LAunchPad

9:00 AM - 9:20 AM

LAunchPad 2021 Kickoff!

• Welcome
  
  Emily Allen, Ph.D.
  Dean, College of Engineering, Computer Science, & Technology
  Cal State LA
   
• Key Note Speaker & QA
  
  Susan Doniz
  Chief Information Officer, The Boeing Company
  Senior Vice President, Information Technology & Data Analytics

9:25 AM - 10:00 AM
Boeing Presentation

Boeing Panel

• Boeing Panel: "Boeing: Building our Future Together"
  
  Justene Noelle Karimi
  Manager of Boeing Global Services
  The Boeing Company
  
  Jomya Lei
  Senior Radio Frequency Hardware Engineer
  The Boeing Company
  
  Diana B. Lopez
  Manager of Maritime Undersea Platform Programs
  The Boeing Company
  
  Kia Lorece Smith
  Space & Launch Senior Project Engineer
  The Boeing Company

Break

Check-In & Instructions

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Faculty Presentations

Faculty Presentation

"Rocket Propulsion"

Jeff Santner, Ph.D. & Mario Medina Ph.D.
Cal State LA, College of ECST
Department of Mechanical Engineering

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Engineering Mornings

Daily Check-In and Overview

9:15 AM - 10:45 AM
Faculty Presentation

Sonya Lopez, Ph.D.
Cal State LA, College of ECST
Department of Civil Engineering

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Industry Presentations

• Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP)
• Terravanta Inc.

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Engineering Mornings

Daily Check-In and Overview

9:15 AM - 10:45 AM
Faculty Presentation

He Shen, Ph.D.
Cal State LA, College of ECST
Department of Mechanical Engineering

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Industry Presentations

• General Motors
• Mechanical Engineering  - Ph.D. Perspective
  Robotics and Computer Architecture Research

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Engineering Mornings

Daily Check-In and Overview

9:15 AM - 10:45 AM

Futurathon Preparation

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Industry Presentations

• Southern California Edison (SCE)
• Astronautical Engineering - Graduate Perspective & Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Internship Experience - Systems Testbed Engineer
• Complex Systems and Data Science Disease Modeling and Network Science - Graduate Perspective & ThoughtWorks, NY Work Insights

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Engineering Mornings

Daily Check-In and Overview

9:15 AM - 10:45 AM
Faculty Presentations

• Emily Allen, Ph.D.
  Dean, Cal State LA, College of ECST
   
• Chris Bachman, Ph.D.
  Cal State LA, College of ECST
  Department of Mechanical Engineering
   
• Emily Vargas
  Ph.D. Student
  University of Southern California
  Materials Science and Engineering

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Industry Presentation

• Aerojet Rocketdyne
• Northrop Grumman
• Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake

 MATERIALS SCIENCE (FRI • JULY 16)

Emily Allen, Ph.D.

Dr. Emily Allen has served as Dean of the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology at California State University, Los Angeles, since 2013. She previously served San José State University as Associate Dean of the College of Engineering, Chair of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Professor of Materials Engineering, Director of the Northern California regional affiliate of Project Lead the Way, and Founding Director of both the SJSU Materials Characterization and Metrology Center and the SJSU Microprocess Engineering Laboratory. She earned her BS in Metallurgy and Materials Science from Columbia University and her MS and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University.

She has worked with faculty and staff to create a summer engineering and computing program for high school girls, LAunchPad, as a platform to increase the number of women pursuing STEM fields in college. Throughout her academic career, Dr. Allen has endeavored to create inclusive environments through mentoring students, staff, and faculty.

 MATERIALS SCIENCE (FRI • JULY 16)

Chris Bachman, Ph.D.

