Jessie Wilson is a 3rd year student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville pursuing a BS in Industrial Engineering. She is a sister and founding member of the newest chapter, Gamma Beta, where she will serve as Vice President for the 2022 academic year. Jessie also serves as the treasurer of her university's chapter of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, as well as being an ambassador for the Industrial Engineering Department. She is passionate about STEM education and mentorship, a topic that she is highly involved in with research, her ambassador position, and the Society of Women Engineers. Outside of engineering, Jessie plays both oboe and English horn in UTK's most prestigious wind ensemble.
Kelli Determan will be a senior in Electrical Engineering this fall at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is a founding executive board member of the Gamma Beta Chapter of A.O.E. and has held positions as the executive secretary and the active chapter representative. She is also involved as a Tickle College of Engineering Ambassador giving tours to and helping prospective students find their best fit at UT. She is also very passionate about impeding hunger, and homelessness, and regularly volunteers at a local food pantry in Knoxville and at home in Illinois.
Krista Henrie is a 1st year student at Clemson University, pursuing a BS in Bioengineering, following the biomaterials concentration. She is a member of the Xi chapter and the academic committee chair. Krista has always enjoyed mathematics and science, wanting to conduct research that will save lives. Krista is involved in many activities/clubs on campus include Residents in Science and Engineering (RiSE), Society for Women in Engineering (SWE), Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), Neuroscience club, and participates in two on-campus research projects. Starting her research career path in high school at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Krista researched drug delivery options to treat traumatic brain injuries. She continues this research with Clemson's 4D (Drug Delivery, Development, and Design) and has expanded her research to spinal cord injuries as well. Krista also participates in a creative inquiry experimenting with the metabolic effect of Mediterranean treatment options for breast cancer cell lines.
Arisa Chue is a 2nd year student at Stanford University, pursuing a BS in Computer Science. Her academic interests are in exploring the intersection of linguistics and machine learning. From the basics of using artificial intelligence to translate our speech, she is researching how machines can better comprehend our jargon. She will be a course assistant in core computing classes at Stanford in the coming Fall quarter. Outside class, she finds it meaningful to create spaces for women to spread their love for STEM because she believes she can impact the gender imbalance in future STEM classes, leading to more diverse workplaces. She is a member of Stanford’s Society of Women Engineers (SWE).
Jessica Lat is a 3rd year student pursuing a BS in Computer Engineering at Syracuse University and is a sister of the Zeta Chapter. She is involved in the Society of Women Engineers and has held the position of Communications Lead for Innovate Orange for CuseHacks 2022, a student-run hackathon at the university. Jessica is an Academic Excellence Workshop Facilitator for the College of Engineering and Computer Science, in which she helps students solidify their knowledge and build confidence in mathematics. She is also a part of Engineering Excelerators, a student program which works with high school seniors and admitted students, especially women in STEM, in order to share experiences and support from the Syracuse engineering community.
Katelyn DePaula is a 3rd year student pursuing a BSE in Computer Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania and is a sister of the Beta Epsilon chapter. As Vice-President of the chapter, Katelyn facilitates bonding with her sisters and advocates for women in STEM. She is also involved in engineering activities on campus including behavior team lead of the UPennalizers Robotics Club, teaching assistant for Digital Audio Basics, and member of the IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu honor society. As balloon team lead of the Penn Aerospace Club, she works with the electrical team to launch high altitude balloons across states, with real-time communication and tracking.
Samantha Foust is a 2nd year student pursuing a BS in Electrical Engineering at North Carolina State University. She wants to use her degree to work on improving power systems and developing renewable energy options. Samantha is a part of her local chapter of Engineers' Council. She is also a member of the Engineering Career Fair Team which is responsible for organizing one of the largest college engineering career fairs in the country.
Rachael White is a 3rd-year student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute pursuing a B.S. in Computational Biology with a minor in Chemistry. Rachael is extremely passionate about solving the complex biological problems inherent to human neurological diseases, and is deeply motivated to contribute to the research efforts that give rise to treatment breakthroughs. During university studies, she found computer science to be the answer to her passions intersecting art, biology and data science, and an ideal tool for approaching data–intensive biological problems. She has nearly 3 years of research experience primarily developing code, applications and analyses for data science projects, and numerous awards including a National Merit Scholarship, school-sponsored Leadership scholarships, Dean's List Nomination (2019-2022), and Finalist in the 2022 Rensselaer Datathon. She has served as a Chemistry Mentor in the RPI I-Persist Mentoring Program (2020), is a member of the PLU Chemistry Honor Society (2020 - present), and is Co-founder and Secretary of the RPI Chapter of the Youth Movement Against Alzheimer’s Club (2020 - present). Rachael adamantly believes in the powerful force for scientific insight and scientific community enrichment that is pervasive female perspectives and representation in STEM disciplines.
