#WCWinSTEM: Joy Johnson, Ph.D.
Dr. Joy Johnson is an electrical engineer by training and currently leads a hardware development team at Apple!
Responses may be edited for clarity and brevity.
Where did you go to school?
- Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA
- M.S. Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA
- B.S. Electrical Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
- B.S. Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
What do you do right now?
I was trained in nano-fabrication (or the process by which one makes nanoscale devices) of semiconductors (silicon-based chips used for logic, memory and other novel electronics applications). When manufacturing semiconductor chips in common electronics applications, there are strict requirements for miniaturization, performance and yield which call for a very tightly defined process, which includes more than 60 process steps in an extremely clean and regimented environment known as a clean room. In graduate school, I focused on modeling the nanoscale particles and chemistries used in one of the most technology enabling, mechanically intensive and financially cost burdening processes known as CMP, or chemical mechanical planarization. By using theoretical models to simulate the process outcomes, we reduce the cost of experimentation while designing new processes that help to create more environmentally benign processing of these materials and their byproducts for use “at scale” in a production clean room.
I enjoyed doing this theoretical modeling because I was able to create semi-empirical models, which allowed me to do hands-on experimentation and use that data to inform my theoretical model’s intuitions about the particle behavior.
However, as I mentioned, this process was one small part of a larger line of processes and materials convolved to produce the desired behavior of the device on the chip being fabricated. It was also a costly change that was ultimately at the whim of the vendor’s requests, and I felt that my research outcomes were distanced (and often times removed!) from the amazing silicon products they would eventually ship to customers! I wanted to get closer to the product. So, I found a way to couple modeling with customer-facing products at a startup.
There, I led mobile development and did some modeling work to determine how to store metadata of music files in a way that would allow pieces of the music to be mined and manipulated when in specific customer environments, which fundamentally changed the way users could interact with music during creation as well as consumption. That unique startup experience bred in me a love for product and product development; it was at the end of that startup that I was recruited to come to Apple’s Special Projects group to work on new hardware product prototyping!
What made you choose your STEM discipline in the first place?
I don’t have the typical STEM story because I did not discover engineering until I was preparing for college my senior year in high school. I did not take computer science or coding courses, chemistry or physics until I was in college. I went to a large engineering school where all the freshman were encouraged to go the ‘engineering undecided’ route until they found a major. However, from engineering 101, I was hooked on one intriguing and challenging project after another!
What’s one piece of advice you wish you had when you started your STEM journey?
Everyone else is just as confused by non-linear optimization and partial differential equations as you!
Non-linear optimization is a subset of the study of mathematical programming or optimization where you try to optimize a set of data, equalities or inequalities where the constraints or objective function is non-linear. It is significantly harder than linear optimization for most, but I was always in peer groups where everyone made it seem like complex concepts like these were never hard for them and that they just came to them with ease!
So, I assumed folks just knew! Until a kind upper classman showed me how to use different techniques to interactively visualize these types of optimization problems and equations using both modeling software that helped me to see the problem space in 2-dimensions and 3-dimensions; I was completely confused at how to even approach trying to solve them. I am a visual learner, so seeing the problem helped me to start to build a mental model of patterns and ways to recognize the solution options I had at my disposal.
That said, an addendum to my piece of advice above is, everyone else is just as confused the first time they see a complex problem as you are. Do not feel like you are all alone in your confusion because you are not. There is more than one way to visualize an answer and there is no singular experience when it comes to learning new concepts.
Do not let the pride of others’ insecurities allow you to question your capability.
Do you have any woman of color in STEM sheros? Who and why?
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson. When I walked onto MIT’s campus for my interview as a prospective PhD student, I saw a wall dedicated to her — first black woman PhD in physics, first black woman PhD at MIT, now the 18th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In addition, she helped charter both the MIT Black Student Union and the Cambridge city-wide chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Xi Tau, at MIT/Harvard. She is also a mom and wife….(need I say more? She’s AMAZING!).
But also all my friends are my STEM sheros, black women in engineering, especially in graduate level programs, have such a bond and such a sisterhood that I look up to all my peers, former mentors/mentees and friends: Dr. Rhonda Jordan, Dr. Paula Hammond, Dr. Renee Fuller, J.D., Dr. Mareena Robinson Snowden, Dr. Tsehai Grell, Dr. Shani Daily, Dr. Zenzile Moore, Lt. Col. Jayna Bell Reichert, Dr. Sheila Nabanja, Dr. Leilani Battle, Dr. Legena Henry, Dr. Robbin Chapman, Dr. Melissa Smith, Dr. Niaja Farve, Dr. Chanda Hsu Prescod-Weinstein, Dr. Kristala Jones Prather and Dr. Danielle Adams Wood. I could go on and on and on, and this is just my MIT family! (Editor’s note: we’ve added links to our previous #WCWinSTEM features and #VanguardSTEM show guests in this list.)
What else are you passionate about?
I am passionate about so many things! Long distance running; I love running half marathons and just going on long runs. It’s my therapy. I’ve been blessed to live in cities that are a runner’s paradise! I also love volunteering to mentor, teach, prepare and speak to young engineers and computer scientists/thinkers!
Why do you think it’s important to highlight women of color in STEM?
Far beyond the obvious visionary and inspirational importance to the next generation — the technologies, scientific discoveries, products, patents and all the things that women of color are building have helped open my eyes to new areas of research and technical interest.
We should be highlighted because we are discovering, theorizing and building amazing things that should be shared within and outside of our academic communities for the purposes of forward progress of the work, both cross-functional and interdisciplinary.
Are there institutions, groups or organizations you would like to give a shoutout?
I would like to mention I-Trek, a STEM program founded by a woman of color electrical engineer, Dr. Niaja Farve. I-Trek gives research opportunities to underrepresented and undergraduate students interested in STEM, and also pursuing graduate degrees. Applications are now open!
Also, I would include a plug for the GEM fellowship, in case other women of color reading this feature are unaware of this opportunity. The GEM fellowship is awarded by the National GEM Consortium, a network of leading corporations, government laboratories, top universities, and top research institutions, as a mean to address the critical shortfall of domestic under-represented engineering and scientific talent with a master’s or PhD.
Are there other axes of identity that also impact your life/stem experience that you want to speak to (e.g. religion, sexual orientation, gender expression, ability status, neurodiversity, etc.)? How do these axes of identity impact you as a woman/girl/non-gender-conforming-person of color?
My faith has definitely impacted my life greatly because I know in whom I believe. I don’t depend on degrees or my identity as a person of color, a woman of color or a STEM PhD holder to find fulfillment. Faith in something eternal helps keep me focused when the temporal things go awry as they tend to do:) My faith helps me to focus and to finish any task or path, and not just to finish, but as we in my family like to say, to #finishWell.
You can connect more with Dr. Joy Johnson on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
