Alumni Spotlight: Katelyn Koons

As a senior at Johns Hopkins University, Germantown Academy alumna Katelyn Koons '12 has plenty of experience with the design process of bringing a product to life. Koons is majoring in both Mechanical Engineering and Applied Math, and while home on winter break she recently presented her senior Mechanical Engineering design project to GA’s Honor Engineering course in the makerspace of the Beard Center for Innovation.

Koons and her college teammates are currently making a prosthetic ankle with an infinitely adjustable heel height for female veterans who want to wear high heel shoes between 0-4 inches.
"We had a fall design day where we presented in front of seven judges who are part of the American Society for Mechanical Engineering and we had to show our final prototype and where we're going to take it; how we're going to test it and what sort of adjustments we might make in the future," said Koons, who will finish her innovative product with her teammates during the second semester.
During the course of her presentation, Koons offered important insight into the design process and encouraged students to battle through any frustration they might feel at times during the prototyping stages of a project.

"Just build," she said. "Who cares if it fails? You’ll find another way." Koons also noted how important it is to have experience working in groups before college, and she’s certainly excited for students at GA who have the opportunity to practice teamwork and go through the design thinking process on a regular basis. "I think that's great,” noted Koons in regards to GA’s design thinking and project-based learning initiatives. "It's a lot to go from reading everything in a textbook, having everything all in theory, and going from that to building something that works. I think it's a very good idea to have a lot of projects."

After graduation, Koons has plans to complete a one-year post baccalaureate premedical program at Thomas Jefferson University and then plans to attend medical school. (posted on Today at GA)