Jennifer Vargus
- President 2006-2007
I
received my B.S. in Electrical Engineering from New Mexico State University
and currently work as a development engineer for IBM. I joined SWE for the opportunity
to meet and network with other professional women engineers and to become more
involved in community activities. I've always been an advocate of encouraging
young women to pursue technical careers and I wanted to be a part of an organization
that was actively involved in supporting that goal. I am looking forward to
the upcoming year and having the opportunity to take on a more active role in
the SWT section.
Dina Eldin - Vice
President 2006-2007, Vice president; 2005-2006
I
received my B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University.
My research for my M.S. was in the area of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics).
I currently work for Dell as a Development Engineer. I attended the Annual SWE
Meeting in Detroit and Milwaukee. Last year I was the Regional winner for the
Technical Presentation Competition and had the opportunity to present at the
annual conference. I enjoyed attending SWE meetings and being involved in SWE
as a student and would like to continue being involved!
Socorro Miller -
Secretary 2006-2007; Secretary 2005-2006
I
graduated from New Mexico State University in the summer of 1999 with a B.S.
in Electrical Engineering. After graduation, I joined Dell, where I worked as
a member of a computer (motherboard) design team for two years. Then transition
to the desktop sustaining engineering department were I have been since. My
current job involves supporting the factory, qualifying any changes needed on
the systems during their life cycle and supporting the Dell product support
team addressing customer issues. I was a member of SWE at NMSU, but lost track
of SWE after graduation. I joined the SWE SWT section on Sept '05 to network
with other female engineers.
Loulwa Salem - Treasurer
2006-2007
I
graduated with a B.S in Computer Engineering from Purdue University. I am currently
working as a software engineer in IBM’s Linux Technology Center. I am part of
the Linux security team, and have worked on attaining multiple Evaluation Assurance
Level (EAL) certifications for Linux. I was a member of SWE in college and participated
in many of their activities, after graduation I joined Professional SWE, and
would like to remain involved. I joined SWE because of the wonderful opportunity
to network with other women engineers, as well as influence young women’s interest
in the engineering field though the many activities SWE organizes or is involved
with.
Katie Todd - Section
Representative 2006-2007; Tresurer 2005-2006
I have a B.S. in Computer Science Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. I currently work as a Quality Engineer for Enterprise products
at Dell. I enjoy being active in SWE because of the wonderful variety of networking,
career development, and volunteer opportunities. I served as the Southwest Texas
Section Treasurer for 2004-2005 and as the Newsletter Chair for the 2003-2004.
Ebalina Roitberg
- Section Representative 2006-2007; President 2005-2006;Section Representative
2003-2004; President 2002-2003
I received a B. S. in Electrical
Engineering and am working as an EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) Engineer
at Dell. I work in the Worldwide Regulatory Engineering Group which assists
in the design, development and testing of computer platforms to comply with
worldwide emission, immunity, and safety standards.
I joined SWE to meet
other women engineers, have an outlet for discussing issues commonly faced by
professional women engineers in the work environment, and to get more involved
in helping promote young women's interests towards the study of math, science
and engineering, through community activities SWE participates in.
Amy Story - Section
Representative 2002-2004; Secretary 2001-2002
I work as a Software Engineer
at Cisco Systems, Inc. I received my degrees from the University of Texas at
Austin: M.S. in Software Engineering and B.S. in Electrical Engineering. I enjoy
meeting other women engineers through SWE and learning about opportunities to
grow as an engineer, professional, and community member.
Reena Singhal -
Treasurer 2001-2002
I am working at Intel Corporation's
Texas Development Center, where we are designing the next generation Pentium
processor. I am currently in the performance team, figuring out how to make
the computers faster and helping the team meet its speed target for the processor.
I recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon University, with a Master's in electrical
and computer engineering. At CMU, I was very active in SWE, serving various
positions including President, Secretary, and Co-chair of the engineering campus
career fair. I love being a part of SWE and am excited to continue as a member
through the professional chapter, because of all the great talent and diverse
women in the organization and opportunity to enhance leadership and teamwork
skills. I also strive to encourage young women to continue learning science
and math, to open many doors to them in their futures.
