Topic: What Can Engineers Do to Slow Down and Stop Climate Change?

Sally M. Benson, who joined Stanford University in 2007, is the Precourt Family Professor in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

She studies technologies and pathways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions including geologic storage of CO2 in deep underground formations and energy systems analysis for a low-carbon future. From 2021 to 2023 she was on leave from the University to serve as the Energy Division Director and Chief Strategist for the Energy Transition at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Prior to this, she served as the Co-Director of the Stanford Center for Carbon Storage and the Stanford Carbon Removal Initiative. From 2013 to 2020, she served as the Director and Co-Director of the Precourt Institute for Energy. She also served as the Director of the Global Climate and Energy Project from 2009 to 2019. Prior to joining Stanford, Benson was Division Director for Earth Sciences, Associate Laboratory Director for Energy Sciences and Deputy Director at LBNL.

Professor Benson currently is a member of the Breakthrough Energy Innovation Council and a Board Member of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute. In 2023 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has previously served on the Board of Directors for Climate Central and from 2008 to 2020 on the Board of Directors of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. She also served on the Advisory Boards for Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Argonne National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Princeton’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative, Princeton’s Adlinger Center, Japan’s Initiative for the Cool Earth Forum, Climate Vault, and the Lahore University of Management Science in Pakistan. Over the past several years she participated in many National Academy of Sciences, Secretary of Energy, and National Petroleum Council research needs assessments related to carbon management. She also is on the Editorial Board for Energy and Environmental Sciences.

Topic: Engineering a New Era of Chips

Rose Castanares is a 26 year veteran of TSMC and is currently President of TSMC Arizona. With a $65B investment representing the largest foreign direct investment in US history, TSMC Arizona will produce the most advanced semiconductor technology on American soil. In Rose’s distinguished career in the semiconductor industry, she has consistently achieved exceptional results and strengthened customer relationships. Rose previously served as senior vice president of Business Management for TSMC North America, where she contributed to TSMC’s leadership in the semiconductor sector through her collaboration with many of the company’s valued U.S. customers. Her career includes leadership roles in engineering, quality, and sales at Chartered Semiconductor, GTE, National Semiconductor, and Siliconix. Rose earned her Bachelor of Science in Material Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Topic: New Possibilities in the Era of AI

Ya is a leading AI expert who currently serves as VP of Research at Google DeepMind, where she focuses on developing cutting-edge Generative AI models with the goal of achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).  Her impressive career includes leading AI efforts at LinkedIn, where she oversaw AI product development and research as Head of Data & AI.

Ya’s expertise is widely recognized. She co-authored the influential book “Trustworthy Online Controlled Experiments” and was named to Fortune’s 40 under 40 in tech.  A sought-after speaker, she has delivered numerous impactful talks, including a commencement speech to Stanford’s Class of 2019 in Mathematics, Statistics, and Mathematical & Computational Science. Ya holds a PhD in Statistical Machine Learning from Stanford.

Meg focuses on climate adaptation as a Senior Engineer with Arup’s Risk and Resilience team in San Francisco. Her skills in civil engineering, risk analysis, climate science, and GIS modeling support local municipalities and international organizations on their resilience journeys, from conducting probabilistic flood risk assessments to developing holistic adaptation solutions to improve community resilience. Meg holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Santa Clara University and a M.S. in Structural Engineering from Stanford University. She is a registered Civil Engineer (P.E.) in the state of California.

Shalini Agarwal is the Senior Director of Engineering at LinkedIn, overseeing the Job Seeker and Employer Brand product and technology teams. In her previous role, she led the development of Sales Intelligence Enterprise products, Search, and Data Applications, while managing a global team at LinkedIn. With nearly a decade of experience at eBay, Shalini played a key role in enhancing the buyer experience. She is passionate about developing innovative software solutions and creating opportunities for growth. In addition to her leadership role, Shalini has been leading LinkedIn’s REACH apprenticeship program since its inception, a transformative initiative aimed at hiring non-traditional talent into LinkedIn’s engineering teams.

Shubham Agrawal is a Tech Lead at Google DeepMind, where he spearheads innovations in AI for code. As a Gemini core-contributor, he leads initiatives that integrate advanced AI models into Google’s ecosystem—enhancing Gemini’s coding capabilities and driving the development of cutting-edge tools like Jules, AI Software Engineer. His work also extends to pioneering features such as YouTube AutoChapters (automated video summaries directly on the video progress bar). In his free time, Shubham performs stand-up comedy gigs, plays the piano, and volunteers as a cook for homeless shelters.