Dr. Bachman is an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Cal State LA. He received his B.S. (2010) and M.S. (2012) from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), and his Ph.D. (2017) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MIT, he performed research under the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the MIT Mechanical Engineering Department Fellowship. He has performed research in batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, wind energy, and engineering education. His work has been featured in Nature Materials, Nature Communications, and Chemical Reviews and has been cited over 700 times in the previous five years. He has taught experimental methods, control systems, and mechanical design at UC Davis; physics and calculus at MIT; fluid mechanics and mechanical vibrations the Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT); and Introduction to Engineering and Technology, Introduction to Mechanical Design, Thermodynamics, and Senior Design at Cal State LA. He also currently advises both the Baja SAE and Formula SAE competition teams, directs the ECST Makerspace, and runs the Sustainable Technology Lab researching inexpensive and safe energy storage.

 MAKING CA SAFE (TUE • JULY 20)

Xiaolei (Lily) Chen, Ph.D.

Dr. Chen received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and joined Cal State LA as an assistant professor in Fire Protection Administration and Technology in 2015. Her major field is fire protection engineering, with a focus on building fire performance evaluation. In addition to teaching, she conducts research in performance-based design approach, fire modeling and simulation, fire safety in green building, etc.

 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING (WED • JULY 21)

Arezoo Khodayari, Ph.D.

Dr. Khodayari is an Assistant professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, and the founding director of the Environmental Sustainability and Pollution Control (ESPC) research lab, and her research is focused on developing sustainable engineering solutions for air and water pollution prevention and control, quantifying air quality and climate effects of various natural and human-made emissions, integrated environmental impact assessment, environmental sustainability, and energy-water-climate nexus.

 WHAT MAKES A CITY RUN? (TUE • JULY 13)

Sonya Lopez, Ph.D.

Dr. Lopez is an Associate Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering at Cal State LA. Her research specializations are Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering; Physically-based and Conceptually-based hydrologic modeling; Remote Sensing of the Environment.

 ROCKET PROPULSION (MON • JULY 12)

Mario Medina, Ph.D.

Dr. Medina is an assistant professor in the mechanical engineering department at California State University, Los Angeles.  He received his doctoral degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan (UM). His research focused on characterizing fuel sprays for advanced internal combustion engine strategies using optical techniques. He has conducted research at various institutions, including Robert Bosch LLC in 2018 and Centro Motores Termicos at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia in Spain in 2019. Mario was an active leader at UM, heavily involved with the Society of Hispanics Professional Engineers (SHPE) chapter.

 MAKING CA SAFE (TUE • JULY 20)

Maryam Nazari, Ph.D.

Dr. Nazari is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at Cal State LA. She received her Ph.D. in Structural Engineering with a Minor in Engineering Mechanics from Iowa State University in 2016. Prior to joining Cal State LA in Fall 2020, she worked as a faculty member at a sister CSU, Fresno State, for four years. Dr. Nazari has taught a variety of courses in the areas of Engineering Mechanics and Structural Analysis and Design. Her research interests lie in the area of earthquake engineering, including techniques that ensure economical, resilient, and sustainable design of civil infrastructures against seismic hazards. She has been recognized with several research awards including from the ASCE ‐ San Francisco Section, the Fresno Regional Transportation Innovations Summit, and Iowa State University. In 2019, she was one of the recipients of an ASEE award for “Best Diversity Paper,” which aims to enhance the CSU Women Engineering Faculty Support Network.

 COMPUTER SCIENCE IS DIVERSE (MON • JULY 19)

Mohammad Pourhomayoun, Ph.D.

Dr. Pourhomayoun is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at California State University Los Angeles Cal State LA). He is the founder and director of the Artificial Intelligence & Data Science Research Lab at Cal State LA. Dr. Pourhomayoun’s research interests focus on Data Science, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning for healthcare and biomedical applications. Before joining Cal State LA, he was a Technical Project Manager and Senior Data Scientist at WANDA Inc., working on Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and Large-scale Machine Learning for Healthcare applications. At the same time, he was also a Research Scientist at UCLA. Prior to this position, he was a Post-Doctoral Associate and Research Manager at the UCLA Computer Science Department. His postdoc research focused on Predictive Analytics and Advanced Machine Learning for mobile health and biomedicine. Before joining UCLA, he was a Research Scientist with Cornell University working on Large-scale Machine and Deep Learning. Dr. Pourhomayoun has more than 70 peer-reviewed conference and journal papers in his research field. He has received 3 “Best Paper Awards” in different conferences so far.