Ty Parcher - Science
Fair Coordinator 1999-2004
Tyler (Ty) Parcher Graduated
from Valparaiso Technical Institute with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in
1976. Since 1978 his primary work focus has been software development with an
emphasis on integration of disparate software systems . He brings a wide range
of support to government and commercial organizations for system development
support in the role software programmer, computer systems consultant, systems
analyst, or project lead as required. Originally with Westinghouse Defense Electronics
and Booz Allen and Hamilton, Ty currently provides services to a variety of
clients including Texas Education Agency, IBM, Computers Sciences Corporation,
and BMC Software through agent contract firms or his own company, P.E. Consulting..
Ty strongly believes everyone
should enjoy the opportunity to rise to his or her fullest potential in life
without having to endure the baggage of stereo typing or social condescension.
As a member of S.W.E. Ty reflects these strongly held values though deeds as
well as words.
Lauren Post - Membership
Chair 2000-2004; President 1997-1999
I work at ESS Technology
as a software manager for their embedded multimedia products for DVD players.
My specialties are video and MPEG subsystem development.
I've been a SWE member
for over 10 years through engineering school and as a professional since 1990.
I've also been in several member sections from Raleigh down to Palm Beach and
now in Southwest Texas. With this experience, I've found the Southwest Texas
section to be filled with wonderful women engineers. SWE has been a great place
to learn leadership skills and improve on networking. Being president, for the
past two years, has put in a position where I can make a difference in my community
and work on various skills in a supportive environment. I'm very active in our
outreach programs because I think being a role model to a young girl can make
a difference in motivating her to consider engineering as a career.
Teresa Klein - Career
Guidance Chair 2000-2003
Teresa Klein holds a BSCS
from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, is a 1997 Alumnae of the
University of Texas at Austin Institute for Managerial Leadership, and holds
a Certificate of Project Management from George Washington University, an IBM
Certified Project Manager and Project Management Professional (PMP). Ms. Klein
joined IBM in May of 1989 as a software engineer working on the 1st AIX release
and has worked in the RS/6000 division/Enterprise Systems Group since then in
a variety of roles; software engineer in AIX development, AIX Change Team service
& support software engineer, team lead in AIX development, manager, project
manager in AIX development and in Enterprise Systems Group Hardware Development,
temporary assignment to the IBM Women in Technology Project Office responsible
for K-12 programs. Ms. Klein has had the opportunity to go on assignment
in the UK working in the Customer Support Centre. Her current job is IBM
Certified Senior Project Manager, IBM Women in Technology Archives Project,
Enterprise Systems Group. Outside activities include: Missions Chair for Leander
United Methodist, Career Development Committee Chair for the Southwest Chapter
of the Society for Women Engineers (SWE), steering committee member of the IBM
Austin Women's Diversity Network Group, and Toastmasters. "My outside
of work passion is mentoring young people and seeing the advancement of women’s
abilities." She lives on 12.5 acres of Texas Hill Country Paradise
with her husband, 2 sons 7 & 11, 3 dogs and 2 cats. Outside Hobbies: Travel,
Karate, camping, hiking, reading, cooking, gardening, volunteering/mentoring
young people, Cub Scout den leader, soccer/baseball/basketball/football mom
and enjoying the outdoors.
TQ's
Words of Wisdom: (not original to me but, I liked them)
1. Dream Big - You CAN Do Anything You want!
2. Persevere - Little is ever gained with out hard work & determination
3. YOU are in charge of your body, mind, and future
4. Attitude is the minds paintbrush - it can color any situation
Tara Copabianca
- Vice President 2002-2003
I am an environmental
engineer working in the Air Permits Division of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission (TNRCC). My primary responsibility is writing air quality regulations.
I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York.
I enjoy being a member of SWE because it is a wonderful opportunity to meet
other women who are engineers and it is a great organization to make friends.
I like being involved with SWE because it provides information on professional
development, while also giving me the opportunity to encourage other women and
girls to pursue technological careers.
