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DAME MAGAZINE – When it comes to inspiring young women to enter science and engineering, few have done as much as Kari Byron, the host of MythBusters on the Discovery Channel. She’s not only a fine artist and mother of a 3-year old, but also a seasoned special effects engineer. In past seasons, a typical work day might include arc welding and firing automatic weapons … in a paisley-print sun dress. She has even hosted her own series – Head Rush, on the Science Channel – specifically to get middle school kids jazzed about science. And on Sunday, October 28 Byron returns as host of Large Dangerous Rocket Ships on the Science Channel. “It’s taken a lot of persistence and hard work to get here,” she says, “but it’s so worth it to do the crazy things that I do for a living while also inspiring young women to follow their dreams.” Byron jumped into special effects after graduating from San Francisco State University. As a sculpture major she knew how to use tools and wasn’t afraid of a few sparks. She got her first job in special effects at M5 industries, a visual effects shop run by original MythBuster Jamie Hyneman. At the time, she was one of a small minority of women in the field. She worked her way up in the mostly male shop by building models and prototyping toys. She eventually made it onto the MythBusters “build team” where she continues to blow things up with the boys. But don’t call her a tomboy … as we discovered, when we caught up with her for a chat.   Your background is in fine arts. How did that lead to special effects? I was really into sculpture and wanted to figure out a way to apply that to a career. Special effects seemed like a great marriage. I got an internship with Jamie to try and get into that field but didn’t realize that it was on the decline for practical effects.The special effects field must have been pretty male-dominated when you started, right? There were not many women when I got into it, that’s true. I can think of one other at the time. But I never went in with the idea that I’m different. I just went into it knowing what I wanted to do.That field has always been pretty competitive. How did you break in? I started by working for free. I didn’t feel the need to necessarily prove myself. I just worked as hard as I could. I just showed up every day until they decided to start to pay me.What did that first paid gig “entail?” Yeah, seriously [laughs]. They paid me $100 to 3D scan my butt. It was to create a giant butt for the famous exploding toilet episode. At the time, I didn’t think the show would grow to what it is today. I definitely had no idea that that would be the first thing that comes up when you Google my name.Did being a tomboy help you assimilate? I’ve never thought of myself that way. People tend to think of welding and fabrication as being tomboyish but I’m actually a girly-girl that loves high heels. I love getting my hands dirty and getting dressed up. It’s super fun to get dressed up for the Emmys and still be able to go to the bomb range.Have Discovery execs ever asked you to glam it up for the show? No, but why not? It would be nice to show every side. But we do a lot of dangerous work on the show that requires safety equipment like helmets, goggles, steel-toe boots. You can’t really show skin when the sparks are flying.Alexa Havins from Torchwood mentioned that she practiced running in heels while shooting. Have you mastered that yet? I haven’t, but I agree that running in heels is very difficult.Maybe work that into your next season somehow: the peril of running in heels. It would be much more fun to put Tory and Grant into high heels. [laughs]Was science and technology always your thing? To be quite honest, I was that 12-year-old girl that lost interest in science. I didn’t regain my interest until years later.Did the rote learning turn you off? I did think of science as memorizing the components of a cell. But I always did like the more applied projects where you’d drop an egg from the roof and try to make it land softly, things like that. I didn’t make the connection between art and science until I came to MythBusters. But I discovered that it’s exactly how I approach art with a process and getting your hands dirty.What deters women from entering hard science fields? Somewhere around the age of twelve, girls tend to lose interest in science. Maybe because they’re more interested in community-based careers rather than “alone” projects. Most science careers involve research or a lot of solo work versus like group process. Also, a lot of role models at that age are generally beauty or rock music or actresses. There’s not a lot of faces you see on TV where there’s a woman in a role as a scientist.Is that changing? Of course, I’d really like that to change and it has been. In the last decade or so, you see more actresses on CSI or as scientists and it’s cool.Do you feel that you’re breaking stereotypes? It’s an intimidating idea but, at this point, it’s something that I strive to do. I feel that