- Mechanical Engineer
- Years at Microsoft: 2+ years
For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to know how things work. I wasn’t one of those kids that couldn’t resist disassembling her dad’s old clock radio though; I just wanted to understand the world around me. In my case, that was as simple as asking questions. As I grew up I found a way to fulfill that curiosity through physics. Growing up in a family of accountants, I didn’t really know how to turn my love of physics into a career. I will always be grateful to my high school physics teacher for opening my eyes to the world of 
engineering. From that point on I knew I wanted to solve problems and figure things out for a living.
Working in the tech industry doing product development has been a dream come true. It’s fast-paced, exciting and just plain cool. I get to work on things that still seem like science fiction and I love it. But the best part about engineering the future devices of the tech world is that there are constantly new engineering problems to solve—and when you solve the first problem you’ve probably created another problem somewhere else you had no way of anticipating—but that’s what makes it fun. I live to be challenged, and working on projects to engineer the impossible means I’m challenged every day.
I’ve never been able to shake my childhood habit of incessantly asking questions, though. And because of that, Microsoft has been the ideal place for me. I’m not afraid to ask questions and I’m not afraid to be wrong. Even as an intern, I knew I had a voice. Just talking and engaging with people is one of my favorite things to do, because you never know what the conversation might lead to. I’ve walked away from conversations over coffee feeling like I learned more than I did in college lectures.
I work on a team of world-class engineers and have already learned so much, and grown as an engineer, in my short time at Microsoft. I’m thankful to have managers that foster that self-improvement and teammates that are willing to share their knowledge, experiences, and expertise. I feel comfortable speaking up in meetings or questioning results. Bringing together a hardware device requires collaboration to be second nature, because every system needs to be in sync. Building a product like HoloLens is not a one man job. I get to work with a team that is dedicated to putting out a fantastic product and I couldn’t ask for more.
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Erin is currently a mechanical engineer working on advanced technologies on the HoloLens out of the Silicon Valley campus. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she attended Phillips Exeter Academy and studied mechanical engineering Carnegie Mellon University. Erin loves to travel and so far has lived in New Hampshire, Seattle, Singapore, Melbourne and now San Francisco.
