Not enough recognition is given to female engineers (specifically black women) who are raising the excellence bar as we speak. According to swe.org, women in engineering statistics have seen a 54% increase in bachelor’s degrees awarded to engineering and computer science majors over the last few years. With that being said, the sky isn’t the limit for these ladies at all!
Women in STEM fields have seen plenty of wins in 2018. So in case you have missed these monumental “hidden figure” milestones allow us to catch you up…
Dr. Ciara Sivels
The University of Michigan, established in 1817, is widely known for being the #1 university for nuclear engineering programs in the United States. So of course this is a big deal that is worth celebrating! Dr. Sivels defended her Development of an Advanced Radioxenon Detector for Nuclear Explosion Monitoring thesis this past October and at just 27 years old, has been crowned the FIRST black woman to earn a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Krystle McClain
Krystle has spent many years of leadership service within the Department of Defense. Currently she is the Installation Environmental Program Director for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Far East in Yokosuka, Japan. From maintaining base operations in compliance with environmental compliance standards agreed upon between the Government of Japan and United States Force, to advocating STEM careers to the youth, Krystle has shown some very exemplary skills.
McClain recently won the 2019 Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) in Professional Achievement. She will be accepting her award at the BEYA STEM conference in February of 2019.
Tiera Fletcher
We can’t talk African American innovators without including Boeing structural engineer Tiera Fletcher. This Atlanta native graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a Bachelor’s of Science in Aerospace Engineering in June of 2017. At the age of 23, she is currently working on a project to send humans to Mars. Check out her Google VR video series : The Female Planet.
Dr. Mareena Robinson Snowden
STEM Phenom Mareena is defining what it means to be a woman on her grind. Mareena recently became the first black woman to earn a Ph.D in nuclear engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) earlier this year. According to CNBC , her degree was a culmination of 11 years post-secondary study. Since her recent achievement, she has been receiving well deserved recognition from the likes of Essence and BET’s Black Girls Rock.
Ginai Seabron
A whole lot of firsts! In the current ‘viral’ digital age you never know how far one post on Twitter will take you. Ginai shared a tweet stating : “OFFICIALLY DONE! These past 4 years have been longgg and HARD but I/WE made it. You are looking at the FIRST African American Woman NANOSCIENTIST from Virginia Tech!”. Of course the internet sent her much deserved love and congratulatory praise.
Please allow this post to be an inspiration to you and your journey. Whether you are a Woman in STEM, or any other woman seeking to dominate her dreams and aspirations, go out there and get it! “ Aim high and don't sell yourself short.”