ROCKET PROPULSION (MON • JULY 12)

Jeffery Santner, Ph.D.

Dr. Santner is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Cal State LA. His research is in combustion, with a focus on combustion chemistry and flame initiation/propagation. He is currently working on NOx formation, kinetic model reduction, design of optimal experiments, and extraction of reaction rates from literature experiments.

 ROBOTICS (WED • JULY 14)

He Shen, Ph.D.

Dr. Shen received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering with the Best Dissertation Award from the College of Engineering and Computer Science in 2014 from the University of Central Florida. He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and his research interests are in robotics, control systems, dynamics, and instrumentation. He is the founder and director of the Robotics Laboratory and an advisor of two student organizations – American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) at Cal State LA. He is also a recipient of the 2017 “Exceptional Levels of Service to Students Award” and 2020 “Faculty Mentor Honoree” at Cal State LA.

 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING (THU • JULY 22)

Curtis Wang, Ph.D.

Dr. Wang is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cal State LA. His research areas are in embedded systems, high-performance computing, and biomedical engineering.  He is interested in the way mammalian spinal cords perform computation and ways to improve medical therapies, robotics, and computers using inspiration from the spine.

 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING (THU • JULY 22)

Deborah Won, Ph.D

Dr. Won is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Cal State LA. Her research area is in biomedical engineering. Broadly speaking, her main research interests are in intelligent medicine, where machine learning, computational modeling, and signal processing intersect with medical device therapies.  For example, she has investigated the cognitive effects of deep brain stimulation; engineered a neuromuscular electrical stimulation therapy to restore stepping capability after spinal cord injury; and developed electromyography-based monitoring systems on mobile devices for facilitating exercise in wheelchairs.

 WHAT MAKES A CITY RUN? (TUE • JULY 13)

Illary Archilla

Illary Archilla Graduated from Universidad La Salle, Mexico City, with her Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Energetic Systems in 2003, a minor in Marketing and Business in 2006, and received her master's in Mechanical Engineering from Cal State Long Beach in 2012. She is the Founder, President, and CEO of Terravanta Inc, a project, construction, and sustainability management consulting firm. With over 15 years of international experience, Illary has become a leader in the energy /construction industry.   Her vision is a future where it is natural to see women in technical fields, where there is no bias based on gender, race, or social status, and where sustainable projects are not a trend but a part of regular life. To that end, she commits a portion of her company's revenue and her time to support programs that further this vision.  She enjoys traveling and outdoor activities, such as mountain biking, cycling, hiking, and paddleboarding, to name a few.

 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING (WED • JULY 21)

Heidy Arriola

Heidy works as a sales engineer for SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions with primary responsibilities in water treatment services for refineries and power plants in Southern, CA. As a seasoned business development professional, Heidy works on fostering strong partnerships with customers as well as building strategy and tactics to maximize Suez technology solutions. Heidy started her career at USFilter/Siemens Water Technologies (now Evoqua) and moved onto work with Aggreko where she provided temporary utilities to petrochemical clients. Before joining Suez, Heidy worked for Envirogen Water Technologies where she focused on waste water treatment for Food & Beverage customers as well as Chromium remediation for municipal drinking water agencies. Heidy’s technical background stems from her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from UCLA. She firmly believes engineering is a solid foundation that opens many doors to various careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).

