Off the Traced Path • MJ Azzi

(Mechanical Engineering PhD Student, Stanford University || CA USA)

“It’s an art to be able to understand the world. My love of physics and math came from an appreciation of their beauty. I went through all these phases where I liked medicine, astrophysics, engineering — I really just liked math itself, finding this kind of rationality behind everything that’s happening.

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I’m working on a PhD in mechanical engineering, studying how to build better tools for multiple applications. I’m currently working on a mathematical tool called model order reduction — we simplify complex high-dimensional systems by reducing them to lower dimensional spaces. You might need experimental data from a complex system, but it could be really expensive to collect — like tests of a plane in a wind tunnel. Instead you can use the model to simulate conditions you couldn’t test in real life. One application of these reduced order models is ‘digital twins’ — they’re virtual copies of a physical asset like a car or airplane which you can simulate in a bunch of circumstances. I’m really excited about working on the theory because it can apply to so many things — digital twins are now emerging in industries like manufacturing and medical tech.

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I wanted to leave Lebanon at 18. My parents thought I was too young, so for my entire undergrad experience, I did everything with the goal of leaving the country for grad school. In Lebanon it’s like there’s this traced path for you — you go to this university then work there and have this lifestyle. It’s a small country very much limited by the politics of the region, and since the October revolution last year and the explosion this summer, it’s been chaos. For anyone there, don’t take the limits you know from home for an answer.

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I’m not sure at this stage what I want for my career. Since starting grad school, I’m changing and growing every month; setting a path now doesn’t make sense for me. So I’m trying to get a little bit of everything, and when the time comes, I’ll just see what I’m ready for.”

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“After a devastating explosion in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, children and families already facing COVID-19, as well as economic and political crisis, are more vulnerable than ever.

Save the Children field workers report that entire streets have been wiped out by the explosion and many children are missing or looking for their parents. The explosion couldn’t have happened at a worse time, as the country is already facing increasing likelihood of severe food insecurity, rising unemployment, increased rates of poverty, and more.

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