Having a full circle moment with a Doc Edgerton stroboscopic flash setup at the SF Exploratorium.
My name is Joy Johnson. I was born in Dallas, Texas --no one seems to agree on exactly which day. Raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, the youngest of four daughters to hard-working parents who owned a small waterproofing business. I found my love for electronics relatively late.
Taking no programming or physical sciences courses prior to college, I went on to study Electrical and Computer Engineering at North Carolina State University solely on the premise that I was good at math (after years of tutoring!). The first program I wrote, for hours I thought it didn't compile but to my embarassment, a browser window was open in front of the "hello world" it produced. The first time I entered a cleanroom at Cornell's CNF, I thought I'd fulfilled my dream of 'becoming an astronaut' (white suit, cool missions...no launch). Naive was an understatement, I was just thrilled to be building things!
After college, I went on to pursue my Masters and Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science with Professor Duane Boning by day and lead Mobile at an MIT music tech startup, AudioCommon by night. My research interests included theoretical semiconductor process modeling, inventing environmentally benign fabrication processes and electrochemical energy systems. I was also deeply involved in engineering education and outreach, so on most weekends you could find me teaching electronics at MIT's SEED Academy or volunteering to run workshops and science fairs with my sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. After graduating (🙌🏾) and wrapping up the work at AudioCommon, I decided I wanted to learn more about building products not just the processes and programming behind them. I am interested in the full stack of engineering electronics: from the particles to the products. So I figured, what better place than Silicon Valley?
So, now I live in San Francisco, California and work at Apple in the Hardware Engineering Special Projects Group. I am currently working on licensure to continue to nurture my love of running and aviation. I believe generosity is our privilege. So, thank you for allowing me to share my work and support yours in anyway I can. #finishWell