{"id":50081,"date":"2023-04-24T07:43:19","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T11:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=50081"},"modified":"2023-04-30T13:49:19","modified_gmt":"2023-04-30T17:49:19","slug":"overcoming-adversity-mechatronics-student-fatimah-musa-wont-let-visual-impairment-hold-her-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/04\/overcoming-adversity-mechatronics-student-fatimah-musa-wont-let-visual-impairment-hold-her-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming adversity: Mechatronics student Fatimah Musa won\u2019t let visual impairment hold her back"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Fatimah

Fatimah Musa, born with cone-rod dystrophy, demonstrates some of the equipment that she uses to compensate for her visual impairment. Photos by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n

Fatimah Musa talked excitedly while sharing her work about one of her initial internship projects.<\/p>\n

Musa, a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior majoring in mechatronics, is on the path to graduating in December. She is interning this semester at Qcells, a solar panel manufacturer with a production facility in Dalton, Georgia.<\/p>\n

Qcells, a South Korean company, opened its North American Dalton facility in 2019. Musa is one of the company\u2019s first interns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe options for my project were to make one of the tasks in the manufacturing process more efficient; the one that\u2019s causing the most amount of errors or failures is the soldering,\u201d Musa said. \u201cSoldering is the project that I\u2019m trying to improve on, so I\u2019m adding a thermocouple to the tabbing machine to be able to measure and to take data of temperature for soldering two cells together.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo 12 cells or 10 cells, depending on the size of the module, makes a whole matrix that becomes a solar panel\u2014and my project is very specific to what I\u2019m learning here (at UTC). We\u2019re including PID control (a type of feedback control system used in engineering and industrial automation applications), which is what I studied in control systems. Some of the employees haven\u2019t used these concepts that I studied just a year ago, so I showed them my notes from that class when I studied it. That was cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cool, indeed. Considering Musa is visually impaired\u2014as in legally blind.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Musa said \u201cvisually impaired\u201d is usually the correct term for her case, \u201cbut I generalize myself as blind because blind does include the visually impaired. It\u2019s like an umbrella term.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t see at night; walking around at night is a \u2018No\u2019 for me. When the lights are out, it\u2019s a \u2018No.\u2019 I can\u2019t read if it\u2019s dim. Sometimes certain colors I get mixed up; it\u2019s not like colorblind, but if I take a colorblind test, I miss enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

A native of Tunnel Hill, Georgia, and a 2019 graduate of Ringgold High School, Musa was born with cone-rod dystrophy\u2014a type of inherited retinal degeneration affecting the retina\u2019s photoreceptor cells. The condition is characterized by progressive loss of function and death of cone and rod photoreceptor cells, leading to vision loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cRods are the color part, and some of those are missing,\u201d she said, \u201cand most of the cones are missing. The light and color are in charge in one of those; if they\u2019re missing, you\u2019ll have trouble seeing light or color.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is currently no cure for cone-rod dystrophy.<\/p>\n

Because she was born with limited vision, \u201cI don\u2019t know what I\u2019m missing. The description of being able to see from far away or read a sign from far away doesn\u2019t make sense to me. I don\u2019t know how you cannot zoom in on a word and be like, \u2018Oh, there it is,\u2019\u201d Musa said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn high school, I had an IEP (Individualized Education Program) and I would have worksheets blown up to 130%. So as a reference point of a normal math worksheet or any article, we would blow it up to 11-by-17 paper\u2014which is double the size of a normal piece of paper\u2014and it just lengthens everything because it\u2019s enlarged.\u201d<\/p>\n

A magnifier is a constant companion for her when using a computer, and there are obvious things she can\u2019t do\u2014such as drive a car.<\/p>\n

She said she doesn\u2019t feel sorry for herself; she just wants to be treated equally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you ask anybody who is a vision teacher, the only thing they say you can\u2019t do is be a pilot\u2014and why would I want to be a pilot anyway?\u201d she said with a laugh. \u201cI don\u2019t think anything is holding me back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want the same opportunities as everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dr. Ahad Nasab is the Burkett Miller Chair of Excellence and department head of Engineering Management and Technology at UTC.<\/p>\n

Nasab said when Musa joined the mechatronics program, he knew she would face unique challenges due to the program\u2019s physical and hands-on nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was committed to providing her with all the resources she needed to have an enriching educational experience. However, I was impressed by how she deftly navigated the obstacles and barriers that she faced, hardly requiring any extra help,\u201d Nasab said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFatimah\u2019s determination to succeed in her courses and projects without being treated differently was truly admirable. Her independence and refusal to let any physical limitations hold her back serves as an inspiration to me and others. I believe that more people, including myself, could benefit from adopting her positive attitude toward life and overcoming obstacles.\u201d<\/p>\n

UC Foundation Professor of Mechanical Engineering Cecelia Wigal taught one of Musa\u2019s early UTC courses.<\/p>\n

Wigal said her freshman design course is intended to teach about the design process, emphasizing students with impairments.<\/p>\n

