Women Engineers You Should Know

Ameke earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. She then worked as a research and teaching assistant in the mechanical engineering department. Ameke also holds a business certificate in entrepreneurship and launching breakthrough technologies from Harvard Business School. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree with a specialty in aerospace materials and structures.

As a STEM advocate and public speaker, Ameke has delivered more than 25 speaking engagements on issues related to STEM education, aerospace engineering, leadership, and entrepreneurship. She started the “What’s Your Story?” podcast, which features conversations with women making strides in various STEM fields. Ameke also founded STEMClever.org as a way to give back to her community. The initiative delivers fun lessons to more than 450 students in rural and urban Ghana to help them become critical thinkers and problem solvers. Lessons include practical science and math, coding, and robotics, as well as career guidance and mentorship.

Ameke also helped found the nonprofit GleeChild Initiative in June 2020 to help Ghanaian orphanages with the increased strain and pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She previously worked as an aviation safety officer for PassionAir in Ghana and currently consults as an event planner and web designer. Ameke volunteers and mentors students for Global Give Back Circle, an organization that seeks to empower youth from Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Ghana, to break out of the circle of poverty, and also for Technovation, which aims to inspire girls and families to change the world with technology.

The daughter of Vietnamese refugees who immigrated to America after the Vietnam War, Cohen earned an associate’s degree in general science from Austin Community College and a bachelor’s degree in aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical/space engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.

Shortly after graduation, Cohen interned at Firefly Space Systems in the early days of the company, testing its first regenerative-cooled chamber designs. She continued as a contractor and, when the company was reinvented as Firefly Aerospace, joined full time as a test engineer. As one of the first 10 employees and the first woman engineer at Firefly, Cohen led many of the company’s firsts for its orbital launch vehicle, Alpha. At Firefly’s test site, she helped develop and test critical components for Alpha’s stage one and stage two engines, working on everything from research and development and initial component designs through stage testing. Cohen led the company’s first engine campaigns and the first multi-engine test campaign.

Cohen is known as a dedicated, hardworking team member who has supported dozens of critical projects across propulsion, integration, avionics, ground support equipment, quality, and more. These efforts by Cohen and the team paid off when, on its second launch attempt, Firefly successfully reached orbit — becoming one of only a few rocket companies to do so.

Recently, Cohen joined the spacecraft team as an assembly, integration, and test engineer for the company’s lunar lander, Blue Ghost, which has two upcoming missions to the moon as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. Using her experience from Alpha, she is leading the path to the moon by transitioning into a mission operator when the first mission launches in 2024.

Now in her sixth year at Firefly, Cohen mentors other women colleagues at the company and is known for bringing talent, positivity, inspiration, and selflessness to everything she does.

Dr. Galván earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Universidad Anáhuac in Mexico City. She then moved to Vancouver, Canada, and began her career as a software engineer at a tech startup before relocating to California to work as a software development manager for McGraw Hill, where she oversaw the development of classroom management and testing systems that are used across the United States. In 1996, Dr. Galván joined Oracle as the national language support manager, where she was instrumental in the adoption of the Unicode Standard by the European Union.

Dr. Galván then accepted a position with Adobe Systems, where she led the development of software platforms to scale Adobe products into international markets. She was instrumental in developing Adobe Updater software that is used by countless people around the world. Along with colleagues at Adobe, she developed an innovative software interface for language translation that was patented in 2013 in the U.S.

At Microsoft, she led a global team that managed international versions of Microsoft Online Services — including Hotmail, Bing, and MSN — in 48 languages across 160 markets. Silicon Valley Business Journal named her one of 100 Women of Influence in 2015.

A lifelong learner, Dr. Galván earned a master’s degree from Golden Gate University and, in 2020, completed a doctorate of education at Drexel University. Her dissertation, “Voices of the Women Who Stayed,” examined women leaders with computer science or engineering degrees who worked in Silicon Valley.

Dr. Galván is dedicated to supporting women and other historically underrepresented people in their engineering careers. She has spent more than 20 years mentoring and volunteering in various organizations, including serving as an officer for SWE, a cultural mentor for TechWomen, and a mentor for WOMEN Unlimited Inc. She also has held leadership roles in Microsoft and Oracle employee resource groups. Dr. Galván is a regular presenter in technical and women-in-tech conferences on the topics of software globalization and diversity and inclusion.

Dr. Jain earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Panjab University in Chandigarh, India, and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from The University of Iowa. She began at Micron in 2005 as a process engineer, steadily working her way to her current position as principal engineer.

