Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Series

OneDublin.org’s popular Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) series of articles and interviews profiles women with a passion for technology, a compelling story to tell and a desire to help other women pursue their dreams. Each of these women are wonderful role models for our children. Know of a role model to include in this series? Contact us at editor@onedublin.org.

Biomedical Engineer Dr. Giada Gerboni on Creating Soft Robotics for Surgeons – Engineer, TED speaker and robotics expert Dr. Giada Gerboni shares why she developed a passion for STEM and how that led to researching soft robotics for surgeons.

Dublin High School Student Coders Develop an App for Schools: Taking ‘Stay on Course’ from Idea to Reality – Dublin High School coders and entrepreneurs Neha Harpanhalli and Christy Koh share how they went from idea (helping students track progress towards graduation requirements), to learning how to code, to launching their Android and iOS app at Dublin High School with administration support.

Life as Biology Major at UC Irvine – Emily Bryant’s Journey from Dublin High School to Science in SoCal – Dublin High School Class of 2016 alum Emily Bryant shares her story of discovering a love for science during high school and pursuing that passion in university at UC Irvine.

Bridges to Prosperity CEO and Civil Engineer Avery Bang Connects Communities, Changes Lives – Avery Bang, featured in the IMAX film Dream Big, shares her experiences designing and building bridges for remote communities around the world, and transforming lives in the process.

MIT Astronautics Expert Emily Calandrelli Explores Space to Inspire STEM Literacy – Emily Calandrelli, host of FOX’s Xploration Outer Space, TEDx speaker and space industry contributor to TechCrunch shares why she was inspired to study Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT and the importance of achieving STEM literacy and diversity in STEM fields.

YouTuber and Physicist Dianna Cowern on Creating Physics Girl – MIT physicist and science communicator Dianna Cowern has millions of viewers on YouTube thanks to her innovative Physics Girl series of cool science videos. We met with Dianna to learn more about why physics is cool and how she turned that passion into a viral YouTube channel.

Dublin High School’s Madison Hildenbrand on Pursuing Engineering in High School and Beyond – Dublin High School senior Madison Hildenbrand will be graduating from the Dublin High Engineering and Design Academy and then heading straight into college to pursue civil engineering. Madison talks about how she discovered the fun and challenging world of engineering, and what she learned from a valuable internship. Madison just finished her freshman year at UC Berkeley where she is studying civil engineering; here is the follow-up article: Surviving and Thriving in UC Berkeley Engineering – Dublin High School Alum Madison Hildenbrand on the Transition to College.

Dublin High School Coder Hania Guiagoussou Wins Oracle Duke’s Choice Award for Java-based Water Saver Project – Dublin High School junior Hania Guiagoussou has won multiple awards for her Java-based Water Saver project, including recognition by Oracle and the President of Chad. Learn more about why she views “knowing how to code as super powers you can use to help others and change the world.”

Professor Sheryl Staub-French Demystifies Engineering for University of British Columbia Students – Dublin High School Class of ’88 and Stanford University alum Dr. Sheryl Staub-French shares her story of discovering a passion for civil engineering and sharing that passion with students.

LLNL Engineer Dr. Vanessa Tolosa’s Quest for Neurotechnology Breakthroughs – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory engineer Dr. Vanessa Tolosa shares her story of becoming the first university educated person in her family, going on to discover a passion (and PhD) for chemical engineering and neurotechnology and ultimately helping discover ways to help people through neuroprosthetics and related technologies.

Google Intern Sierra Kaplan-Nelson on Changing the World Through Code – Google software engineer intern Sierra Kaplan-Nelson dispels stereotypes and shares why coding is more like magic than work, and how technology can change the world. Ms. Martin is a Stanford computer science major who demonstrates that it is never too late to develop a passion for coding.

Computer Scientist and Entrepreneur Gayle McDowell on Succeeding in Silicon Valley – OneDublin.org talks to computer scientist Gayle McDowell about her experiences as a computer programmer at Google, Microsoft and Apple, and how those experiences led to her starting a company that helps technologists land jobs at premier Silicon Valley tech companies.