Mythbusters has been a great opportunity for me to show enthusiasm towards science as a regular girl and not the typical white-coated lab guy with glasses. I started doing something on the Science channel called Head Rush which is aimed at the 12-year-old girl I used to be who needed to see science role models and get into little experiments. A lot of kids really responded to it and teachers brought it into the classroom.You’re also a mother now. Are the demands of motherhood different in entertainment than in other industries? The funny thing is that nobody on set has children. Not the producers or anybody else. And it’s a weird environment to be pregnant. There are horrific smells and there’s a lot of running around. It was definitely very hard. I had to make a place to nap under my desk. But I was very careful and we talked about the safety.How long into term did you work? I worked until I was like 10 months pregnant. Right up to my due date and I was huge. It was insane. I asked my doctor how far I had to be away from an explosion and keep the baby safe. Or at what point did I have to stop firing guns. She said that it wasn’t a question that she’s ever been asked and she had no idea. She said she’d do some research.For reference, what did the doctor find out? At five months, the baby develops little ears. So that’s when I have to step away from the guns and stay behind safety glass. So if there are any mothers in this field, whatever that would be, I have the answers now. You can read the full story here: https://www.damemagazine.com/2012/10/24/kari-byron-interview-tomboy/

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Every weekday morning, Brian Boudreau, 52, leaves his house in Temecula, Calif., at 5 a.m. to go to work. It takes him 45 minutes to drive to a Metrolink train station and another hour by rail to get to his office in downtown Los Angeles. The 174-mile round trip was meant to be a temporary arrangement. “All of our [five] kids are in the local school system so it would have been very disruptive to move,” says Mr. Boudreau, who is a project manager at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “I’m infamous at the office because of my commute.” Mr. Boudreau is one of 3.4 million Americans who have “extreme” commutes, which the U.S. Census Bureau classifies as being 90 minutes or more each way. “It’s a trend that is not likely to improve for several reasons,” says Alan Pisarski, a transportation expert from Falls Church, Va. Not only has the recession forced job seekers to widen their search radius, but out-of-reach home prices and households with multiple earners who commute to different workplaces are also major factors in the rise of extreme commuting. “It may not be very green, but the reality militates that most of us can’t live outside the gates of the factory any more,” says Mr. Pisarski. To ease your commuting headaches, find out what commuting subsidies your company offers. Many offices will pay, at least in part, for bus, vanpool or train passes. If you have to drive, consider carpooling, even if you only share a ride to the train station or airport. Although the Census Bureau says carpooling is down to nearly half of what it was in 1980, websites like Craigslist.org and eRideShare.com make it easier to connect with people who live and work close to you. Cities like Baltimore sponsor their own programs that offer free online matching services. Most employers are open to accommodating commuters with some scheduling flexibility. Try shifting your working time around the worst rush-hour times. Leaving home an hour earlier or leaving work an hour later can make a big difference in how much time you spend in traffic. “Learn to schedule your time more efficiently since long commutes will limit when you can run errands,” says extreme commuter Susan Feinberg, an associate professor at Rutgers Business School in New Brunswick, N.J. She lives 200 miles away in Washington and takes a train back and forth a couple of days each week. Healthy eating is one of the first casualties since exhausted commuters are more likely to opt for fast food or microwave dinners when they get home. Instead, try preparing multiple meals at home that can be refrigerated or frozen in containers and parcel them out throughout the week. It’s cheaper, and portioning each meal allows you to easily track calories. You can read the full story here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703806304576239442014892456