Tamika currently works as a Modeling Engineer at ACTUAL, a Bay Area-based start-up focused on building a capital planning software for large-scale sustainability and resilience investment projects. She brings a multi-disciplinary background in structural and seismic engineering, data science, machine learning, and climate risk and resilience. Prior to joining ACTUAL, she developed models to simulate the impacts of climate and natural hazard phenomena on the built environment, including buildings, infrastructure, and supply chains, as an analyst at Arup as part of their San Francisco Risk + Resilience team. She holds a BS degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MS degree in Structural Engineering from Stanford University.

Anahita is Deep Learning Algorithms Manager at NVIDIA, working on algorithmic optimizations that makes AI inference faster. Prior to joining NVIDIA, Anahita worked at Intel for over a decade, most recently as an AI Research Science Manager focusing on optimizations and bias mitigation strategies for various multimodal and generative AI applications. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Columbia University specializing in Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. Anahita has also worked in the defense research and development space on speaker recognition and GIS systems. Throughout her career Anahita has worked on the intersection of research and engineering in the field of AI and has published her work at top-tier AI conferences such as Neurips, ICLR, CVPR for which she also serves as a reviewer.

Sravani “Savi” is a seasoned leader with over 16 years of software engineering experience, currently driving innovation in AI and IT Service Management at ServiceNow. She is at the forefront of building cutting-edge GenAI and Agentic AI features, delivering impactful solutions that transform the way teams and customers interact with technology. As a Partner in Excellence, Savi has led initiatives such as the Empower onboarding program, fostering inclusivity, collaboration, and excellence across the organization. Passionate about mentoring and advancing women in technology, Savi brings her expertise and vision to the Women in Engineering Conference, inspiring others to push boundaries and boldly innovate.

Rashmi is the lead architect responsible for developing Reliability, Availability and Serviceability (RAS) solutions for IBM Storage DS8000, the fastest and most reliable storage system for the IBM mainframe and other enterprise grade computing environments. She is a Senior Technical Staff Member in IBM’s Infrastructure Business Unit. In her role as a RAS architect of DS8000,  Rashmi’s focus areas are integrating new technologies to ensure 24×7 availability of DS8000 for critical workloads and compliance with various data security standards like NIST. As a technical leader, Rashmi mentors early tenure employees as well as college students on career growth. Rashmi strongly believes in giving back to the community. She actively volunteers at IBM led community events at local schools that encourage youth to pursue a career in STEAM. Outside of work, Rashmi enjoys traveling, gardening, hiking, and Zumba.

Sarah Christensen has over 19 years of experience in organizational leadership, planning, and implementation of major capital projects along the Central Coast and in the Bay Area. She joined the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) as Senior Transportation Engineer in 2017 and was appointed as the Executive Director in September 2024. Her accomplishments with the RTC include managing the $350 million Highway 1 Auxiliary Lanes & Bus-on-Shoulder Program, leading the implementation of the first permanent bus-on-shoulder facility in the state of California, and developing and delivering the equity-focused Watsonville to Santa Cruz Multimodal Corridor Program of innovative and sustainable transportation projects along major transportation routes through Santa Cruz County. As Executive Director of the RTC, she is tasked with leading the planning, funding, development and delivery of sustainable transportation solutions for the Santa Cruz County region. 

Prior to her position at the RTC, Sarah was a transportation project engineer and manager in private consulting where her work included delivery of multimodal projects across the state including highway, interchange, bicycle/pedestrian overcrossing, complete streets, trail, Bus Rapid Transit, tolling, and express lanes projects. She specialized in delivering and developing funding strategies for multi-jurisdictional and complex projects, including the $500 million Silicon Valley Express Lanes Program for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) along State Route 237, 85, and US 101.   

Sarah has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from San José State University, a Master of Science degree in Transportation Management from the Mineta Transportation Institute, and is a licensed civil engineer.

Kush is a dynamic professional with extensive expertise in board level Analog/Mixed Signal Design focused on High-Speed and Low Power. Currently serving as Lead Electrical Engineer at Apple, Kush leads initiatives in iPhone Camera Design. With a passion for innovation and empowering communities, Kush has published several papers and articles and has been recognized with awards. Kush holds a M.S. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from San Jose State University. Beyond work, he actively engages in mentoring, advocating for diversity in STEM, and advancing technology for social impact. Kush is excited to share industry insights and collaborate with the inspiring community at the 2025 Silicon Valley Women in Engineering Conference.

