Joanna Schmidt likes solving problems. Big, complex, challenging problems. That might explain why she is thriving in her role as an engineer at NASA, a job where she gets to regularly use the problem-solving skills she gained from the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Department of Physics.

UAB assistant professor in the Department of Physics has been awarded over $250,000 in funding for research on quantum simulation.

Through the Magic City Data Collective, UAB students work on data-driven projects that have impacted an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 Birmingham residents.