WALL STREET JOURNAL – Best known for playing Lieutenant Uhura, the communications officer on the original 60’s ‘Star Trek’ television series, Nichelle Nichols is one of the first African-American women to be cast in a role other than stereotyped black maid or nanny. She also performed the first inter-racial kiss on national television, which is one of many behind the scene stories told in the upcoming “Pioneers of Television.” The four-part PBS series pays homage to the first generation of genre television shows and the actors who helped break new ground. Speakeasy spoke with Nichelle Nichols, now 78, about her career and how Martin Luther King Jr. changed her life. Speakeasy: You actually worked with Gene Roddenberry before Star Trek. How did the two of you meet? Nichelle Nichols: I was taking an acting class with Frank Silvera [actor/director and civil rights activist] and there was a gentleman there who worked with Gene Roddenberry on “The Lieutenant.” He went back and told Gene that I found your couple. That became my first guest star billing on a national television series.” Speakeasy: How did that lead to Star Trek? Three years later, Gene told my television agent to find Nichelle. I was traveling for theater, and he told me to bring my little brown butt home. He said I could go back to Europe if things didn’t work out. I came back, got the role and never left. What did you think of doing sci-fi? Seems much different than theater. I was thrilled by the opportunity, but I didn’t know what the role was until I walked into the room for the interview. They handed me a script and told me to read the part of Spock. Had you ever seen the show? No, I asked them what Spock was like, her composure, demeanor. They stopped and looked at me as if I had grown two heads. When I finished reading, Bob Justman [producer] said to call down and see if Nimoy has signed his contract yet. I understand that the Uhura character didn’t even exist before you were hired. I walked in to the interview with this magnificent treatise on Africa by [Robert] Ruark called Uhuru, which is Swahili for Freedom. Gene said he really liked the name of that book and wanted to use the title as a first name. I said, why don’t you do an alliteration of the name Uhuru and soften the N and make it Uhura? He said you are Uhura and that belongs to you. How much input did you have in creating Uhura? I created my background, where she came from, my parents. They were ambassadors and one was a scientist, so I had this to live up to as well as the expectations of Spock. I made him Uhura’s mentor. It sounds like you put a lot of thought into the part. Why did you want to quit after the first season? After the first year, Grace Lee Whitney was let go so it became Bill and Leonard. The rest of us became supporting characters. I decided to leave the show after the first season. What convinced you to stay on? I was at a fundraiser and the promoter of the event said there’s somebody that wants to meet you. He is your biggest fan. I stood up and turned to see the beatific face of Dr. Martin Luther King walking towards me with a sparkle in his eye. He took my hand and thanked me for meeting him. He then said I am your greatest fan. All I remember is my mouth opening and shutting. What was that like? I thanked him so much and told him how I’d miss it all. He asked what I was talking about, and told me that I can’t leave the show. We talked a long time about what it all meant and what images on television tell us about ourselves. Did you know then how much of a role model you’d become? Oh, god, no. I thought of it as a stepping stone to Broadway. I went back to Gene and told him what had happened, and that I was staying. He smiled up at me and said, thank god for Dr. Martin Luther King. Did the experience change how you played Uhura? Nichols: It’s one of the most important things that happened in my life and it changed and defined my career. I took my role much more seriously after that. Would you say that there’s some vestige of Martin Luther King Jr. in ‘Star Trek’? I know there is. Subsequently, Gene and I would speak about it, and he invoked Martin Luther King after getting his star on the walk of fame. What happened with Dr. King instilled a very strong bond between Gene and I. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you broke ranks again in the blaxploitation film “Truck Turner” [1974], adding a bit more fiery dimension to the stereotyped madam role. How much of that was your doing? They wanted me to play the girlfriend. All you saw in blaxploitation films was the Aunt Jemima, flirty girl or the hooker. I said I’ll play the madam and she’ll be so fantastic. The producers told me the madam was supposed to be this 350-pound black woman. I said no, that’s just what’s on the paper. What if she was tough, no-nonsense and mean because of the life she’d lived but elegant as well? Dorinda actually steals a lot of scenes, which isn’t an easy thing to do with a co-star as imposing as Isaac Hayes. Where did you get your inspiration for the character? I grew up on the south side of Chicago and back then we [African Americans] were forced to all live in one area. I saw prostitutes, drug dealers and businessmen all living together. My sisters brought home a madam once for dinner. They didn’t know what she did but we did. She later thanked us for treating her decently. Dorinda and Uhura are different characters, different people. But they’re also both strong, empowered black women. Do you think the two would get along if they met? I don’t think they would like each other since they were on opposites sides of the law. They would understand each other. Maybe even respect each other from a distance. This story was written for the WSJ How I Got Here column. You can read the full article here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-SEB-59822

