In our previous blog post on the SWE Leadership Development Program (LDP), we explained what the LDP is, what it does, what programming looks like and how members are selected. Now, we are pleased to introduce the Beginner Track members of the LDP.
The Beginner Track for FY21 will cover the following SWE topics: overall structure, programs, tools and resources, preparation for WE20, scholarships and awards, bylaws, branding, ethics, and committees.
Leadership development topics include leadership styles, self-management and development, networking, resumes, self-awareness, mentorship vs. sponsorship, emotional intelligence, financial management, interpersonal skills, communication styles, and strategic planning.
Be sure to keep an eye out for a similar, upcoming blog post on our Advanced Track members!
Meet our LDP Beginner Track members:
Agata Turula
Agata Turula is currently a junior at the City College of New York studying Chemical Engineering. She has served as the treasurer for her section for 3 semesters, and now will be serving as the vice president. Her career aspirations are to attend graduate school and then work in the pharmaceutical industry. Agata is looking forward to learning how to be a better leader and help support female engineers at her college and elsewhere!
Amy Wesolowski
Amy Wesolowski is a rising 3rd year student in Chemical Engineering minoring in Spanish Studies and Chemistry at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. During the Summer of 2020, she is involved in the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology (CSN) Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program and is working in the Carlson Lab at UMN working on an ongoing project surrounding bacterial resistance to nanoparticles. She serves as a committee member for the UMN SWE section Diversity and Inclusion Committee as well as the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (CEMS) DEI Working Group.
Anna Novack
Anna Novack is an incoming senior at Western Washington University studying Plastics and Composites Engineering. She is currently the Western SWE affiliate President and a research associate studying the recyclability of thermoset plastics. She lives in Bellingham, Washington, and she loves the PNW! Anna is overjoyed to be working with such an amazing group of people in the Leadership Development Program.
Anushka Pathak
Anushka Pathak is a sophomore at Rutgers University majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. She began her SWE journey as a freshman representative for her section and is currently the Alumni Relations Chair where she maintains connections with the Rutgers Alumni and plans events so they can connect with undergrads. During the summer of 2020, she had a wonderful experience interning at Verizon. Apart from SWE, Anushka works at the OIT help desk at Rutgers, is an Assistant Director for the NHSMUN 2021 conference, and enjoys dancing or gardening in her spare time.
Apurva Chanda
Apurva Chanda is a sophomore at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying Computer engineering. She got involved in SWE as a freshman, where she was a Social Media chair for the Information and Marketing Committee, and moved up to fulfill the role of Webmaster this year. She is involved in several student organizations like National Organization for Business and Engineering (NOBE), Illinois Consulting Group, and ECE Pulse, a technical conference dedicated to the Electrical and Computer engineering department at Illinois. In her free time, she enjoys baking and watching scary movies!
Cailey Ruderman
Cailey Ruderman is a second-year undergraduate student studying Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University. She is serving in her second term as membership chair to one of the founding collegiate SWE sections and looking forward to a lifelong relationship with SWE. Upon her anticipated graduation in 2024, Cailey will be the first engineer in her family.
Christina Garcia
Christina Garcia is a sophomore studying Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She will be SWE’s Outreach Co-Director for 2020-21 and her favorite part about SWE is the welcoming and empowering environment within the society. She is a first generation college student and loves to paint, draw, and do yoga in her spare time. Other programs/organizations that she is a part of include ARISE, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), Engineers Without Borders (EWB), and Promoting Undergraduate Research in Engineering (PURE).
Christina Webster
Christi Webster is a junior studying Bioengineering at Washington State University. During her sophomore year, she was elected as Treasurer for the WSU SWE section and will be the Vice President in this upcoming year. Her favorite part about being in SWE is the opportunities to connect with other women who are passionate about STEM. Christi is also involved in undergraduate research, the Biomedical Society of Engineers, and a dance club. She loves hiking, baking, and playing board games in her free time.
Courtney Keiser
Courtney Keiser is a Ph.D. student in mechanical and materials engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln under Dr. Alexey Kamenskiy. Her research focuses on developing femoropopliteal bypass grafts and aortic stent grafts with optimized mechanical properties for cardiovascular surgery. She received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Northern Iowa in physics with minors in mathematics and nanoscience/nanotechnology. Courtney has served as the Graduate Member Coordinator for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s collegiate section since FY19 and is the Learning Content Coordinator for the GradSWE Leadership Team FY21.