Her research interests include polymers, photoresistant architecture, lithography, and optical simulations. Dr. Jain has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, has presented at international conferences, and holds more than 30 U.S. patents in the fields of polymers and photolithography.

Dr. Jain leads the innovation technology track for Micron’s Women Leadership Network in India, where her enthusiasm for igniting a spirit of innovation in women colleagues shines through. She coordinates sessions and cross-functional panels for the annual technical seminar, and has launched forums focused on innovation to continue the momentum between seminars and provide dedicated mentorship opportunities.

Dr. Jain is a champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at Micron and values the impact of mentorship. She credits the mentoring she received as critical in the early stages of her career, when she often was the only woman in the room. Now, with more than 15 years at the company, she takes her role as a mentor seriously, with an understanding of the impact it can have on someone’s burgeoning career.

Within her community, Dr. Jain is also concerned about the welfare of children and animals. She is involved with the Association for India’s Development and volunteers with several animal welfare organizations.

Dr. Jovicevic-Klug earned a bachelor’s degree in geological and earth sciences from the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. She then earned two master’s degrees — in marine geosciences and sustainability, society, and environment — from the Kiel University and a Ph.D. in nanosciences and nanotechnologies from the Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School in Slovenia.

Dr. Jovicevic-Klug has focused her research on nanoscience, isotope surface science, forensic science, cryogenics, and degradation science of materials, and is known for being highly dedicated to her research and work. She has published 20 papers in peer-reviewed journals about her research regarding deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) on metals, a technique that holds lots of potential for the development of advanced materials and their heat treatment. Her research is helping move the field forward by providing additional insights that challenge many of the previously accepted theories regarding how DCT could be used in industry. Her insights and research were recognized with an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship.

Working in a field with few other women, Dr. Jovicevic-Klug is a self-proclaimed STEMinist, who seeks to improve the current standing of women in STEM through various advocacy activities.

Lu holds more than 250 patents for her innovations in the technology space, including ones related to social software, the Internet of Things, health care analytics, accessibility, and more. Lu credits the continuous learning mindset and collaboration with colleagues as the key drivers in her ability to innovate and find robust solutions. Mentorship from others was also critical in learning the patent process.

At IBM, where she has worked for more than 20 years and is a five-time IBM master inventor, she now actively advises other employees on how to turn their ideas into patents. She hosts workshops and information sessions to aid in this process, and also provides additional mentorship for early professionals as a mentor in the IBM JumpStart program. She has twice been honored with SWE’s Patent Recognition Award.

As an American Association for the Advancement of Science–Lemelson Invention Ambassador, Lu presents her approach to innovation and invention to industry and academia. Also active in her community, she has taught STEM activities at local schools, mentored teams for HackMIT and FIRST Lego League, and volunteered at Junior Tech’s Girls STEM Summit and Cambridge Science Festival.

Dr. Raghavan grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, an Oglala Lakota Indian reservation in South Dakota and Nebraska. There, she spent much of her childhood learning about ranching and life on the prairie. A student who excelled in math and science, she was not exposed to engineering during grade school. She worked as a teaching assistant in an elementary school for three years after high school and set off to college expecting to study to become a social worker. While at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, she discovered engineering in her junior year and realized it was a pathway that combined many of her interests.

She made the switch from social work and graduated three years later with bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering and Spanish. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Through her experiences with education, she was inspired to improve STEM education, particularly for youth in historically underrepresented populations.

At the NAE, one of the hallmark programs Dr. Raghavan manages is EngineerGirl. When the program began in 2000, only 9% of the U.S. engineering workforce identified as women. In 2022, the number of women has risen to 16%. EngineerGirl focuses especially on middle school girls to encourage students at this important stage of their education to consider STEM and gain awareness of engineering career paths. Through EngineerGirl, Dr. Raghavan has drawn on her own experiences to create opportunities for young women to connect with a supportive community and reinforce their interests in engineering.

Dr. Ranaweera’s first position was staff engineer at Actel Corporation. She then worked as a technical staff engineer for Sun Microsystems before becoming a principal hardware engineer for Oracle, where she worked for more than a dozen years developing high-end microprocessors. She is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and currently serves as vice chair for the IEEE future directions committee.

Her colleagues know her as a trailblazer in the field of quantum computing, the metaverse, and microprocessor design. Her areas of expertise include silicon technology, foundry interface, data analysis, design for manufacturing solutions, and more. Dr. Ranaweera holds five U.S. patents and speaks at international conferences.

