The modern American scholastic system has been described as a “competitive achievement arms race,” and many students feel either (i) be crushed by expectations of success or (ii) become detached, demotivated, and cynical. In this talk, we will talk about a better way to approach your motivation for pursuing academic success. Micah J. Green received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Texas Tech in 2002. He then entered the Chemical Engineering Ph.D. program at MIT. His Ph.D. focused on computational studies of phase behavior and rheology of rodlike liquid crystals; his studies also included a minor in early Christian history at Harvard. After finishing his Ph.D. in 2007, he developed nanotubebased liquid crystals and fibers as an AttwellWelch Postdoctoral Fellow at Rice University.

After several years on the faculty at Texas Tech, he joined Texas A&M as an Associate Professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering in Summer 2014. He has received the NSF CAREER Award, the Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the DuPont Young Faculty Award for his work in the area of nanomaterial dispersions and morphology dynamics, with applications to gels, composites, and additive manufacturing. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx