The “Her Stories: Adventures in STEM” blog series is a collection of stories about 20 women in science and engineering fields, written by members of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Pre-College Working Group.
These inspiring women have experienced a variety of life experiences and career paths, and these stories and accompanying artwork help to capture the vast diversity of our featured scientists and engineers.
We hope this series will show you how exciting engineering and science can be and help you realize that anyone can choose to become a scientist or an engineer.
Story by Meagan Olsen
Taila Moore McKelvy is determined to defy the odds. She has worked hard and dealt with many obstacles in her path to become an industrial engineer. Much of Taila’s passion began with a single event and grew over the years, and she now gets to stand in the shoes of those who inspired her.
While in middle school, Taila found a SWENext Invent It. Build It. flier in one of her classrooms and convinced her mother to take her. The SWE event, which offers precollege students opportunities for hands-on engineering activities, helped introduce her to more Black female role models in engineering.
This experience empowered her to pursue a career in engineering. Seeing someone that looked like her made her feel confident that her dream was attainable. Almost 10 years later, Taila still has a shirt from the event and recordings of the speeches that impacted her.
While attending three different middle schools and two high schools, Taila looked for ways to balance her love of STEM with her other interests. Her teachers fueled her learning and supported her curiosity, which led her to learn about industrial engineering.
Taila liked the versatility and emphasis on efficiency in industrial engineering, and she began to pursue a career in the field. Beyond academics, she participated in ballet, volunteering, and band. In high school, she ran track and cross country for three years. After being chosen as team captain for her track team, Taila found that she loved teaching and mentoring her peers in both running and academics.
The next step for Taila was to attend California Polytechnic State University, Pomona. She chose the school for its opportunities in STEM, SWE involvement, and scholarships. Taila decided to study industrial engineering, which focuses on making sure systems run smoothly by designing interactions between people, resources, and technology.
In college, Taila’s tenacity was put to the test. While struggling with physics classes, she also found herself as not only one of the few women in her engineering classes, but also one of the only Black women.
She did not let this stop her from achieving her goals. Taila sought out new friendships and improved her study skills. Each year, she found her leadership skills and self-assurance had grown.
To further complicate things, Taila was in college during the COVID-19 pandemic. She had to work around Zoom classes and labs in a school and major that valued hands-on learning. Taila refused to give up and learned how to be successful in Zoom classes.
Taila then interned at an aerospace company and the snack company that makes Chips Ahoy! cookies. She found that while industrial engineering involved a lot of data analysis and math, the field was broader than she expected. In 2023, she earned her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.
Leadership and outreach were a big part of Taila’s life in college. She joined her university’s SWE section her freshman year and mentored at the same Invent It. Build It. event that inspired her to become an engineer. She hosted a variety of other outreach events and discovered that conferences were a fun way to travel to see new places.
Taila served as a SWE officer for two years and was excited to help other young women become interested in engineering. In addition to SWE, Taila sought out other groups to build a community. She was involved with the National Society of Black Engineers and an LGBTQ+ community group on campus. The leadership skills and expanded group of friends helped Taila in her college career.
Taila recently started a reliability engineering job in Chicago. Each of her unique experiences has driven her passion and prepared her for this career. She has carved out a space for herself in engineering and is determined to help others do the same.
The “Her Stories: Adventures in STEM” series is a collection of stories about 20 women in science and engineering fields, written by members of the SWE Pre-College Working Group. Dive into the rest of the series here!
Know a pre-college kid interested in STEM? Join SWENext, the Society’s free program that allows students ages 5 through 18 to join the SWE engineering and technology community.
SWENexters enjoy numerous opportunities throughout the year to learn, network, and connect with peers, role models, and industry professionals. Plus, this diverse, welcoming, pre-college STEM community provides a safe place where kids can feel seen, heard, and validated. SWENext is open to all genders.
