Originally Published in 2024
Georgia Brooks knows a thing or two about the human heart. A Monash University graduate with a double degree in mechanical engineering and biomedical science, she’s spent the past five years studying in Melbourne, including working on two team projects to design a total artificial heart (TAH) –the so-called holy grail of medicine. In 2021 she initiated and led a design project with a group of third-year engineering students, and last year she was invited to be Monash’s team lead at Heart Hackathon, the world’s first TAH design competition, which aims to nurture and inspire the next generation in cardiovascular innovation.
Heading a high-functioning team of 30 university students was a big challenge for the young Kiwi, but she thrived on the experience. Georgia’s role included project managing the design and development programme, working with multiple stakeholders and helping people to solve problems on the HR side of things. “I loved all of it,” she says.The international competition taught Georgia a lot about the inner workings of the human heart, but also about herself. “If you asked me what I wanted to do five years ago, where I was going to be in five years, I think it would have been a very different path to where I actually am,” she says.
“I know I want to prioritise my passions and my own personal happiness. It’s so easy for us young graduates and professionals, no matter what industry we’re in, to get overwhelmed with the current state of the world –the economy, inflation, climate change. We want to tackle the big issues,but knowing where to direct our energy can be the hardest part. All we can do is take opportunities and risks as they come; everything else will fall into place,” she says.
Georgia originally considered undertaking a PhD in cardiovascular engineering, but after five years at uni she was reluctant to take on another four of study, and last year she successfully applied for a graduate position as a technology and engineering consultant at EY in Melbourne. Consultancy is something she’s been interested in for a while, she says. It will provide “an opportunity for me to make a lot of connections and really get my foot in the door in terms of my professional career, which is something I want to pursue”.
Georgia credits the Pinnacle Programme for teaching her to be open to new experiences and opportunities. As a student at Hamilton’s Hillcrest High School, she was a high achiever –successful academically, the senior council chairperson in her final year, and a mainstay in the senior rowing squad. Leaving New Zealand at 18 to study at Monash was a turning point; she doubts she would have had the courage to move to Melbourne if not for the programme. The third-year engineering design project was a highlight after a full year of Covid lockdown and remote learning in 2020. “We were all itching just to get our hands on something,” she says. Georgia initiated and led a team of six on a special project to design and build an artificial heart, with support from the Monash Young MedTech Innovators (MYMI) team, who were already working on the launch of the Heart Hackathon. “I loved that project; it was very surface level, but it was really great just to have a foot in the door to see what biomedical devices can do,” she says. By the final presentation, she was invited to become the team lead for the international competition.
It’s an impressive resume for the 22-year-old, who begins a new journey this year with eyes open for an exciting future. She’s more than up for new challenges, she says. “I am optimistic. And I’m very curious about the world around me.”