"I’m learning the skills necessary to develop and introduce technology into marginalized communities in a safe and respectable way."
Name: Ben Lee
Hometown: Milwaukie, Oregon
Program: MS ICTD
Advisor: Shaun Kane
My Path to Engineering
I grew up in Milwaukie, Oregon where I was usually one of the only Asian kids at school. Between trying to understand my bullies and the world around me, I picked up empathy somewhere along the way. As an undergraduate, I tried my hand at all manners of engineering and physics, but it never felt right. Then around my junior year, I entered the field I’d always wanted to: psychology. My passion was ignited, and I ended up finally taking responsibility for my education. My grades soared, and I became involved in the fight against the stigma surrounding mental health. I was heavily involved in many awareness projects on campus, and one of my crowning achievements was organizing and speaking on a panel discussing mental health stigma in Asian American communities. During this time, I was also lucky enough to conduct psychological research in the disability and social interaction lab, where I refined my research practices and became knowledgeable about the problems that people with disabilities face.
After graduating I worked in a skilled nursing facility that served as a dementia unit. While there I really began to consider what I wanted to do, concerning my career and my trajectory. I moved back home where I began to work in the IT help desk field serving skilled nursing facilities across the nation. It was then I began to delve deeper into the impacts of technological advances in the healthcare field.
I didn’t have a clear goal coming out of college, and unfortunately there aren’t a lot of entry-level jobs in the disability advocacy and accessible technology fields. So, I began thinking more and more about how to leverage what skills I had into a field that would help people and also challenge me. I fell on the idea that technology really is the great equalizer and began looking into human computer interactions (HCI).
Why CU Boulder?
I was considering a number of programs, but unfortunately, there is a lack of US programs that focus on accessible technology. Through a visiting CU Boulder professor, I learned about the interdisciplinary nature of the ATLAS program as well as Dr. Shaun Kane’s work. I emailed Dr. Kane inquiring about possibly working with him, but he replied that there wasn’t a position for me at the moment. Feeling a little dejected, I still applied to other graduate programs and CU Boulder. In the back of my head I kept thinking about all the innovative stuff going on at the ATLAS program. The wild laboratories there really pushed the definitions of what I thought an engineering program could be. I felt that an education there would be really unique.
Now I’m at the ATLAS Institute getting a masters degree in Social Impact (Social Impact). I’m learning the skills necessary to develop and introduce technology into marginalized communities in a safe and respectable way. I also get to study under Dr. Shaun Kane after all, and right now I’m planning a study with Varsha Koushik that involves facilitating a basic electronics workshop in a group home for people with cognitive disabilities.
I arrived at CU Boulder on the day of my program’s orientation, nervous as heck, and I haven’t regretted it once. Never have I found such a collection of such highly qualified individuals who enjoy working with each other. Professors are genuinely happy to come to work! I also enjoy the customizability of the program; it allows me to pursue my niche interests with the precision that I crave. My classmates are wonderful too! I constantly find myself with some of the brightest and wildest people I’ve ever met. I’m able to draw inspiration from techniques and technologies I never knew existed. Since we’re all from different backgrounds, we constantly collaborate and learn from each other. I even got into Dr. Kane’s lab after some light badgering! So here I am, working my butt off and loving it.