Throughout her career, Dr. Ranaweera has always sought to give back. At Oracle, she served as a diversity and inclusion ambassador, a lead for the Oracle Women Leadership group, a sustainability champion, and a technologist for the Oracle Education Foundation. She has also organized events surrounding the International Day of the Girl.

Dr. Ranaweera currently serves as a senior member of IEEE and vice chair for the IEEE future directions committee. She also serves as an ABET program evaluator and regularly serves as a judge for local and international science fairs.

One of Dr. Ranaweera’s chief goals is to eliminate bias in artificial intelligence, which can discriminate against women and other historically marginalized people. She has created a special initiative through IEEE future directions to help bridge the digital divide and bring digital equity and inclusion to all. As a co-chair for the IEEE metaverse initiative, she focuses on leveraging the environmental, sustainability, and governance potential in the metaverse and addressing the widening digital divide arising from the hardware and connectivity required to participate. She frequently delivers tech talks to highlight these important topics.

Dr. Sanders began her own education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she earned an S.B. in mathematics. She went on to Georgia Institute of Technology, where she earned four degrees: an MBA, an M.S. in geographic information science and technology, an M.S. in operations research, and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering. She is also a certified lean Six Sigma black belt.

Her academics and research have been well recognized. Dr. Sanders received the Food Research Distribution Society’s Outstanding Graduate Research Award, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials GIS-T Student Paper Award, SWE’s Outstanding Collegiate Member Award, and the Byron Hanke Fellowship.

Her mother, a Cambodian refugee, was the first woman in her family to graduate from college in the United States. And, while Dr. Sanders is a fifth-generation Ph.D. graduate, she is the first woman in her family to earn a Ph.D. During her own academic pursuits, she saw how women can be discouraged from pursuing their interests in STEM. This has motivated her to empower and support more women in these fields. She serves as the faculty advisor for the West Point Section of SWE, where her students describe her as an inspiring mentor who cares deeply about their success.

At West Point, her research focuses on innovations in supply chain engineering in the areas of food and defense. Recently, she was awarded a $2 million grant through DARPA’s Resilient Supply and Demand Networks program to build resiliency in food, pharmaceutical, and metal supply networks. She also oversees all independent cadet research in the systems department. Additionally, she serves as an adjunct assistant professor of statistics at Columbia University.

A four-year Division 1 rower while at MIT, Dr. Sanders now serves as one of the head coaches of the Army men’s crew team.

Dr. Wang earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in acoustics from Pennsylvania State University. She then served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Technical University of Denmark before joining the faculty of the University of Nebraska, where she has served for more than 20 years. Her research focuses on human perception and performance in noise, classroom acoustics, uncertainty in acoustic measurements, and room acoustics computer modeling.

She is known for her contagious enthusiasm and dedication to her students and fellow faculty members. She is also a champion of issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Wang previously served as the College of Engineering’s associate dean for faculty and inclusion. Through her efforts, the college gathered baseline data on diversity, implemented plans to increase the recruitment and retention of diverse scholars at all levels, and introduced a diversity statement as a requirement in the faculty application process. These initiatives earned a Bronze Award in 2019 from the American Society of Engineering Education’s Deans Diversity Recognition Program.

As director of the Durham School, Dr. Wang continues to uphold diversity and inclusion by recruiting and mentoring students, faculty, and staff from historically underrepresented populations.

Dr. Wang, a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), has served as its president, vice president, and chair of its technical committee on architectural acoustics. She is board certified by the Institute of Noise Control Engineering and is a recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, the ASA R. Bruce Lindsay Award, and the Ralph G. Nevins Physiology and Human Environment Award from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

Originally from Brazil, Dr. Wilson earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and an M.S. in marine sciences from the Federal University of Ceará. She also earned a second master’s degree and a Ph.D., both in environmental engineering, from Michigan State University.

While a student at Michigan State, Dr. Wilson served as a mentor to undergraduate women engineering students. After graduating, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the environmental engineering department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Her work has been recognized with academic honors and at international conferences and industrial awards programs, including the Petrobras Technology Award for Environmental Preservation and Michigan State’s College of Engineering Outstanding Graduate Student Award.

In 2017, Dr. Wilson began her career as a consultant at the engineering firm Fishbeck, where she works on bioremediation of chlorinated solvents in soil and groundwater, as well as on remediation and treatment technologies to address per- and polyfluorinated substances — a group of chemicals found in coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water — a growing worldwide problem.

