Leila Madrone is a mechatronics engineer — a combination of electrical and mechanical engineering — who works at Otherlab, a San Francisco start-up company. She leads an engineering team that is trying to improve large solar power fields. By changing the size and materials of heliostats, structures that include large mirrors to reflect sunlight, she can make high-concentration solar systems more energy efficient and less costly. Madrone has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT. Before she joined Otherlab she was part of the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA, where she created a device for taking high-resolution panoramic images. She chose to become an engineer because she wanted to help create a better world. She says that if you’re curious and have a desire to improve the world around you, you may enjoy a career as an engineer.