2018-2019 WOMEN'S PERSPECTIVES SEMINAR

FINDING YOUR NORTH
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​Speaker Line-up

Winter Quarter
Building 370 Room 370 | 4:30 - 5:20pm | Thursdays
refreshments and mingling at 4:15
All are invited to attend!
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Jan 10
Introduction to seminar

Professor Sheri Sheppard introduced the seminar and speaker lineup. Attendees discussed what makes them happy and their professional goals, and generated questions to ask speakers. A panel of current women engineering graduate students shared some of their experiences and questions in navigating life.

Jan 17
Julie Prillinger

Principal Scientist, Abbott​
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​​Julie Prillinger is a Principal Scientist, leading the Structural Heart and Vascular portfolios within Abbott’s Real World Evidence and Digital Health group. In this role, Julie is responsible for directing the strategy of clinical evidence generation for Abbott’s implantable cardiac devices using large ‘real-world’ datasets.
She received her Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 2005, followed by her PhD in Bioengineering in 2008. She has worked at several large medical device companies, including Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, and Abbott. Throughout her academic and professional career, Julie has been active in promoting and supporting women in STEM, and currently serves on the board of Women Leaders of Abbott.

Jan 24
BARBARA A. Karanian

Lecturer at Stanford University and Founder of the Design Entrepreneuring Studio
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​Barbara A. Karanian, Ph.D. uses applied psychology, engineering design, and art in her proven methods to make it possible for teams to find unmet user needs. She teaches some of these methods - sometimes from a "storytelling" perspective - to help students understand the emotional embodiment in their work - to facilitate change - as they progress from the idea phases of projects to reality in the School of Engineering. Founder of the Design Entrepreneuring Studio, she is the author of,"Working Connection: The Relational Art of Leadership;" "Entrepreneurial Leadership: A Balancing Act in Engineering and Science;" and "Designing for Social Participation in the Virtual Universe." With her students in ME 378, she co-authored, "The Power of First Moments in Entrepreneurial Storytelling." Findings show that vulnerability amplifies engagement. Barbara makes productive partnerships with industry and creates collaborative teams with members from the areas of engineering, business, and medicine. Her recent work examines the gendered characterization of innovation in leadership; engagement with modes and modalities of transportation; and ways to generate creative work environments. She also works to bridge the intersection of Silicon Valley and Hollywood in an initiative for building a predictive model of success.
She received her B.A. in the double major of Experimental Psychology and Fine Arts from the College of the Holy Cross, her M.A. in Art Therapy from Lesley University, and her Ph.D. in Educational Studies in Organizational Behavior from Lesley University. She was a Teaching Fellow 1990-1991 at Harvard University's GSE; and in 2013 awarded best Teaching Strategies paper in ASEE's Entrepreneurship & Innovation Division.
Current Courses: ME 378 Tell/Make/Engage ME 236 Tales to Design Cars By ME 243 Designing Emotion ME 191 Engineering Problems and Experimental Investigation 

JAN 31
Ireena Erteza

Asian American Engineer of the Year, Sandia National Laboratories
​Ireena Erteza currently works for Sandia National Labs. She applies her experience and knowledge in multiple branches of electrical engineering to improve a sensing technology known as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). This is a technology that enables the creation of high-resolution 2- or 3-dimensional images of objects or landscapes. SAR images have widespread applicability; using this technology, information can be gathered in conditions where it might typically be difficult for humans to see; e.g., through clouds or fog or at far distances. She has worked with this technology for over 20 years now and has come to thoroughly understand its strengths and challenges. Her career has been marked by innovative research efforts in computation and algorithm development, initiatives to standardize radar data formats, and work to make interaction with computational power easy and more accessible to users.
She earned a B.S. from University of New Mexico and a M.S. and PhD from Stanford University, all in Electrical Engineering. In 2017, Ireena was named Asian American Engineer of the Year (AAEOY), a national award that honors outstanding Asian American professionals in engineering for technical achievements, leadership, and public service.
For the past 30 years, Ireena has worked to be a strong role model for women pursuing science and engineering careers. She also has mentored in the community for more than 25 years, including early career employees at the Labs.