Ita Ufot - Section
Representative 2001-2002; Treasurer 1999-2001
I have a BS degree (1978) from Spelman College , Atlanta Georgia dual
degree program in Chemistry and Engineering; and an MBA degree (1980) from Atlanta
University in Decision Science and Information Systems. I worked in the oil
and gasindustry in Houston, Texas in Exploration & Production Research until
my family relocated overseas in 1985. We returned in 1988 and I worked in environmental
waste management. I am presently coordinating air quality programs for the Texas
Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), an environmental regulatory
State agency.
My passion is to encourage young people apply their talents and utilize the
immense opportunities that this age and the next millenium affords them. I can
do this effectively through SWE. I also enjoy associating with SWE members -a
collection of dynamic and intelligent women.
Wiede Cutshall -
San Antonio Girl Scout's Chair 2000-2002
I
am an Aerospace Engineer and FAA DER (Designated Engineering Representative).
My work involves design, analysis and testing of aircraft modifications and
repairs. SWE provides me with good opportunities to educate and inspire young
women to pursue technical careers. In addition, I enjoy interacting with the
diverse group of people who make up SWE.
Cathy Chang - Newsletter
Editor 2001-2002
I
graduated with a BS and MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering. I currently
work at Sun Microsystems in Microelectronics. The type of work I do right now
is characterizing circuit behavior; performing circuit, noise, and timing simulations,
and fixing any violations when re-mapping a chip to another technology.
I joined SWE in college, and I loved that experience. SWE is one of the most active organizations on campus
(at my school), and as a member, I benefited very much in leadership, career
contacts, and interpersonal skills. I decided to be involved in a professional
SWE chapter, and continue to meet new people, contribute, and benefit as a member.
Elena McDonald
Buller - Section Representative 2000
I am a Research Scientist at the Center for Energy and Environmental Resources
(CEER) and a Lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University
of Texas at Austin. I oversee the air quality modeling research group at CEER.
We perform air quality studies that are used to support policy decisions for
the state of Texas and to improve the fundamental understanding of physical
and chemical processes in the atmosphere.
I am an active SWE member because
I believe strongly in the necessity of recruiting and retaining women in engineering
at a young age. I would like to see more women in academia become involved with
SWE in the future.
Robin Wiprud - Vice
President 1999
From the
time I entered junior high school, I pretty much knew what I wanted to be when
I grew up. My father was a petroleum engineer, and after learning what kinds
of things he did at his job, solving problems using math and science, I was
inspired. Engineering was for me. I received my bachelor's and master's degrees
in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis on digital signal processing from
Rice University in Houston. I spent the next eight years designing DSP hardware
for a defense contractor in California before coming to Austin in 1994 to work
for Motorola. In just over three years at Motorola, I was involved in the design
of a transceiver for ADSL (Asymetric Digital Subscriber Line), a high speed
communications protocol that will allow much faster modem speeds than we are
currently seeing over standard telephone lines. I have recently left Motorola
to become an independent contractor working with my husband's company Coryell
& Wiprud doing DSP hardware design for a cellular telephone system test bed.
I was involved with
SWE in college and have been an active member in the Southwest Texas Section
since my arrival in Austin almost four years ago. My involvement in SWE has
been very rewarding in a number of ways. First, it provides me an opportunity
to encourage young girls to become interested in engineering through our work
with the Girl Scouts and Expanding Your Horizons. Second, it helps me with my
own professional development through the programs offered at regional and national
conferences and through some of the speakers who have given presentations at
our section meetings. And finally, and for me the most important factor, SWE
has given me the opportunity to meet many practicing women engineers in Austin
and throughout our Region to network, exchange advice, and share experiences
as a woman in engineering.
