STEM Spotlight: Morgan Rollins '17 Creates Prosthetics and Orthotics Club at Temple

10/7/2020

Q&A with Liz Brown, Ph.D., Director of STEM Initiatives

Morgan Rollins ’17 is a senior at Temple University studying biomedical engineering. She is the founder and president of TemPO (Temple Prosthetics and Orthotics), a student-run club that works to develop prosthetics and orthotics for a variety of community partners. TemPO is populated by students majoring in all fields including engineering, art, biology, chemistry, design and computer science, and members do not need any previous experience to become an active part of the team. Morgan was kind enough to sit down with me to talk about her work with TemPO, her time at Tower Hill and how it shaped her love of science and engineering, and her future goals.

If you’d like more information about Morgan’s journey to build TemPO, see this article from the Philadelphia Inquirer and learn how TemPO made a prosthetic leg for a dog in need.

Can you tell me about TemPO and how you came to start this program?

It honestly all started at Tower Hill. I was a soccer player, and my one goal was to play division one. In high school, I wanted to be a physical therapist because mine did such a fantastic job motivating me both physically and mentally. That is when I took anatomy with Ms. Morrow. She taught the course with a biomechanical structure and I loved it. That year I also took physics with Mr. Hoch and fell in love with physics. After meshing the two (anatomy and physics), I made my first prosthetic. Once I came to Temple, I was actually on the soccer team but injured my shoulder for the fourth and final time. After the last surgery, I decided I was going to pick up where I left off at Tower Hill. I walked up to my professor after a large lecturer and told him about my idea for a myo-electric prosthetic, and he pointed me to our current adviser. One thing led to another, and my friends and I received a grant for $4,000 to work on that prosthetic over the summer after our freshman year. The project that started with two people suddenly grew to seven then 20 then 30. At that point it was time to make a club. That is when TemPO was born.

If you had to choose one project that TemPO has worked on, which one has had the most impact on you? Why?

Honestly, it wasn’t any of the projects that impacted me the most. What gets me every day is that I have the opportunity to show kids from all across the university (art, business, engineering, architecture, etc…) that they can build something, and I see them achieve something they never thought possible. I get to watch kids take on these projects and grow into leading something. I love having the opportunity to show people a passion they never thought they had. For me, it isn’t the projects that impact me, it is the members who I get to watch grow every single day.

What do you hope to do once you graduate from college?

I would love to work in the medical device field. I currently work for Depuy Synthes, a medical device company based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and am hoping to stay in that field. I love working on teams and creating things that improve people's day-to-day lives.

Can you reflect on your time at Tower Hill? How did it prepare you to do the work you are doing today? Was there a particular class or experience that set this passion in motion?

Tower Hill as a whole definitely prepared me for college and gave me the ability to succeed in extracurricular activities while maintaining a good academic standing. I think every single alum will agree with me when I say that Tower Hill forced me to be good at time management. The sport requirement was tough, but it forced us to get good at time management.

Every single interview I have ever done I mention the two classes that made me who I am. It wasn’t only the classes, but it was the teachers who taught it. They were both so passionate about the subjects and brought that energy to the class. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Ms. Morrow (anatomy) and Mr. Hoch (physics). In anatomy we made a “prosthetic” that you control with string. The objective was to pick up an empty can. Even after that class, I would just go into Ms. Morrow’s office and ask questions about the world of biomechanics.

Mr. Hoch made me love physics. I truly think it was because of his passion for the subject. To this day, my friends still think I am crazy for how much I love physics. He also gave me the freedom to create my first prosthetic by teaming up with Ben Spiro ’16. We created a 3D-printed bionic arm. At the time, I didn’t know coding and went in with the goal of creating a mind-controlled prosthetic. It ended up being a push button that moves the fingers. I think the small size of Tower Hill allowed me to create strong bonds with teachers that helped mold me into the person I am now. If I were to list all the teachers that helped me along the way, I think this would be a 20-page paper, but those are the ones who jump out right now. Thank you to those teachers who changed my life. I can’t even begin to repay you.

What would you say to middle school or high school students who think "I'm not good at math and science, so I could never do the kinds of things Morgan is doing?"

I would ask them a few simple questions: Do you like Legos? Do you like puzzles? Do you like helping people? Do you like solving problems? If you answered yes to any of those, you can be an engineer. If you ask my math or science teachers from Tower Hill, I was no mathematician or science genius either. In my eyes, it doesn’t matter if you are good at it because passion will always overcome natural ability. If you love something enough, you will find a way to get by. Don’t focus on doing it to get into college or to get the grade. As Ms. Keith said, do it because you love it. I don’t have a 4.0, and I never did. The interest will cause you to invest more and in turn learn more. Don’t let your perception of “good” or “bad” interfere with the direction you want to go with your life because at the end of the day, you can learn anything you put your mind to.

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