In addition to her full-time job, Heidy is highly involved with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) where she has served the organization on many levels for many years. Most recently she was elected as the Vice-President of External Affairs for the SHPE Los Angeles chapter and served on SHPE’s National Board of Directors as Regional Vice President from 2013 – 2016. SHPE’s mission is to change lives by empowering the Hispanic community to realize its fullest potential and to impact the world through STEM awareness, access, support and development. Heidy is passionate about their mission and making an impact in her community.

Heidy lives in Pasadena, CA and is most happy when she is with family or giving back to her community.

 COMPUTER SCIENCE IS DIVERSE (MON • JULY 19)

 MAKING CA SAFE (TUE • JULY 20)

Alison Blake

Alison Blake graduated from Cal State Long Beach with her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and minor in Sociology in 2013.  She began working for McCarthy Building Co. in 2014 as a Project Administrator and became a Project Engineer in 2018.  She has been managing the Mechanical, Electrical, and Fire Protection subcontractors at the Cal State Los Angeles Student Housing East Project since March of 2020.  She enjoys yoga sessions at the beach and camping trips with friends.

 MATERIALS SCIENCE (FRI • JULY 16)

Aimee Bryan-Zeller, Ph.D.

Dr. Aimee M. Bryan has a B.S. in Biology and received her undergraduate chemistry education from California State University Northridge. She graduated from the University of California Davis in 2014 with her Ph.D. in Chemistry under Dr. Philip P. Power. She has been working as a research Chemist for the Naval Air Weapons Station – China Lake since 2020. Her expertise is in synthetic inorganic chemistry but she has been an LAPD Criminalist, and an FBI Special Agent. Outside of the laboratory, she is a powerlifter and enjoys working on cars and motorcycles, and playing World of Warcraft and Zelda games. She is currently trying to teach herself how to play the banjo.  

 MAKING CA SAFE (TUE • JULY 20)

Catherine Chen

Catherine Chen graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with her Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering in 2010 and received her master’s in Civil Engineering in 2012 from the University of Southern California.  She has been working as a Structural Engineering Associate for the City of Los Angeles Permit and Engineering Bureau since 2014.  Her expertise is in the field of structural engineering.  As a plan check engineer, she verifies architectural, civil, and structural plans are in compliance with local/state codes and laws.  She enjoys spending time with her husband exploring the neighborhood, and having friends over for board games.  

 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING (THU • JULY 22)

Michelle Espitia

Michelle Espitia graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology with her Bachelors of Science in Engineering Management (Industrial & Systems Engineering) and a Graduate Certificate in Project Management in 2015. She has been working as a Productivity & Collaboration Lead since 2015 for Johnson and Johnson. Her expertise is in bringing new solutions to life using technology.  In her role, she enables her employees to make the best use of their existing technology (or bring in new technologies) to collaborate with one another and be as productive as possible in their day-to-day activities. Michelle enjoys traveling, learning languages, and spending time with family and friends.

 WHAT MAKES A CITY RUN? (TUE • JULY 13)

Blanca Herrera, P.E

Blanca Herrera graduated from Cal State LA with her Bachelor of Science in Civil engineering in 2015 and received her master’s in Civil Engineering in 2019 from the University of Southern California. She has been working as a Civil Engineering Associate since 2015 for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. In her role, she responds to Power System emergencies such as flash floods and wildfires on which I assess damages, prepares engineering solutions, and conducts coordination with State and Federal environmental agencies for the design and construction of needed repairs, as a means to maintain the proper operation of such facilities.

 MATERIALS SCIENCE (FRI • JULY 16)

Monica Jacinto

Monica Jacinto is a Technical Fellow for Materials and Processes Engineering at Aerojet Rocketdyne and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Over her 30 year career, she has led many diverse R&D teams in the pursuit of innovative materials for rocket engines. Monica is the co-inventor of a high-strength and burn-resistant alloy designated MondaloyTM, which is currently being used on the company’s Russian replacement engine. She mentors the next generation of engineers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and speaks at high schools, universities and career conferences for young students. Monica was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. She received a B.A. and B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from Columbia University, New York and an M.S. in Materials Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

 MATERIALS SCIENCE (FRI • JULY 16)

Maribel Jaquez, Ph.D.