Miriam Aguilar is a third year student at Occidental College. She is a Computer Science major with a minor in Mathematics. Some of her goals include achieving a career in cyber security and representing Latinx women in technology. She hopes to be a role model to students similar to her as they begin their journeys in technology.
Sydney Thompson is a 2nd Mechanical Engineering Student at Clemson University. In her own words: "I first knew I wanted to do engineering when I joined my middle school's VEX Robotics team and we were even able to make it to the world's competition that year. I enjoy playing intramural soccer and spending time with my friends in my free time. My first year at Clemson was more than I could ever ask for, and there were so many people willing to support me as a first year student. This semester I am looking to give back so of that help I received as I am going to be a teaching assistant for first year engineering classes and a CHAMPS mentor that helps ease the transition into college for first year STEM students. When I graduate I hope to work with theme and amusement parks to enhance and create new rides and experiences for guests."
Tammy Truong is an incoming sophmore at the University of Southern California pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science/Business Administration. Currently, she is working with CodeNinjas, a local after-school organization, to design multiple 5-week curriculums to teach kids how to code in multiple different languages. During school, she was a part of the Girls in Tech student organization, and works on projects that intertwine computer science and social service. Recently, she collaborated with a team of students to engineer a website that connects Ukrainian scholars that are refugees to USC provided resources. After college, she wants to work for the United Nations and other social service organizations as a tech consultant or software engineer, working to further merge the fields of technology and humanitarian work.
Allie Planteis heading into her sophomore year at Marquette University as an environmental engineering major. She is originally from Massachusetts and now take residence part time in Milwaukee, WI. She is proud of the work she has accomplished so far and is grateful for the opportunities Marquette University has given her.
Guadalupe Mendoza is a 2nd year student pursuing a BS in Civil Engineering and Architecture at Texas Tech University. She is a sister of the Beta Alpha chapter and a member of both the Honors college and the Society of Women Engineers. As a first generation student with a low income background she has experienced a vast majority of circumstances that have motivated her to continue to pursue a higher education. With the knowledge gained from her time at Tech she plans to found her own non-profit organization made up of women engineers that travel around the world to low income communities and help construct proper learning facilities. The aim of this non-profit is to not only provide children with an adequate learning environment but to supply them with clothes, food, and other necessities to ensure they are in the proper headspace to learn. This goal of hers is inspired by her father Jose Angel Mendoza who lived in extreme poverty and was not given the opportunity to continue to receive an education.
Vondenkamp Family Scholarship ($500)
Jennifer Law is a fourth year biomedical molecular cellular engineering student at the University of Southern California. She is born in Hong Kong and moved to Oakland California at the age of eight. She likes to paint with watercolors and acrylics, swim, read, play games, and care for her cat. Apart from 1600+ hours of volunteering as a translator and tutor, she was a English and math teaching assistant at Kumon and engineering instructor at USC K-12 Mission Science. She is the co-director of marketing for the organization Engineers Without Borders and the vice president for Students Innovating for Global Challenges, a club that focuses on the fourteen grand challenges. With a passion for clean skincare, she is part of USC's Business Cosmetics club and aims to start a business within the realms of clean, vegan, non-animal cruelty skincare and makeup products. She took part in USC Viterbi's first inaugural Maymester in Berlin Germany to learn from renowned architects and engineers ,and is currently striving to travel to different locations (Mexico, Bolivia) and learn of their people and cultures. She is deeply fascinated with medicine and wants to either pursue a masters in engineering or attend medical school.
Catherine Stone Leadership Scholarship ($500)
Klea Hoxhallari is senior pursuing BS in Bioengineering at University of Michigan-Dearborn. Klea has been a supplement instructor on subjects like Chemistry, Probability and Engineering. She moved to the United States alone at the age of 18 to become a neurosurgeon and has come far along. After her bachelors Klea plans on Pursuing masters in Public Health and later going to Med School. She wants to use the knowledge as an engineer and physician to be able to contribute her best in the medical system. Klea is a recipient of many scholarships and a full time student while work to provide for her family. Science has been her number one friend, and wants to use it for a better society.
