Elizabeth Vickery B.S. in Engineering Sciences ‘24
Professor Movses J. Kaldjian Memorial Scholarship
Originally from the United States, Elizabeth Vickery moved to Armenia eight years ago. She is a third-year student majoring in engineering sciences at the American University of Armenia (AUA). “We decided to move to Armenia because it is our home. I love it more than anything, and I feel safe here,” says Elizabeth.
While passionate about Armenia, Elizabeth could never deny her American side. Being an AUA student allows her not only to gain quality education, but also to feel at home with the Western-style approach and the diverse cultural environment. “AUA provides great opportunities and resources. It is a relatively new university, which will definitely grow further. I love engineering because it allows you to use science to create something new. There is a lot of creativity that goes into it. I’m an aspiring biomedical engineer, and I’d like to use my skills to help medical professionals.”
Elizabeth is a researcher at ArmBionics, an upper limb prosthetics company aiming to create high-functioning prosthetics through understanding muscle work and machine learning classification algorithms. The company is working on raising funds to provide myoelectric and mechanical prosthetics to 15 individuals. She notes that her experience is important as she is able to support amputees. Her current research focuses on artificial muscles, and her education at AUA is a valuable asset helping her with that research. “My studies at AUA are crucial because we focus on electromechanical engineering, which is an important component of medical equipment and prosthetics. Having that background allows me to expand my knowledge,” remarks Elizabeth.
Academic growth is essential for Elizabeth, as she aims to further her education by earning a master’s degree in biomedical engineering followed by a Ph.D. in neuroscience. She notes that her plans are not set in stone, but she will always strive for more, especially as a female engineer. Elizabeth believes that hard work, patience, and determination can break the stereotypes that follow women pursuing careers in science and engineering. “When the 44-Day War began, I thought that I would become a military technology engineer working on weapons. But some of my friends got killed in the war; others returned badly injured which made me realize the importance of helping heal people. With so many veterans in need of proper prosthetics and support, I realized that it’s a much more challenging and important mission to help them reintegrate themselves into society than it is to create weapons of destruction. So now, that’s what I want to do: I want to help heal people.”
Recently, during Armenia Engineering Week, Elizabeth was interviewed by How2B. Click the link below and skip to 1:52 to see her speak about her project.
Link to Elizabeth’s interview with How2B (1:52)