Maribel Jaquez received the B.S. degree from the University of California (UC), Irvine, in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. She received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from UC Berkeley, both in Mechanical Engineering. Her work focuses on the synthesis and characterization of semiconductor materials. She is currently a Principal Engineer in the Microelectronics Semiconductor Materials Department at the Northrop Grumman Corporation. As a graduate student, Maribel participated in a summer internship at Intel Corporation, where she used various X-ray scattering techniques to support the research and development of Intel’s semiconductor technologies. Maribel received the Robert N. Noyce Memorial Fellowship in Microelectronics and the National Science Foundation Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship, which helped fund her graduate studies. Maribel Jaquez has been involved in numerous outreach and mentoring events, including co-founding the first Bay Area Graduate Pathways to STEM (GPS) conference in 2015.

 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING (WED • JULY 21)

Lucy Labruzzo

Lucy Labruzzo leads the Energy Infrastructure Sector of Cordoba Corporation. Lucy joined Cordoba in 2014 and has since successfully led the expansion of their energy business into gas and electric transmission and distribution, renewable energy, and program management across each of California’s investor-owned utilities.

Lucy is a Mechanical Engineer and Certified Energy Manager with 30 years of experience working with utilities across the US and  Canada,  including energy efficiency, power generation – nuclear, gas, and renewable energy – as well as electric and gas transmission and distribution infrastructure projects. She has been responsible for managing the development, design, construction, commissioning, and funding of billions of dollars of major energy infrastructure projects throughout North America utilizing numerous creative project execution strategies.

Prior to joining Cordoba Corporation, Lucy held an executive position at a large global infrastructure firm, where she led their North America Energy Business. She began her professional career as an engineer for the New York Power Authority, one of the nation’s largest state public power organizations.

 MAKING CA SAFE (TUE • JULY 20)

Luz Rabelo

Luz Rabelo has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from California State University, Los Angeles.  She is also a registered professional engineer in the State of California.  Upon graduating, she worked in the private sector, completing design work for various improvements in the Los Angeles County Metro Bus Facilities.  Following that, she worked as a Water Resource Control Engineer for the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, where she oversaw the assessment and clean-up of multiple contaminated sites within Los Angeles County.  Currently, she is working as a Civil Engineering Associate with the City of Los Angeles, Bureau of Engineering, where she does construction management for various projects, including the mayor's A Bridge Home program, constructing shelters to house the homeless in Los Angeles.  Luz is currently married and is a mother of two. 

 SOFTWARE + ELECTRICAL ENGR (THU • JULY 15)

Scarlett Ramirez

Scarlett Ramirez graduated from Cal State LA with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 2013. Her senior year, she completed a year-round internship with Southern California Edison Utility Company. Upon graduation, she began a full-time position with Southern California Edison (SCE) as a Power System Engineer. In 2016, Scarlett received a Master’s of Science degree from Cal State LA in Electrical Engineering. Scarlett has worked as a Power System Engineer since 2013 and was responsible for modeling the entire SCE electric grid using a proprietary computer program. In 2020, she became an Engineering Manager and is responsible for the Power System Advanced Applications team at SCE. This past year she became a mother of a sweet little boy who is the light of her life. Family is her number one priority, and she loves to travel.

 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING (THU • JULY 22)

Ana Santos

Ana Alyeska Santos works as an Engineer II in Biosense Webster, Inc. (BWI), a medical device company under Johnson & Johnson. Yeska received her bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly Pomona in May 2019. 

 COMPUTER SCIENCE IS DIVERSE (MON • JULY 19)

Angelica Sippel

Angelica Sippel is a computer scientist at Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific. Going into college, she had no idea what computer science was, but stumbled upon the major thanks to a friend of hers and fell in love with the challenges that the subject provided. Later in her academic career, she was accepted into the Scholarship for Service program funded by the NSF and graduated with her B.S. in computer science, a minor in mathematics, and a concentration in information assurance and security from Sacramento State University. In addition to being a STEM Professional, she enjoys playing video games, playing with her dog, escape rooms, and board games.