Black Girls Code Founder Kimberly Bryant on Inspiring Students to Pursue STEM – OneDublin.org speaks with engineer and founder of Black Girls Code Kimberly Bryant about the importance of a culturally sensitive approach to inspiring young girls to pursue STEM education and careers, and the organization she’s created to help lead that effort.

Stanford University’s Bhavna Hariharan on How Engineering can Change the World – Stanford engineering graduate and Research Associate Bhavna Hariharan shares her story of starting her engineering journey in India before moving to the United States for graduate school, and how she has learned to tackle women in STEM stereotypes along the way.

Sandia National Labs’ Jovana Helms Combines a Passion for Engineering with Securing our Country – Dublin resident and Sandia National Laboratory senior member of technical staff Jovana Helms shares her thoughts on applying engineering problem solving skills to securing our nation. Ms. Helms, who earned a PhD in wireless communications and signal processing at the UC Davis, has worked on a diverse set of national security projects at Sandia.

NASA Scientist Amy Mainzer Searches Beyond the Sky for Interesting Questions – Dr. Amy Mainzer discusses how a passion at a young age for understanding the universe led to playing a key role in the development of infrared space telescopes used to explore exoplanets and detect near earth objects using infrared radiation.

Imagineer Molly Rinke on Creating Immersive Experiences at Walt Disney Imagineering – University of Southern California computer science graduate and Disney Imagineer Molly Rinke shares her passion for Imagineering, how her college experience helped prepare her for her role at Walt Disney Imagineering and the challenge of fun of creating memorable entertainment experiences.

GoldieBlox Founder Debbie Sterling’s Social Mission to Inspire More Female Engineers – Stanford engineering graduate and GoldieBlox founder Debbie Sterling talks about the need for more women to become engineers, why she left a secure, high-paying job to start a toy company and how engineering has provided her the tools to create a company and an innovative way to inspire girls to pursue engineering.

The Perplexing Teenage Brain – Prof. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore on Adolescent Behavior – University College London professor and Oxford graduate Sarah-Jayne Blakemore discusses her fascinating researching into adolescent behavior and teenage brain development, and shares her inspiration to pursue higher education in science and a PhD in experimental psychology.

Harvey Mudd College President Maria Klawe on Women in Science, Math and Engineering – Dr. Maria Klawe shares advice for middle and high school student considering careers in technology, and what can be done to attract more women into science, technology, engineering and math fields.

Heather Knight and Social Robotics: The Intersection of Storytelling and Technology – Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute PhD candidate Heather Knight talks about how her love of storytelling and interest in science and technology led to specializing in social robotics.

Becoming a Google Product Manager – Interview with Google’s Johanna Wright – Google Product Manager Johanna Wright, who led the launch of Google Instant, shares her experiences on what it takes to be a product manager and what sparked her interest in computer science.

Kari Byron – Host of Head Rush, MythBusters – speaks with OneDublin.org – MythBusters’ Kari Byron shares her thoughts on making the scientific method interesting to students, and how her background as an artist is relevant to her career in making science, technology and engineering entertaining.

Dublin High Grad Hannah Sievers to Intern with U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Dublin High Class of 2008 grad and Westmont College chemistry major Hannah Sievers talks about how she landed an internship at the Department of Homeland Security to research the detection of explosives and narcotics, and how high school prepared her for college.

Dublin High School’s Janet Kaehms Launches Biology With Research Class – Science teacher Janet Kaehms on how making real-world, original research the cornerstone of her new Biology With Research course (including participation in the Barcode of Life project) has inspired students in science and technology.

Dublin High School Teacher Kim Baumann Inspires a Love of Science – Science teacher Kim Baumann talks about how she transitioned from being an engineer in industry into becoming a respected science teacher, her approach to inspiring a love of science in her students and why it is so important for her students to ask questions.

