Student: Hannah Blackburn

Hannah Blackburn, an East Carolina University senior, has accomplished a lot during her time on campus. From being involved with the ECU Honors College, a STEM scholarship recipient, founding a brand-new chapter of a nationwide organization, and preparing for her upcoming graduation, Blackburn is constantly busy. Yet, she still makes time to embody ECU’s motto, Servire – to serve.

Finding Her Passion

Hannah Blackburn recently participated in an ad for ECU produced by Carnegie. (Submitted Photo)

Blackburn’s career aspirations have evolved significantly. As a child, she considered becoming a veterinarian until becoming allergic to animals. She then explored becoming a lawyer before realizing debate wasn’t her strength. Her path toward medicine was redirected after valuable counsel from her high school teacher, who worked as an emergency room doctor.

“He told me that, ‘It’s a great field, but do you really want to go into that because it can be really draining.’ And that made me think, ‘Okay, so maybe there’s a way that I can help people, because I love designing things.’ So, that’s kind of how I found my path into biomedical engineering,” Blackburn said.

The positive environment at ECU has supported her choice. Blackburn describes the biomedical engineering community at ECU as one that builds their students up and gives them all the opportunities that they’re willing to take on.

“I was fortunate enough that I have absolutely fallen in love with what I decided to major in and study. But also, I know a lot of people who have shifted because you find out what you’re passionate about at college, and I think that that’s one of the biggest things that ECU gives you the chance to do, is that we’re pretty flexible, but you also have a community that supports you no matter where you go,” she said.

PIRATES Program: Foundation for Success

Before her first day on campus, Blackburn was selected as a recipient of the Department of Engineering’s PIRATES Scholars Program.

The PIRATES Program is a merit and need-based scholarship funded by the National Science Foundation. The program provides scholars with co-curricular support designed to enhance their academic and professional success.

For Blackburn, Dr. Ricky Castles, the principal investigator of the program, has been invaluable. “Dr. Castles has been such an encouragement and support for all of the scholars. He’s so intentional with helping us see that he believes in engineering education, and he wants as many people to succeed and to remove as many barriers as possible,” Blackburn said.

Engineering with Heart and Building Community

A defining moment in Blackburn’s university career came in 2022 when she founded the ECU chapter of the Helping Hand Project, an organization that develops innovative solutions for those with limb differences.

Her motivation stems from a personal connection.

“My younger brother was born with a partially formed right arm, and he’s never had a prosthetic or needed one, but being able to give him something like that would help him with a lot of common tasks that we don’t think about that you might need two hands for,” Blackburn said. “That was one of the biggest reasons that I wanted to go into biomedical engineering, to be able to design and help people in that way.”

The timing of the chapter’s founding coincided perfectly with the opening of ECU’s Isley Innovation Hub, providing access to 3D printers.

“Our group 3D models and 3D prints prosthetics geared towards kids with limb differences. It really helped me understand that this is what I’m passionate about, is being able to help people and see how their lives change. So that’s really been impactful for me,” she said.

Blackburn’s involvement extends to the Society of Women Engineers, which aims to advance opportunities for women in engineering.

“I’ve been really blessed and fortunate to be able to have faculty and alumni connect with me to help me see what the world of engineering looks like,” Blackburn said. “My goal now is to kind of hopefully bring some alumni to meet with these students, because I met so many brilliant people here. And with engineers, you don’t exactly know what they do on a day to day, because it’s so broad. So, my goal is to give them an opportunity to see what it looks like.”

Looking Ahead

As she approaches graduation, Blackburn reflects on her ECU experience and future plans.

“I’ve been looking at jobs, places to live and thinking about what the next steps are and what skills I need to be building to be able to make that happen,” she said. “And I realized that I’ve learned all of these things at ECU.”

She emphasizes the lasting impact of ECU’s community-focused approach. “”ECU has done a really great job of building that community, of showing what it looks like to actively serve and in the same way, if you’re leading people, then it also means that you’re willing to walk alongside them and grow with them. I think that that’s really important in getting ready for the next steps,” Blackburn said.

Looking ahead, Blackburn aims to work in medical devices, particularly implant devices or prosthetics design. Her career aspirations extend beyond technical expertise.

“One of the things that I think is important to me as well is within that company, I know that there are some that train you to do, specifically what they want you to do. And while that is important, and you can become a subject matter expert, I think I absolutely love learning and having the opportunity to keep growing myself, personally, professionally and in all sorts of ways is really important as I’m looking more towards building my career,” she said.