 ROBOTICS (WED • JULY 14)

Diana Toscano

Diana graduated from Cal State LA with her Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2016. She has been working as a System Integration Engineer since 2021 for General Motors. Her expertise is in Embedded Software and Algorithm design. In her role, she is responsible for testing software features and writing requirements. She enjoys baking, cooking, crocheting, and spending time with family.

 WHAT MAKES A CITY RUN? (TUE • JULY 13)

Michelle Tovar-Mora, MS, EIT

Keeping the lights on for an entire city is something that is often taken for granted. Mrs. Tovar-Mora’s great passion for making a significant impact has led her to be part of the largest municipally-owned utility in the nation, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), doing her part to provide reliable and sustainable energy to the community. Her career in the utility industry began as a Staff Mechanical Engineer at ASWB Engineering; a woman-owned and operated consulting engineering firm. However, her passion for inspiring women engineers began in college, where she held multiple leadership roles in the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the Society of Hispanic Engineers and Science Students (SHPE), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the Engineering, Computer Science and Technology Student Council (ECST). These leadership experiences helped launch her engineering career with an internship at the City of Santa Ana. Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA). Her future educational and professional goals are to obtain a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and become a Licensed Professional Engineering in the state of California.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her son, planning vacations with her husband, and participating in STEM outreach for students. Michelle believes that “with dedication and self-motivation, anything is possible.”

 MATERIALS SCIENCE (FRI • JULY 16)

Emily Anne Vargas

Emily Anne Vargas is a Materials Science and Engineering Ph.D. student at the University of Southern California (USC), where she is working on the process-structure and structure-property relationships for Ceramic Matrix Composites. Emily Anne is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, GEM National Consortium Fellow, and USC Viterbi Graduate Fellow. She received her M.S. in Materials Science in May 2020 from USC and her B.S. in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering in May 2017 from Florida State University (FSU). Prior to starting her Ph.D., she worked for the Boeing Company as a Product Development Materials Engineer and the Eaton Corporation as an R&D Composites Engineer. She’s been a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers since 2013 and has been involved on the local, regional, and national levels through multiple leadership positions. Originally from Miami, FL, she comes from a family of Cuban immigrants and is proud to be not only a first-generation college graduate but also the first engineer in her family.

 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING (THU • JULY 22)

Kimberly Ventura

Kimberly Ventura graduated from Cal State LA with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2020. She works as a product manager for Gregorius Pineo. Her expertise is in product development. Kimberly enjoys playing video games with friends and taking her dog on adventures.

 SOFTWARE + ELECTRICAL ENGR (THU • JULY 15)

Andrea Allen

Andrea Allen graduated with her Bachelor's in Mathematics from Oberlin College in 2017. She is currently working on her Master's in Complex Systems and Data Science at the University of Vermont. Her focus is in disease modeling and network science. Between her bachelor's and master's degrees, she worked for 3 years as a Software Developer at ThoughtWorks in New York City, working on a range of projects spanning healthcare, finance, and the power grid. She enjoys running, hiking, and spending time with her family and her dog.

 SOFTWARE + ELECTRICAL ENGR (THU • JULY 15)

Natalie Deo

Natalie Deo graduated from Cal State LA through the Early Entrance Program with her Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering at 19; she is currently working on her Masters of Science in Astronautical Engineering at USC.  She previously interned at Northrop Grumman and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and she is currently interning at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a Systems Testbed Engineer Intern.  Her expertise is in Computer Engineering with Space.  Natalie enjoys spending time with friends and family in her free time, watching sitcoms, and sharing her experiences on social media.

 ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING (WED • JULY 21)

Saron Gebreslassie

Saron is an undergraduate student at Cal State LA graduating in May 2022 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. She is now interning at John Deere as a supply management intern this summer. Her expertise is in material engineering and product engineering. She has plans to pursue a graduate degree in Materials Science. Outside of school she enjoys discovering new places in her city.

 ROBOTICS (WED • JULY 14)

Sidra Gibeault

Sidra Gibeault graduated from Cal State LA with her Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 2020, with minors in Physics and Mathematics. She began her studies as an Electrical and Computer Engineering Ph.D. student in the following semester at the University of Maryland, College Park. She works as a teaching assistant while doing research in the area of Computer Architecture. She enjoys reading books, building robots, and spending time with her cats.

 COMPUTER SCIENCE IS DIVERSE (MON • JULY 19)

Aliannea Sherman

Aliannea Sherman graduated from Cal State LA with her Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry in 2019.  She is working on her Masters of Science in Computer Science and plans to graduate Spring 2022. This summer she is working as an Analyst Intern/ Software Engineering Intern at American Express. Her expertise is in databases, software architecture, and web development.  She also worked as a student assistant web developer at Cal State LA library in Spring 2021. She enjoys swimming, biking, roller skating, video games, and comedy shows.

 KEYNOTE SPEAKER & BOEING: BUILDING OUR FUTURE TOGETHER (MON • JULY 12)

Susan Doniz

Susan Doniz is the chief information officer (CIO) and senior vice president of Information Technology & Data Analytics at The Boeing Company. She leads all aspects of information technology, information security, data and analytics for the world’s largest aerospace company. She also supports the growth of Boeing's business through IT- and analytics-related revenue-generating programs

Prior to joining Boeing in May 2020, Doniz was the Group CIO of Qantas Airways, where she focused on expanding the airline’s digital ecosystem and adopted new technology to support the needs of the business and its customers.

Previously, during a 17-year career at Procter & Gamble, she led IT programs in support of the supply chain, research-and-development and sales, as well as a cross-functional program to digitize the company. She’s also worked at SAP and Aimia. At SAP, she was a strategic advisor to the Global CEO on transformation and technology issues in support of customers.

Doniz has been a champion and self-starter of a variety of diversity networks for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as for Hispanics in business leadership. In 2012, she was named as a national diversity champion in Canada. She has been a board member of multiple non-profit organizations including The Women’s College Hospital Foundation, Salvation Army, and Engineers without Borders.

She serves as an advisor to the Center for Digital Transformation at the University of California, Irvine, and vice chair of the Digital Transformation Advisory Council of the International Air Transport Association. In 2011, she was named one of Canada’s most powerful women by WXN.

An honors graduate of the University of Toronto with a degree in Engineering, she has lived and worked in Australia, Canada, Spain, most of the countries in Latin America and the United States. Her first language is Spanish, which she speaks at home with her family. She also is fluent in French and English.

 BOEING: BUILDING OUR FUTURE TOGETHER (MON • JULY 12)

Justene Noelle Karimi

Justene has over 10 years of engineering experience. She worked in Civil Engineering after earning her Bachelor of Science degree. Today, she’s been at Boeing for 8 years where she has experience in Certification, Customer Support Stress Analysis and Service Engineering, the Aircraft on Ground (AOG) support team, and was recently promoted (right before the COVID19 outbreak in 2020) to lead a Mechanical & Structural Engineering Modifications team.

Justene holds a BS degree in Civil Engineering from UC Irvine and MS degree in Product Development Engineering from USC.

 BOEING: BUILDING OUR FUTURE TOGETHER (MON • JULY 12)

Jomya Lei

Jomya is a Lead Hardware Engineer and Integrated Product Team Lead for multiple products for satellites.  She is responsible for the design, manufacturing, and test of space-qualified hardware ranging from non-flight research & development products to flight-ready products.  