Feb 7
Trae vassallo

Co-Founder & Managing Director, Defy.vc
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​Trae Vassallo is a co-founder and managing director of Defy.vc, an early stage venture capital firm. She is an engineer, an entrepreneur, and an investor, and her passion is collaborating with the world’s best entrepreneurs. Trae was previously a General Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). Over her 14-year investing career, Trae invested in number of leading companies including eero, Nest Labs, Dropcam, Aggregate Knowledge and Opower.

Before joining KPCB, Trae was a Co-Founder of Good Technology, a KPCB portfolio company that provides end-to-end wireless email services to the enterprise. She began her career at IDEO, where she developed ground-breaking products for companies including Palm and Dell. Trae holds 13 patents across a broad array of technologies and disciplines.

She earned a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with honors from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Feb 14
​STephanie adams

Dean, Batten College of Engineering and Technology, Old Dominion University
​Stephanie G. Adams is 7th Dean of the Batten College of Engineering and Technology at Old Dominion University. She has held faculty and administrative positions at Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her research interests include Faculty Development, Broadening Participation, International Collaborations, Team Effectiveness, Collaborative and Active Learning, and Quality Control and Management. She served as a Program Director in the Engineering Education and Centers Division of the National Science Foundation.

She earned her BS in Mechanical Engineering with honors from North Carolina A&T State University, a Master of Engineering degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia and her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Engineering from Texas A&M University.

In 2003, she received the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation; in 2013, she was named a Fellow of the American Society of Engineering Education; and she is currently President-Elect of ASEE.

Feb 21
Jinny Rhee

Associate Dean, College of Engineering, San Jose State University
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​Jinny Rhee is currently serving as the Associate Dean of the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering at San Jose State University (SJSU), and has been in the role since 2014. She joined the faculty at SJSU in 2002. Before that, she ran a consulting business, Rhee Thermosciences, from 1995 - 2002.

Her interests include renewable energy, thermal management, and multidisciplinary education for engineers and all students. She is also the Director of the newly established Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Laboratory at SJSU, and the faculty advisor for the SJSU student chapter of IEEE-CPMT (Institute for Electrical Engineering and Electronics - Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technologies).

She received her BS ('89), MS ('90), and PhD ('95) degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

FEB 28
carol regalbuto

Engineer, Sila Nanotechnologies
​Carol Regalbuto, is a Mexican American engineer originally from the suburbs of Chicago. She received her Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011 and her Master's in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 2013. While she had intended to pursue a PhD and even passed quals and finished all her coursework, she ultimately decided academic research was not for her and left her PhD program in 2015. Building on her background in thermodynamics and energy systems, she worked at Tesla as a battery safety engineer for 3 years before moving to a battery materials startup called Sila Nanotechnologies.

Since college, Carol has been a strong advocate for underrepresented groups in STEM and is committed to building gender and racial equity by diversifying corporate workforces.

Carol now resides in Oakland and when not in the office or the lab, you can find her dancing bachata, looking for the next pair of sneakers to cop, listening to music and podcasts, or taking in a view. 

Mar 7
Sarah parikh

Professor at Foothill College
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​Sarah Parikh, is a professor at Foothill College teaching a number of courses in the Engineering and Physics departments and is currently the Department Chair for the Engineering Department. Her teaching methodology strives to meet students where they are and include active learning and authentic projects that are initiated by the students as Service Leadership.

Sarah received her Ph.D. from Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering, studying Engineering Education. She has led several initiatives to foster sense of community at Foothill College and is starting consulting to build sense of community in the workplace. She is advisor to Foothill's Women in STEM (WiSTEM) student club. Her goal is to support and inspire all students to achieve their goals in school and in life.

Mar 14
Debbie manzano

Plant Manager, Dearborn Truck Plant (Ford)
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​Debbie Manzano, is the plant manager at Ford’s giant Rouge plant in Dearborn,Michigan, and the first woman to fill this role.  She is responsible for overseeing production of the Ford F-150, the best-selling truck in America. She has been working for Ford for 24 years, from glass production process right after college to the F-150. She received a B.S in Statistics and a M.S. in Industrial Engineering form the University of Michigan.