines in tokamak reactors, which were designed for renewable energy generation. I went on to get a Ph.D. in theoretical physics and do other things in my career. Kiverdi brought me back to my original interest in renewable energy. We have taken our business beyond energy and are now using innovations in biotech to make renewable materials.
What impact do you hope to make with your work?
I want to change the way materials are manufactured by making sustainably produced materials in a way that is profitable for the industry. At Kiverdi, we are commercializing a technology that converts CO2 and carbon waste into oil using microbes. This oil can be used to make renewable materials to replace their petroleum-derived counterparts. We call what we do carbon engineering and our goal is to create a sustainable world for our progeny.
What could improve diversity in the tech industry?
When I was in high school, I wanted to learn the programming language C, but there were no classes that were being offered. So I asked my math teacher to teach me and he did. He actually took his free period, where he'd normally be doing other things and taught me C programming every single day. So for those that didn't ask, that option wasn't available. And still today, there are many schools throughout our nation that don't offer things like programming and other tech courses.
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