Jomya started at Boeing after graduating from Caltech with a BS in Electrical Engineering and Chemistry and later received a MS in Electrical Engineering from USC through Boeing’s Learning Together Program.  In her spare time, she is a member of SSPI-WISE (Space and Satellite Professional International – Women In Space Engagement), a grantmaker for Boeing’s Employees Community Fund supporting non-profits, and a semi-professional taiko drummer.

 BOEING: BUILDING OUR FUTURE TOGETHER (MON • JULY 12)

Diana B. Lopez

A first-generation college graduate, Diana Lopez grew up in modest circumstances and dreamed of financial independence.  Earning a bachelor’s degree would end up being the path she’d take to reach her dreams.

“I did well in school, but even in my senior year, I didn’t really know what to do.  I had been working a full time job since the age of 16 yrs. and I knew then that I’d need more than high school to be fully independent.”  A college counselor at John C. Fremont High School in South Los Angeles spoke to Lopez about attending college and suggested she try engineering.

She applied to California State University-Los Angeles and was accepted into the Electrical Engineering (E.E) program.  After three years, Lopez was offered the Dean’s scholarship to transfer to the University of Southern California where she completed her studies and earned her E.E Bachelor of Science degree in 2003.  In 2012 Lopez earned a master’s degree in Information Systems Technology from Claremont Graduate University. Between 2003 to the present Lopez has continued her educational development and earned additional leadership, project and program management and technical certificates.

Lopez joined Boeing as an intern and became a full-time employee upon graduation. Lopez has worked on several programs: the Future Combat Systems program and Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Communications Network in system engineering roles; the Ground Mobile Radio (GMR) program as Communications and Networks Systems Engineer; the Joint Tactical Radio System Enterprise Network Manager (JENM) program working on Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) Integration and Test and Software Development. On JENM, Lopez worked closely with government and  Army customers to help them prepare and troubleshoot their Network Integration Evaluation field exercises.  Lopez also worked as a network designer in the Information Technology – Core Infrastructure services group where she led a team that provided support to more than 10,000 applications operating across Boeing. Most recently she became a manager and in addition to managing a team that supported a variety of Acoustics projects, had the opportunity to work and travel to Japan on an international assignment.  Lopez now works in the Maritime Undersea Platform Programs office with a variety of responsibilities spanning across multiple program functions.

Lopez married her high-school sweetheart and they have 15-year-old twins, a boy and a girl. Lopez has been and continues to be active with STEM programs. In her spare time, Lopez enjoys spending time with her family, boogie boarding, working out and most recently learning about real estate investments.

 BOEING: BUILDING OUR FUTURE TOGETHER (MON • JULY 12)

Kia Lorece Smith

Kia L. Smith is s Senior Project Engineer at The Boeing Company in El Segundo, California. She is responsible for production and integrations of cool products such as satellites, space vehicles and more. Kia has held management and engineering roles at The Boeing Company, Eaton Aerospace Corporation and Raytheon.

Prior to her current Program Manager II role, Kia was a Senior Product Test Engineer in Jackson, Mississippi. Kia was previously a professor in the Mathematic Department at Jackson College in Jackson, Michigan as well as is a volunteer Self-Esteem and Confidence speaker through the Multicultural Relations Department at Jackson College.

Kia holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics, and Minor in Mathematics from HBCU Southern University, A&M College, where she was a NASA Scholar and a member of the Honors College. Kia also earned her Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management. She has worked with the following organizations: National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), National Black MBA Association Inc. (NBMBAA), Women In Aerospace (WIA) and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Kia is the author of the self-published book “How To Love Yourself” and has been active in pageantry for 6 years, holding the following titles: Miss Louisiana Plus 2010 and Miss Elegant U.S. United 2012. Kia was part of the Miss California Plus 2017 Team.  She has also volunteered as a pageant Coach as well as became a leader in the “#LoveYourself” movement in 2016. In Kia’s spare time, she loves to sing (especially in choirs), dance, and travel. Kia is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.