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Since June is pride month, let's take a minute to spotlight Structural Engineer Dr. Michael Todd, faculty at the UC San Deigo, Jacobs School of Engineering (). He is the lead researcher and program director of the Department of Structural Engineering (). Dr. Todd is a pioneer in the field of structural health monitoring. (), where he is able to use Senors and other “smart” systems to continually collect data on the structure to monitor damage and structural issues (). After earning his PhD in 1996, he holds 4 patents and has produced over 150 reports and papers (). He has numerous awards for his work in engineering, including the Fifth International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring’s Professional of the Year in 2005 (). When asked why he decided to become an engineer, he first talked about how his father was a nuclear engineer but also stated “engineers fundamentally DO or MAKE things to make society better, and this had great appeal” ().

As a member of the LBGTQ+ community, Dr. Todd is a member of UCSD’s OUT List and QuEST, a faculty and administration LGBTQ+ organization and an LGBTQ+ engineering society, respectively (). His advice for LGBTQ+ students who want to go into structural engineering involves two pieces: “I would first and foremost tell them to GO FOR IT!” and “Mentoring (even peer-to-peer mentoring) is the best way to navigate the challenges presented by a difficult curriculum, compounded by the difficult views on many LGBTQ+ issues that still pervade society” ().

For a complete interview with Dr. Michael Todd, visit  Also, view the NOVA special, , to learn about structural health monitoring and Dr. Todd’s work.