Women's History Month Feature

Groth

Name:Katrina Groth

Degree: B.S. '04, M.S. '08, Ph.D. '09

Current Occupation: Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering

What is one piece of advice you wish someone had shared with you before pursuing a career as a woman in a field such as engineering?
There are so many paths within engineering. Give early consideration to the type of environment you want to work in and the people you want to surround yourself with. Being in the right organizational culture will enable you to do greater things.

How has a woman mentor made an important impact on your education or career?
My best mentors gave me opportunities to present my work to influential people, and it wasn't until years later that I realized how important that was.

Jalali

Name: Laleh Jalali

Degree: BS '89

What is your current occupation/what do you do?
I am the Co-Founder of and a Shareholder in Alliance IP, LLC, a virtual law firm, where I am a Senior Patent Attorney and Director of Marketing. I help Fortune 500 technology companies manage their global patent portfolios, and further prosecute patent applications in a wide array of technical areas, such as Wi-Fi, 5G, power management, and circuits to name just a few. I further direct the firm’s marketing activities, honing our strategy to determine our best market, where we could match our firm’s expertise with prospective client’s needs in an optimal manner.

What excites you about the field of engineering at the moment?
I am, almost on a daily basis, in awe of our collective vision for wireless connectivity and cellular communication, making possible advances that the mainstream would not have dreamed of even a few years ago. Next Generation Wi-Fi (including millimeter-wave technology) and 5G open the door to a myriad of new opportunities. The expanded bandwidths, much faster data rates and increased ranges are major factors in revolutionizing fields such as autonomous vehicles, remote surgery, and, in general, massive machine-type communications. These technologies will change the paradigm of not only how we relate to our environment, but also how we relate to each other. I feel proud and privileged to be part of this change, and to be a witness , with much anticipation, of the positive impact that this technology will continue to have in our society.

What is one piece of advice you would give to young women pursuing engineering?
I would give young women the same advice I give to my teenage daughters Ariana (15) and Sophia (13): you have a choice as to whether you accept or reject the version of yourself offered to you by society, and you can choose your own version: the version of yourself that has no reason whatsoever to be intimidated by anything, including math and science. As a young woman studying engineering, I was the recipient of many a suggestion, either direct or indirect, that the subject matters I was interested in, such as, for example, statics, dynamics, thermodynamics, magneto-plasma dynamics, and circuits, would be just too difficult for me, that I should expect no more than a C at best in these courses. None of this counsel had any effect on me however, simply because I chose not to believe it. Throughout history, women in science and engineering, such as Ada Lovelace, Hedy Lamarr, Mary Jackson, and many more, have overcome incredible odds, and have succeeded. As women, we now have every reason to succeed not only in advancing technology in its current course, but importantly in disrupting it to achieve our vision for a better future.

Ojo

Name: Susan Ojo

Degree: BS '17

What are your plans after graduation?
Operations Management Leadership Program with GE Healthcare. First rotation: Manufacturing Engineer

What do you enjoy about studying engineering?
Studying engineering gives me an opportunity to learn concepts that seemed so foreign when I was younger. I like challenging myself and Mechanical Engineering pushes me out of my comfort zone. I also like the tactical aspects of it. Using tools and building with my hands is now a big part of my job and I learned the basics through my major.

What advice would you give high school women who might be interested in pursuing engineering?
Make sure you're pursuing engineering because it's what you want or at least because it's something you're willing to try. It is not an easy pursuit and there will be tough days. But also remember that you'll likely be the most proud of yourself during those times that you've faced your fears head on and succeeded...which you will. Neverbe afraid to shake things up because the engineering field needs some new and different faces.

Ramkalawon

Name: Veedoola Ramkalawon

Degree/Graduation Year:
B.S. Mechanical Engineering 1995

What is your current occupation/what do you do?
I manage a large team of network engineers responsible for managing and upgrading the Verizon network nationwide. I recently finished leading a five year large program of the migration of nationwide Verizon alarm network, from X.25 to IP, as part of an FCC mandate on 911 network and our network reliability program. With this program I managed a Verizon/vendor-partner team of 50+ members. This migration included coordination of tens of thousands of circuits across three thousand sites. The end goal is to ensure network reliability and assurance of quick resolutions when essential network like E911 is down, which in turn ensures that whoever dials 911 receives the emergency assistance needed. Additionally I have the responsibility of the engineering design team for the Verizon Management Network in the Americas.

What excites you about the field of engineering at the moment?
I am super excited to see how engineering directly affects the quality of life of people through products remerging from the Internet of Things, clouds,and smart cities. I have always been passionate about making a difference in someone's life and I feel that with engineering, we have a magical tool that allows us to do just that.

What is one piece of advice you would give to young women pursuing engineering?
I have so many but if I was to stick to one: Keep pushing the boundaries, be at the forefront of whatever you are involved with, actively participate and make sure you are recognized!!

Srebric

Name: Jelena Srebric

Current Occupation: Professor of Mechanical Engineering

What is one piece of advice you wish someone had shared with you before pursuing a career as a woman in a field such as engineering?
Her advice: Get training in leadership and strategy, you will need such a skill set to sustain your efforts. You are in a leadership position just by the fact that you are in the minority.

How has a woman mentor made an important impact on your education or career?
Women mentors helped every step of my career with their insights and experiences. A senior woman actually made a huge difference in my first academic job by regularly stopping by my office and asking me how I was doing. Her continuous care for my progress was a great reason to persist and stay in the profession that I am in.

How do you as a woman faculty member at the Clark School help mentor, create a support network, or create a community of equity for all students at the Clark School?
In my lab, my goal is to enable the feeling of community so all members whether you are a HS student, Undergrad, Ms, Ph.D. post doc or visitor feel at home and will share what you can. In fact, a rule is that there is no hierarchy, if an undergrad student can teach a post doc a specific procedure or technique this will be the case and you are required to share what you can inside the lab, the group, department and also outside the university. This is independent of gender, language, ethnicity, educational background etc. You are required to help others to the extent that you are capable of.

Tzamaras

Name: Haroula Tzamaras

Degree/Graduation Year:
B.S. Mechanical Engineering '2018

Are you involved with any groups on campus?
I am a student in the QUEST honors program, the chair of the Women in Engineering Student Advisory Board, a teaching fellow for both mechanical engineering and for QUEST, the event planner for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the undergraduate representative on the mechanical engineering undergraduate committee.This year I also participated in the Alumni cup and Terp Thon on campus.

What are your plans after graduation?
After graduation, I will be working with Stanley Black and Decker's power tools engineering group doing new product development. I will be working in Towson for 6 months, and then taking a 5 month rotation in Suzhou, China. I hope to return to school in a few years and eventually become a professor at a university.

What do you enjoy about studying engineering?
I like the solidarity between engineering students at UMD and the way that people are always willing to help lessen the stresses of their peers. I also love the sense of accomplishment that I feel when a topic or problem finally clicks after hours (sometimes days) of struggling over it.

What advice would you give high school women who might be interested in pursuing engineering?
I would tell them to do it! Don't be intimidated by the word "engineering." If you are interested in math and science, or the way that people can manipulate the world around them, definitely do some research about the different fields of engineering and give it a shot!

Published January 31, 2018