Stacy Jo Dominguez is a Senior Manager of SW Test Engineering in R&D at Dexcom. Stacy Jo and her team deliver automated solutions for testing the Data Platform infrastructure that supports Dexcom’s Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) mobile applications. Before Dexcom, she was the Senior Manager of Test Engineering at NuVasive, where she focused on leading all testing disciplines for a spine surgical platform which included applications for neuromonitoring, 3D navigation, rod bending, radiation reduction and surgical planning. Prior to that, Stacy Jo worked at Illumina and led testing efforts to support the approval of the first diagnostic genome sequencer in the world, the NextSeq550Dx. Stacy Jo’s career has been dedicated to working on life changing technologies for over 20 years in the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

Ms. Espina has been working as a civil environmental engineer since 2005, with experience in environmental compliance, sustainability, civil design, GIS and data management, site investigation, waste characterization, monitoring, and remediation. Ms. Espina has participated in multiple roles within the project team including technical lead, project lead, and project manager. Currently, she assists in the management of several groundwater remediation sites, including vapor intrusion evaluation and mitigation. Additionally, she practices as a greenhouse gas reporting verifier with several sector specialties. Her experience includes developing and implementing work plans, data analysis, report preparation, client/stakeholder/agency liaison, coordinating with contractors, supervising team members, and implementing projects within budget and schedule. Ms. Espina holds M.S. and B.S. degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Iowa. She is registered as a Professional Engineer in Iowa, and is also accredited as a Lead Verifier for Greenhouse Gas Emissions in California and Washington.

Erin Estenson currently serves as the District Controls Manager for the Northern California branch of Kiewit. Holding a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from California State University, Chico, Erin pursued a career in construction, applying her technical knowledge to various infrastructure projects across California, Oregon, and Canada. Throughout her career, Erin has demonstrated a strong ability to collaborate with designers, construction teams, and multiple third-party entities. Notable project accolades she contributed to include the Marvin M. Black Excellence in Partnering and Collaboration Award for the San Francisco Bay Bridge Foundation Demolition Project Ph. 2 and the Conventional State Highway Project of the Year for the Devil’s Slide Tunnel Project. She currently oversees project controls, schedule management, document control, and contract administration support for Kiewit’s Northern California sponsored work. She is also passionate about empowering women to join the engineering and construction industry through her involvement with initiatives at local schools, colleges, and non-profits.

Amanjot Kaur Gill is a highly skilled Optical Engineer with over 8 years of experience in optical system design, simulation, and characterization. Currently serving as an Optical Engineer III at KLA Corporation, Amanjot specializes in developing and optimizing optical modules for illumination systems, ensuring precise system performance through advanced sensitivity and statistical tolerance analysis. Her expertise spans across Zemax, MATLAB, LightTools, and Python, enabling her to deliver innovative solutions while collaborating with cross-functional teams. Amanjot has been instrumental in designing off-axis aspheric mirrors and managing the end-to-end production lifecycle, from concept to integration. With a strong background in research, including her time at the University of Arizona’s Optical Sciences program, Amanjot has contributed to next-generation material analysis techniques and medical imaging applications. Her academic journey is complemented by her experience as an Assistant Professor, where she inspired the next generation of engineers in physics and optics. Amanjot is passionate about advancing optical engineering through innovation and knowledge sharing. She actively contributes to the field by drafting detailed specifications for optical components and continuously refining methods to address system-level challenges.

Zara is an AI scientist, entrepreneur, and mom with a passion for using technology to make a difference in women’s lives. She holds a PhD in machine learning, with her dissertation focused on applying ML for preventive healthcare. Zara spent six years at Apple as a tech lead and AI scientist, driving innovation and delivering impactful projects. Inspired by her personal experiences and driven by her passion for women’s health, she founded Cybele Health, an AI-powered platform designed to help women proactively manage their health and well-being.

Arpitha Hanumanth is a Senior Flight Software Engineer at Planet Labs, where she works on the Pelican and Tanager smallsat programs. With a unique position at the intersection of satellite operations, systems engineering, and hardware integration, she bridges the gap between operator requirements and technical implementation.

Arpitha specializes in aerospace software development with particular expertise in embedded systems. In her role at Planet Labs, she contributes to the company’s agile aerospace approach, delivering critical software updates to operational satellites and ensuring mission success through software solutions. She holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California.

Cecily Hastings is the Account Director for the California State University and California Community College Systems, where she focuses on comprehensive university partnerships to assist students, faculty, and staff with maximizing their value through LinkedIn’s platform. Prior to joining the education team, Cecily spent five years with state and local government clients on their LinkedIn, assisting local workforce boards with upskilling and outreach strategies. Cecily began her career on Capitol Hill where she worked as a legislative aide before transitioning to a bi-partisan think tank managing congressional relations. Cecily is passionate about workforce development and ensuring equal access to opportunity through the use of LinkedIn.

