Learning challenges shape a mechanical engineer's path

"I observed assistive technologies -- developed by scientists and engineers my friends and I never met -- which liberated us. My dream has always been to be one of those engineers." Before James Hermus started elementary school, he was a happy, curious kid who loved to learn. By the end of first grade, however, all that started to change, he says. As his schoolbooks became more advanced, Hermus could no longer memorize the words on each page, and pretend to be reading.