The Next Wave of Innovation: Martinich Masters the Art of Science and Public Policy [Amperes: Current Affairs from Around the World]

Leslie Martinich is constantly looking to catch the next wave of innovation: she?s worked for a variety of start-ups, started her own management consulting firm that guides companies in leading innovation, and spent 2012 serving as the sole IEEE Congressional Fellow in Washington, D.C. In fact, Martinich began innovating at a young age when she acted against the expected societal norms and the advice she was given by teachers not to pursue her passions. ?When I was in high school, I really loved biology,? says Martinich. ?I told my teacher that I?d like to be a scientist, but she told me that there was no need, because all the world?s problems had already been solved by scientists.? Another teacher, after giving Martinich?s science group a company tour, told the students that they could ?have any job they want,? before quietly telling Leslie, the only female in the group, that she could be a librarian.