Dublin High School’s Eugene Chou Applies a Love of Math to Inspire Future Engineers – Dublin High Engineering and Design Academy teacher Eugene Chou shares her passion for problem-solving led to pursuing math and engineering in college, and ultimately a career in inspiring and educating future engineers.

Graduating from UC San Diego and Landing a Silicon Valley Software Job in Four Years – Dublin High School Class of 2010 and UC San Diego Class of 2014 writes about how she started college with limited programming experience, discovered a passion for programming and problem solving, worked through valuable internships and landed a job at Google while graduating in four year.

Dublin High School Alum Crystal Fisher Explores Engineering at Purdue University – Dublin High School Class of 2012 and Purdue University chemical engineering student Crystal Fisher shares her experiences as a women in engineering in school and in the workplace, and why more students should given engineering a closer look when considering college majors.

Life at MIT – Dublin High’s Kimberli Zhong Rides Robotics to Boston’s Tech Paradise – Dublin High School Class of 2014 graduate Kimberli Zhong writes about how leading the Dublin High Gael Force Robotics Club helped her land a position at MIT studying computer science.

Dublin High School’s Malina Jiang Discovers Computer Science at Stanford University – Dublin High School Class of 2013 graduate Malina Jiang talks about how an all-AP schedule in her junior and senior year helped prepare her for Stanford, and what inspired her to pursuing computer science. Read more…

Life at UC Berkeley – Alexandra Brown’s Journey to Cal Chemistry Labs – Dublin High School Class of 2013 and Berkeley chemistry major talks about what inspired her to pursue a science degree, how Dublin High AP classes prepared her for the challenge of college, and what she learned as a student representative on the Dublin School Board during high school. Read more…

Dublin High School Alum Ariel Graykowski Accepted into UCLA’s Space Physics PhD Program – Dublin High School Class of 2011 and UC Davis graduate Ariel Graykowski talks about what inspired her to pursue an undergraduate degree in physics, and how that ultimately led her to seek entrance into UCLA’s Space Physics PhD program. Read more…

Dublin High School Alum Kaylee Moser Discovers Computer Science and Silicon Valley Success -Dublin High School Class of 2010 and Santa Clara University Class of 2014 computer science major Kaylee Moser shares her story of starting college as a film major and switching majors (and colleges) for computer science, while still graduating on time and landing a job in Silicon Valley. Read more…

UC Berkeley Senior and Dublin High School Grad Japna Kalra Awarded ASM Undergrad Research Fellowship – Dublin High School Class of 2013 and UC Berkeley Class of 2017 microbiology major Japna Kalra shares her story of adjusting from high school to college-level science courses, how she discovered a passion for microbiology and ultimately landing an ASM Undergraduate Research Fellowship to continue her research.

Life as a Computer Engineer at San Jose State University – Zoie MacDougall’s Coding Journey – Dublin High School Class of 2015 and San Jose State University computer engineering major Zoie MacDougall talks about how getting introduced to coding in the 4th grade and robotics in middle school ultimately led to a passion for coding, and how her path to engineering was almost derailed.

Women in STEM: Dublin High School’s Katina Lewis on 25 Years of Bringing Physics to Life – “Of all the sciences, physics is the oldest, and explains the most everyday phenomenon. It’s just trying to explain everything that you see around you. And I think from that aspect, it makes it really important for everyone just to have a fundamental idea of….like, why should you wear your seatbelt? You should wear your seatbelt because if you’re not, your body still has the forward momentum of your car and you will continue through the windshield if you don’t.”

Life at Johns Hopkins University: Dublin High School’s Joanne Baek Combines Passions for Engineering, Chemistry and Biology – Dublin High School Class of 2018 alum Joanne Baek shares why she chose to pursue a passion for STEM at Johns Hopkins and how Dublin High School helped her get there.

Dublin High School Junior Mihika Sharma Lands Internship at University of Texas to Analyze NASA Earth Science Data – Dublin High School junior Mihika Sharma shares how she landed a dream opportunity to study real world problems with NASA data.