Isabel Van Horn
- Secretary 1999
My current
job is that of Senior I/T Specialist in the Java Services Group in the Network
Computing Software Division of IBM. Our group provides consulting services to
customers around the world. In this job I've had the opportunity to work in
Madrid, Spain, Munich, Germany and London, England. I spent most of last year
working on a customer site in the UK. I've had both technical and managerial
assignments during my career with IBM. I joined IBM in 1987 after graduating
from Texas A&M with a B.S. in Computer Science. I was involved in SWE at A&M,
but got disconnected once I started working. In the 1997 class of the University
of Texas Institute for Managerial Leadership I met Cheryl Eslinger. Cheryl encouraged
me to attend some of the meetings. Because of her and Lauren's enthusiasm and
encouragement I once again became involved with SWE. I enjoy being a member
of SWE because SWE through many of its projects encourages young women to pursue
careers in engineering. I also enjoy the networking and support structure that
SWE provides.
Wiebke Kuharic
- President 2000-2001
I graduated
from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1994 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.
At UNLV I joined SWE, serving as student section president and Region B newsletter
editor. My employment with Applied Materials in Austin, Texas is the direct
result of my attendance of the 1994 SWE National Convention in Pittsburgh. I
have worked as Manufacturing Engineer on Lean Manufacturing and Kaizen projects
before becoming a Quality Engineer in the TQM department, where my duties include
quality data analysis and Quality Management System implementation.
What I like
best about being a member of SWE are the many opportunities to inform and educate
young people about engineering. In return, I have been able to enhance my communications
and leadership skills. Last but not least, I would not want to miss any of the
friends SWE has brought into my life.
Shafali Rastogi
- Secretary 2000
I am an Electrical Engineer. I work in workstations and servers manufacturing
at Dell Computers Corporation. I am currently working on a B2B implementation
in manufacturing. I like being a member of SWE because I have been able to attend
some great lectures and increase my social/business network.
Cheryl Eslinger
- President 1996
Cheryl received her M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and
her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin. Cheryl
has previously served the Southwest Texas Section of SWE as President ('97),
Section Representative ('96) and Scholarship Chair ('95). Cheryl has also
participated in the Baltimore Washington Section of SWE as Vice-President
('94) and Newsletter Editor ('93). "The professional and personal development
opportunities that SWE has offered me have been an invaluable resource in
my career."
Mary Ann Baker -
Secretary 1996-1999
I am a Software Program Manager at Tracor Aerospace. I am a firm believer
is the SWE cause and I enjoy the opportunity to network with women with
similar lifestyles as my own. There are so many women with great minds
and great ideas that drop out of the engineering field because it is just
too hard. Maybe the hours are difficult, the stress is difficult, the
environment is uncomfortable. Whatever the reason, I think it is the responsibility
of both women and companies to find ways to successfully integrate women
in the engineering work force. Women can work together to understand our
unique needs and work with the companies to get those needs satisfied.
It will not happen overnight - but we have already come a long way. It
will take many women mentors to give young women hope for the future.
(And besides all that "heavy" stuff, I love watching the Girl Scouts try
to build tall structures with cups and straws at the Girl Scout workshop.)
K'Andrea Bickerstaff
- SWT Newsletter Editor and Chair of the National Multicultural Committee 2000
By day, I'm a circuit designer at Cirrus Logic. The rest of my time
is spent pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering at the University
of Texas at Austin--I've got this thing for multipliers and other types
of computer arithmetic. I also spend a good portion of my time (shhhh!
...don't tell my graduate advisor) enjoying my activities with SWE.
I edit our newsletter, the Southwest Texas News, and I'm the FY99 National
Chairperson of SWE's Multicultural Committee. I'm a SWE member because
it provides local, regional, and national opportunities for networking,
personal and professional development, and student mentoring.
Allison Ferguson
- Girl Scout's Co-chair 2000
Alison is
a Corporate Marketing Manager for National Instruments in Austin.
Alison has worked for National Instruments for 2 years, and recently
moved into technical marketing for the company. Alison received her
B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Baylor University in 1996. "Having
a degree in Engineering opens so many doors. Although I am not using
all aspects of my degree today, it created an opportunity to work
for a wonderful high-tech company and help drive the future and strategies
of the company" Alison is currently serving her third year as the
SWE Girl Scout Co-chair. "Being involved in SWE has helped me both
professionally and personally by introducing me to others who understand
the trials and triumphs of being a women in engineering."