Keen to continue contributing to the cleanup of the world’s waters and lands, Dr. Wilson collaborates with academic researchers and publishes in peer-reviewed journals. Her recent research has examined functional genes associated with the biodegradation of xenobiotics, including chlorinated solvents, dioxin, and RDX.

Walsh joined Microsoft in 2017, bringing with her a strong operational background in leading large, global teams. She has worked in England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United States, and has traveled extensively around the world on business, running large-scale commodity businesses and manufacturing facilities, leading major strategic divestitures, and integrating acquisitions.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Walsh worked for more than 25 years at Dow, where she managed multiple businesses, leading more than 25% of its manufacturing base, the chemicals division of businesses and global supply chain, and customer service functions. Walsh is known for working with teams to inspire their best performance and bringing an operational excellence mindset. She is also adamant about safety and compliance, believing these are the cornerstones of business.

Walsh graduated from University College in Dublin, Ireland, with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering in 1985. She also completed executive education in entrepreneurial business operations at Babson College in 2000 and the Women on Boards program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2016. She is a member of the Northwood University board of trustees, serving as chair of the academic committee, and a past member of the Cranbrook College board of governors, the Midland Research Institute for Value Chain Creation board of directors (now Axia Institute), and the supervisory board of Dow Benelux.

Dr. Yagain earned a Bachelor of Engineering in telecommunication from the Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology and a Master of Technology in VLSI design and embedded systems from the Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Technology in Bengaluru, India. She then earned a Ph.D. in VLSI for signal processing and high-level synthesis from Visvesvaraya Technological University.

Dr. Yagain has published 19 peer-reviewed articles and worked as a researcher and faculty member at PES University. While pursuing a Ph.D., she also worked as a consultant, developing and delivering training content to various semiconductor companies as part of Cadence Design Systems. She then served as the lead for tech learning and engineering development for Qualcomm India prior to founding her own company, where she partnered with ArterisIP for its India business.

Since joining Micron, she has grown the workforce development’s technical training team and enhanced a variety of competency development opportunities. As part of her role, she has worked on employee upskilling projects, including the creation of employee onboarding and different engineering development programs for ASIC design flow, process flow, FPGA flow, and IP design and research and development in the field of semiconductors.

Dr. Yagain has chaired multiple technical conferences at Micron India and has been involved in initiatives related to the empowerment of children and women. Her deep knowledge on the subject matter has allowed her to develop relevant and useful continuing education programs while also mentoring employees across the company.

While leading HMI efforts, Dr. Yan has begun initiatives in augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality, and created its go-to-market strategy.

Dr. Yan earned a Bachelor of Engineering in microelectronic science from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, and a Ph.D. in microelectronic engineering from the University College Cork in Ireland. She also earned an executive MBA from the ESCP Business School in Germany, where she received a Women in Leadership scholarship.

While working to earn a Ph.D., Dr. Yan worked as a researcher at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork, Ireland, a research center focused on integrated ICT hardware and systems. She worked on novel CMOS transistor design and characterization. While there, a paper she co-authored, “Performance Analysis of SOI Junctionless Nanowire Transistors,” received the Best Conference Paper Award at the 2010 Electron Technology Conference in Poland.

Through her research, she has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and has more than 20 patents.

GlobalFoundries has acknowledged Dr. Yan’s excellence in contributions to the company and the industry through multiple awards, including the GlobalWomen Award, the CEO Award, and the Master Inventor Award. Through her work as a manager at GlobalFoundries, she regularly provides mentorship to colleagues and champions diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within the organization and across the industry.

She previously served as LADWP’s director of legislative and intergovernmental affairs, where she advocated on behalf of LADWP to local, state, and federal agencies. While she was in this role, LADWP received a California Municipal Utilities Association Award for a joint program with the Southern California Gas Company that has helped thousands of low-income Los Angeles residents reduce their energy and water use and save on their utility bills.

Yancy, who grew up in New Orleans, earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from California State University, Northridge, and an MBA from Pepperdine University. She began her career with LADWP as an electrical engineering assistant, where she has worked for 35 years.

In her current role, Yancy is leading a transformation to electric transportation systems in the country’s second largest city, including the development and implementation of an EV charging infrastructure and pre-owned EV rebate programs with additional rebates for low-income customers.

Yancy routinely gives back to her colleagues and her community. The SWE professional affiliate group within LADWP recently honored Yancy with its Kindling Award in honor of her advocacy for women in the workplace. She also serves as executive advisor for LADWP’s National Society of Black Engineers chapter and is a board member for the Association of Women in Water, Energy & Environment; the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce Educational Fund & Foundation; and The Links, Incorporated.