WALL STREET JOURNAL – It had been pouring rain when Eric Voskuil rode his motorcycle to the Navy recruiting office in Albany, N.Y., intending to enlist. He had just quit an internship at International Business Machines Corp. where he was learning programming; he thought he’d like to work with nuclear power and submarines instead. When the recruiters saw his wet helmet, they thought he was a better fit as a pilot. “He definitely was not your typical college kid. It was obvious from his grades that he was a super smart guy, but he didn’t fit the mold of a surface warfare officer,” says John Ortolf, a former Navy recruiter who is now a financial planner at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. “It takes that to get through aviation training. He clearly had a lot of determination.” After completing his bachelor’s degree in computer science at Rensselaer Polytechnic in New York, Mr. Voskuil went on to Officer Candidate School. Later when he learned how to fly the F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft, he was unexpectedly pulled back into programming. Another officer was trying to cobble together a flight-scheduling program to track work hours. Mr. Voskuil offered to help and ended up taking over the project. The software was later adopted throughout the fighter community. Although he enjoyed programming again, Mr. Voskuil stayed focused on his aviation career. His skills there were put to the test during the Bosnian War in 1994 when he was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea to serve aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga. His squadron was responsible for keeping the skies clear and for providing air support for NATO ground operations. Mr. Voskuil says he never fired a shot, but he did chase aircraft out of the no-fly zone. After returning from his second deployment to Bosnia in 1996, Mr. Voskuil was accepted into the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School—also known as Top Gun. He went through 10 weeks of intense training to become a strike fighter tactics instructor and then spent the next two years in Florida training other aviators throughout the fleet in the same advanced tactics that he had been taught. He considered it to be the pinnacle of his career. Again, Mr. Voskuil’s technical skills were tapped while he was stationed in Florida. His commanding officer asked him to manage the squadron computer network. To save time, Mr. Voskuil created a program called ProfileMaker that allowed him to automate the Windows software setup process for users. He started selling the program online for 10 cents per user, keeping the price low because he wasn’t sure it would sell. When Neenah, Wis.-based Kimberly-Clark Corp. purchased an enterprise license for 10,000 users, he made just $1,000. That’s when a college friend suggested Mr. Voskuil start a new software company with ProfileMaker. Mr. Voskuil hated to give up flying, but it was time to decide whether to re-enlist after nearly 10 years in the Navy. “I knew I could [make] CO [commanding officer]. But the options narrow as you get higher and you don’t get to fly much,” he says. “I knew it was time to move on.” He resigned his commission in 1998, moved to Portsmouth, N.H., and started Automated Profile Management LLC with his friend and another partner, each forking over $5,000. The company sold management tools that allowed administrators to control user access. Mr. Voskuil was chief technology officer. The trio did well in its first year and received $2.5 million in additional venture funding and was rebranded Desktop Standard Corp. The company had grown to nearly $10 million in sales and 55 employees when it was acquired by Microsoft Corp. in 2006. Mr. Voskuil was hired on as a software architect to work full time at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash. He led a work group of 12 of his employees who were absorbed into Microsoft. They integrated their former software into Windows Server 2008. Two years later Mr. Voskuil, restless to do more, left the company. In March 2009, he became CTO for BeyondTrust, a company spun off from Desktop Standard after the acquisition. The company had been based on the software that Microsoft didn’t buy, including software that allows system administrators to restrict access and still grant users the ability to run specific software. “We’re larger than we were but not as big as Microsoft.” He says his time in the Navy only enhanced his ability perform in his second act career. “My experiences as a pilot, teacher and organizational leader as an officer have helped me accomplish everything I’ve aimed for,” he says. This story was written for the WSJ Second Acts column. You can read the full article here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703278604574624213386173876