Issue link: https://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1314583
24 Mueller has been interested in stem cells and regenerative engineering since undergoing several knee surgeries when she was younger. Two of them involved the technology. "It was a relatively new kind of operation," Mueller said. "I thought it was the coolest thing, and I did a report on it in sixth grade and another one in high school." She describes her area of interest in this way: "Stem cells are certain cells in your body that have cool capability to turn into little machines that fix what your body needs. ey can turn into many different types of cells to heal the body. e research I hope to do will help us better understand how these cells work and how they can be manipulated and harnessed to treat diseases that are currently incurable." Kelly ornburg, director of scholar development at the University of Iowa Honors Program, says people oen ask what makes someone a good fit for the Rhodes Scholarship. "For most people, including Marissa, there needs to be powerful attraction to complex problems," ornburg said. "For her, it is the tangle of biological, practical and ethical questions at the heart of stem cell research that calls her to pursue the extraordinary challenge she will find at Oxford University. I am excited to see how her relationship to those questions will be altered by her coursework, as well as by her connection to this diverse community of young scholars, creators and advocates from all over the world." Aer completing studies at Oxford University, Mueller plans to go to medical school. For now, she's at home with her parents while taking classes online due to COVID-19. She says she hopes to return to Iowa City aer the New Year, if and when COVID-19 cases start to subside. "I miss Iowa City tremendously," she says is is the question Dean Nembhard asked Mueller to improve her answer to as part of Mueller's preparation for her Rhodes Scholarship interview: How might you pivot your research agenda or otherwise use your engineering training (especially technical methods, theory, and frameworks) to help dismantle systemic racism for Canadian indigenous communities? Engineering frameworks create a nice scaffold in which technical methods and theories may be discussed. We are taught to consider our assumptions when breaking down a large engineering problem and envisioning creative solutions. When applied to Indigenous communities, an example may involve rectifying health care inequalities as a piece of the solution to dismantling systemic racism. We may falsely assume that members of these communities want access to large, state-of-the-art facilities; in reality, individuals may value a connection to their land and community — staying at home — more than the potential benefit of being cared for at a larger center. is is an example of breaking down the problem. Aer this is done and solution spaces are explored, specific engineering tools might be used to attack the problem. We can employ technical training in statics, computer science, and mathematical modeling to modify current medical devices such that they are portable, cost-effective and tailored for direct use within Indigenous communities. We can modify devices to meet patient needs. is is what engineering students are trained to do, for example, in our Senior Design capstone course that emphasizes our role in society and how we can be socially cognizant agents of change.