Having a visually impaired student \u201cright there in the middle of the class\u201d changed how she teaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cFatimah was very good about going after it; if she needed something, she was open about asking\u2014and that was very helpful,\u201d Wigal said. \u201cI learned you have to think that you might have students with sight issues. Now I use a smart screen and write on it; she could read it directly on her equipment, see it and blow it up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also make sure that I record every single class session and post it so that if there\u2019s anybody who needs it for any reason\u2014sight reasons, attention reasons, anything\u2014they can still go back and see the lecture. She affected how I teach because she helped me become more aware.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Having a support system, Musa said, is tremendously important. Someone has to drive her back and forth from home to campus and her internship.<\/p>\n

She is one of five siblings, which include a pair of UTC graduates in sisters Saada (2019, bachelor\u2019s degree in biology) and Aisha (2021, biology). Her brother, Issa, is planning to attend UTC in the fall. Their father, Akram, owns the nearby University Pizza Deli and Mediterranean Cuisine at the intersection of Vine and Houston streets.<\/p>\n

Support comes from outside of the family, too.<\/p>\n

Last summer, the College of Engineering and Computer Science launched a women\u2019s mentoring program, pairing Musa with Erin Pasquith\u2014the mechatronic program\u2019s first female graduate<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pasquith, a May 2021 graduate, is now a production design engineer at Stanley Black & Decker.<\/p>\n

\u201cMechatronics is a new field itself, so it\u2019s kind of unusual to have any attention and mentorship,\u201d Pasquith said, \u201cbut for women in engineering in particular, they succeed and do better when they are pushed and encouraged by peers\u2014and particularly peers that they relate to.<\/p>\n

\u201cFatimah is an extremely driven person. She\u2019s very humble and passionate about engineering and women in engineering\u2014especially people with disabilities in engineering.<\/p>\n

Pasquith noted that an issue Musa has faced is when technology doesn\u2019t allow for cross-compatibility with accessibility software programs. Some programs range from difficult to impossible for Musa to navigate.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou and I can probably read a standard eight-point font; hers has to be closer to 72 in order to read it,\u201d Pasquith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe and I had had a conversation prior to the fall career fair about employee resource groups. She wanted to ask employers what they were doing for their employees with disabilities, how they were supporting them, and what she could do as an employee there to help others. She was asking employers that during her interviews and I thought that was very impressive\u2014turning the tables on the interview.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Musa, \u201cErin has been amazing. She will always ask how things have been going or ask how things have been upgraded since she was here. She\u2019s given me a lot of good career advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Heading into the academic year, one of Musa\u2019s biggest goals was landing an internship. She admitted she didn\u2019t think it would happen until this summer.<\/p>\n

In early February, she was accepted into the Qcells internship program.<\/p>\n

The company, recently in the news when Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Dalton plant, was founded in 2007 and has quickly become a leading provider of high-quality solar panels for residential, commercial and utility-scale solar projects.<\/p>\n

Ryan Law, equipment engineer for the front-end manufacturing process, is Musa\u2019s Qcells mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe told me the first day, \u2018I have a vision impairment, but it\u2019s just an obstacle and I can work around it.\u2019 It doesn\u2019t impair her engineering ability,\u201d recalled Law, a 2019 Kennesaw State University mechatronics, robotics and automation engineering graduate. \u201cI looked at it as a challenge for myself: How well can I explain something to someone to not make that an issue? What project can she focus on that the vision impairment won\u2019t affect all aspects of mechatronics or improvement items? What projects can she handle and be fully capable of doing?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just utilizing what she can do instead of focusing on what she can\u2019t do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musa has been spending 14 hours a week at Qcells in addition to her academic endeavors.<\/p>\n

She lauded the company\u2019s inclusiveness and said she was welcomed the first time she stepped through the company\u2019s doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a visually impaired person, I love that every employee gets their own monitor. I have a really large monitor that I can plug into my laptop\u2014and that\u2019s my setup at home anyway. I\u2019m glad that was a default; I didn\u2019t need to request it,\u201d Musa said. \u201cI use my magnifier and can see everything I need as I navigate certain programs or an Excel sheet or anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Law was asked to assess how Musa was doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u2019s she doing? I think she\u2019s doing phenomenal,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s very eager to learn and she\u2019s taking on a huge project that I don\u2019t think I would trust many engineers to take on. She\u2019s showing great work and she\u2019s knocking it out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer work ethic is beyond most people I see, and the vision won\u2019t impair or impede her. I see her being more on the project side of mechatronics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musa said she wants to specialize in robotics and automation, not solely for the fact that it\u2019s something that\u2019s affiliated with the mechatronics degree but because \u201cI just find it to be really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her UTC mechatronics mentor, Pasquith, said she could envision that for Musa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Fatimah wants to do is work in robotics,\u201d Pasquith said, \u201cand the accessibility software that she has will definitely enable her to pursue that goal. I think the major roadblock would just be industrial settings; it could be a safety hazard to try and walk through an industrial facility with different traffic patterns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she is allowed the correct accommodations, she will absolutely flourish as a robot technician.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UTC mechatronics student Fatimah Musa was born with cone-rod dystrophy\u2014a type of inherited retinal degeneration affecting the retina\u2019s photoreceptor cells. Musa said \u201cvisually impaired\u201d is usually the correct term for her case, \u201cbut I generalize myself as blind because blind does include the visually impaired.”<\/p>\n

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