Ann Rutt
I am an advocate for wholistic education, particularly in STEM where non-technical skills are also critical to success
My Background
I’m originally from the East Coast and spent my childhood growing up in Northern Virginia. I earned my B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering with an additional major in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. I was strongly influenced by my experiences outside of the classroom as an undergraduate student. I worked as an undergraduate researcher under the supervision of Jay F. Whitacre, served as a resident assistant, and held leadership roles in Greek Life.
After graduating from college, I stayed in Pittsburgh and worked for two years before attending graduate school. My first full time job was in research & development for water based batteries at Aquion Energy. In the second year, I also began working in Student Affairs at Carnegie Mellon overseeing a student housing community in the Office of Residential Education.
In 2018, I moved to California to pursue my Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering at UC Berkeley. My research focused on computational materials discovery for magnesium cathodes in the Persson Group. Over the course of graduate school, my professional interests shifted from developing next-generation energy storage materials to mentoring and teaching. I’m particularly interested in cultivating essential teamwork, leadership, and communication skills which are often not emphasized in STEM education.