Elizabeth DeFazio
Elizabeth is a rising junior studying chemical engineering at Rutgers University. She co-founded the SWE section at her community college, and is now an active SWE member at Rutgers. In her free time she enjoys playing board games and making vegan soap.
Elizabeth Moroz
Elizabeth Moroz is a senior at Drexel University majoring in Materials Science and Engineering. She currently serves as the Networking Director for Drexel SWE, coordinating the section’s undergraduate, professional, and faculty mentorship programs. Elizabeth is also currently on co-op at GlaxoSmithKline and previously completed 6-month co-ops with Johnson & Johnson and Estee Lauder.
Emma Ong
Emma Ong is a rising sophomore Computer Science student at Texas A&M University. As a passionate advocate for women in STEM, she is actively involved in the Girls Who Code, Kode With Klossy, Built By Girls, and SWE communities. This year, Emma is a Co-Chair for her SWE section’s freshman leadership program, SWElites, and a researcher for Postlytics, a Global Grand Challenges Summit Innovation winning team (from US, UK, and China), helping to develop a novel patient home-monitoring approach that can transmit real-time vital signs to hospitals and help with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Flor Urbina
Flor is a Mechanical Engineering senior at The University of Texas at El Paso. She is currently the President of her SWE collegiate section and has been in SWE since 2015 also having served as the Community Service Chair. This summer she was a Development Program Manager in Microsoft Devices and has participated in two other internships throughout her undergraduate career at Cummins Inc. and a startup in Germany.
Isha Tyle
Isha is a senior studying Mechanical Engineering, with a minor in Technology and Management (T&M). Isha is an active member in the Society of Women Engineers, and has held several leadership positions so far along with attending 2 national conferences. She enjoys engineering outreach work and is the incoming External Marketing Director for Engineering Open House, the midwest’s largest student-run science fair. This summer, Isha was a Product Data Management Intern at Boeing, creating new tools to boost the team’s productivity. Isha has experience across several industries through design engineering work at Molex and Caterpillar.
Kelli Ross
Kelli Ross is a second-year Industrial and Systems Engineering student at The Ohio State University. She serves as the Membership Director of the Ohio State SWE section for FY21 and she leads Ohio State SWE’s Freshmen Ambassador Program. She is currently an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant in Ohio State’s Department of Engineering Education. She spent the summer working as a Site Safety and Surveillance Officer for Battelle’s Critical Care Decontamination Systems, where she oversaw the decontamination of used personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Klaudia Bak
Klaudia Bak is a sophomore at The Pennsylvania State University studying architectural engineering with a minor in architecture studies. In addition to LDP, she is the director of professional events for PSU’s section of SWE. Klaudia is also a member of Student Society of Architectural Engineers,Engineers Without Borders as well as a mentor for PSU’s Engineering Orientation Network. She recently completed an internship with Walter P. Moore. She is an avid programmer, and does graphic design work in her free time.
Lamees Hamed
Lamees Hamed is a civil engineering senior at Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU) with a minor in business administration. She worked as a teacher assistant as well as a research assistant on campus in the previous year. She is the current SWE section president at MNSU and was the section vice-president the year prior to that. Lamees had the opportunity to intern abroad in Malaysia in a construction firm during summer 2019.
Leah Pultz
Leah Pultz is a third year at The Ohio State University. She is majoring in Aerospace Engineering and minoring in Aviation. She has been an Intern at an Aerospace company called Virtex Time-Zero PPI and has recently gotten her Private Pilot’s License. She is new to SWE and excited to see how this LDP Program will help her grow in SWE.
Maya Muir
Maya Muir is double majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics at Arizona State University (ASU) with an anticipated graduation of May 2022. This past summer she interned with Medtronic in Tempe, AZ, working with their Operational Technology Integration team. She has been in SWE since her freshman year of college and currently serves as her section’s Alumni Chair. She is planning on completing her Masters in Computer Science.
Michelle Heng
Michelle Heng is a junior chemical engineering student and the SWE FY21 President at California State University, Long Beach. She has pursued her passion for energy and sustainability through her extensive research developing renewable energy materials, and her more recent experience working with Shell Oil Company as a Wells Engineering Intern. Michelle is also an intern with INROADS, a program that helps develop driven students from diverse backgrounds and connect them to opportunities in the corporate world. Through her involvement in her community with SWE and as a CSULB Engineering Ambassador, she strives to understand the barriers to an engineering education and promote an inclusive environment for women and underrepresented populations. When Michelle is not mentoring students or volunteering at K-12 STEM outreach events, she enjoys playing violin in the Beach Orchestra, hitting on the courts with the CSULB Club Tennis team, and supporting local restaurants and businesses.
Natalie Scott
Natalie Scott is a junior at The University of Arizona majoring in industrial engineering. She has been involved with the Society of Women Engineers for two years and currently serves as her collegiate section’s Director of Outreach. Outside of SWE, she is also an Engineering Ambassador for the College of Engineering and the philanthropy co-chair for the Honors College Student Council.
Nora Dunleavy
Nora Dunleavy is a rising Junior in Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Nora’s participation in SWE started in high school when she attended an outreach event at UIUC called “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day”. This past year, Nora served as Team Tech Co-Director for her university’s section of the Society of Women Engineers, and will be serving the section this year as the External Vice President. Nora recently completed another internship at Microsoft as a Software Engineer Intern in Xbox Live. Outside of SWE, Nora is also on the Executive Board for Pulse, a technical conference run in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at UIUC.
Rebecca Olusola
Rebecca is a junior Electrical and Computer Engineering major at Morgan State University. She is an executive board member of numerous societies at Morgan such as the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Rebecca is passionate about diversity and inclusion, embracing various ambitions, and finds joy in giving back to her community through mentorship programs and panels. She aspires to obtain her Ph.D. at one of the nation’s top engineering schools with a focus in Computer Engineering.
Rebecca Shanks
Rebecca is a sophomore at the University of Arizona studying Engineering Management. She has been involved with SWE at the collegiate level for 2 years, and currently serves as the section Social Chair. She’s excited for the opportunity to further develop leadership skills and knowledge about SWE!
Sydney Valiska
Sydney Valiska is currently a senior at Purdue University Northwest where she is majoring in civil engineering. This past summer, she gained valuable hands-on experience in the construction industry as a Project Estimating Intern for Walsh Construction. After holding the positions of Treasurer and Secretary for her university’s SWE section the past two years, Sydney is excited to be stepping into the role of President this academic year. Outside of her involvement with SWE, she is a member of the women’s golf team, as well as a peer mentor in the Honors College at Purdue Northwest.
Tanya Girish
Tanya is a junior at The Ohio State University studying mechanical engineering. SWE has been an amazing part of her college experience from monthly meetings to professional development events. She is looking forward to becoming more involved at both the collegiate and societal levels. Through the LDP program, Tanya is hoping to develop new skills that will allow her to become a better leader as well as being able to personally grow and learn.
Teresa Riles
Teresa Riles is a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is currently studying industrial engineering with a focus in Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Logistics. Teresa recently finished her internship with UPS as an IE summer intern, applying classroom knowledge to solve industry problems and formulate an ROI for the company. This will be her fourth year as a collegiate SWE member, and she looks forward to engaging with members in the SWE Illinois section as the director of marketing this year.
Viktoria Kungel
Viktoria Kungel is a physics Ph.D. candidate in Colorado School of Mines. After spending some time in the industry, she is now working in the field of astroparticle physics with the Super Pressure Balloon II (SPB II) mission to measure ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. Viktoria is from Germany and brought a lot of experience from various committees and board positions with her when she recently joined SWE. She is very excited to be a SWE mentor for the coming year. In her free time, she enjoys flying.
Yamin Yee
Yamin Yee recently graduated from California State University, Long Beach with B.S in Computer Engineering with the honor award as Computer Engineering and Computer Science Outstanding Leadership and Service Award. She was Vice President of the SWE CSULB section and also President of the Engineering Student Council. Recently, Yamin completed her internship with HP. She aims to land a job as FPGA Engineer and go back for her Masters.
Related content:
- Learn About the SWE Leadership Development Program
- SWE Needs You! FY22 Call for Nominations
- SWE PDG Committee Now Accepting Applications for FY21 Awards Cycle
- Meet SWE’s FY21 Board of Directors and Board of Trustees
- What I Wish I’d Known Before Taking 3 Student Leadership Positions