Ph.D. of Chemical Engineering Cornell University. MBA candidate of UC Berkeley, Hass Business School.

Pallavi Joshi is a distinguished Principal Engineer at Marvell Semiconductors, where she has been an integral member of the Post Si-Validation team for over 18 years. A graduate of San José State University with a major in Analog Mixed Signal, Pallavi has showcased remarkable expertise and innovation in her field. Throughout her tenure at Marvell, Pallavi has spearheaded numerous high-impact projects, earning her recognition as a prominent leader within the company. Her exceptional leadership and technical prowess continue to inspire her colleagues and drive her team’s success. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Pallavi is a dedicated mentor to young engineers, championing diversity and inclusion in the tech community. Her unwavering commitment to nurturing the next generation of engineers underscores her belief in the transformative power of education and mentorship.

Sanjana is a Senior Software Engineer at NVIDIA, specializing in designing and developing cutting-edge tools for data center compliance. With a background in machine learning from her master’s studies at Carnegie Mellon University, Sanjana spends much of her leisure time catching up on the fast-evolving world of ML and building applications. She is committed to fostering inclusivity in technology and actively supports initiatives aimed at increasing representation in STEM fields. Outside of work, she enjoys badminton, hiking, and cooking.

Dr. Monica A. Kapil is an R&D engineer-scientist with 10+ years of experience in digital health, clinical research, and medical device innovation. She earned her Ph.D. in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley & UCSF, a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley, and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from San José State University. At Apple Inc., Dr. Kapil leads strategic program execution and clinical trial operations, contributing to the development of FDA-approved digital health features on Apple’s consumer electronics and Software as a Medical Device (SaMD). She spearheaded Apple’s largest decentralized clinical trial, expanding patient access to health insights. Prior to Apple, she held leadership positions at Gilead Sciences and Johnson & Johnson, managing medical device R&D, human factors studies, and FDA submissions. Dr. Kapil has secured 20+ patents in drug delivery, patient monitoring, and digital health innovation and played a pivotal role in launching Spravato®, a breakthrough treatment for treatment-resistant depression. Beyond her technical contributions, Dr. Kapil is committed to advancing Latinos in STEM and fostering the next generation of diverse leaders. As Vice President of Chapters and Membership at MAES: Latinos in Science and Engineering, she leads strategic initiatives to empower Latino students and professionals in STEM through mentorship, technical development, and industry engagement. She actively works to strengthen the MAES community, expand opportunities, and inspire future generations to excel in science and engineering.

Kristin Keller is a Career Counselor at San Jose State University with expertise in career exploration, job search strategies, and leveraging AI for career advancement. She is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with over 10 years of experience in career counseling, recruiting, and human resources, providing a unique perspective on the evolving job market. Kristin is known for her innovative approach to career education and her commitment to student success.

Viji Krishnamurthy is VP of Generative AI Solutions at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. With a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, she’s led AI service products, served as Chief Data Scientist for Oracle IoT apps, managed Industry 4.0 IoT applications, and spearheaded ML projects for recommendation features across SCM, ERP, HCM, and CX Cloud. Viji also holds multiple patents in AI/ML applications.

Chantell is an accomplished people-centered medical device engineering leader with extensive experience in program and project management. She currently drives product and process innovation at Stryker as the Senior Director, PMO, of the Neurovascular division.  She is passionate about setting clear direction and simplifying complex challenges, while coaching and developing fantastic talent.  Her leadership has been pivotal in developing and launching innovative products to enable physicians to treat stroke and save lives.  Before Stryker, she worked with complex capital equipment at Outset Medical and spent 19 years at Becton Dickinson Biosciences where she led the Systems Engineering team to successfully launch multiple cell analysis systems.  Her career began as an officer in the United States Air Force, where she led engineering teams to define performance requirements for missile detection satellites and small launch vehicles.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Nathan is a University Tech Recruiter at KLA with over 12 years of experience in Talent Acquisition. He started his career in recruiting on the professional side and transitioned into university relations when he discovered his passion for recruiting top-tier talent in both the internship and new college graduate levels. He finds it most rewarding helping students find their first job out of school to kickstart their careers. He has experience recruiting both technical and non-technical roles, but his area of expertise is connecting students to hardware engineering opportunities at KLA. Born and raised in the Bay Area, and growing up surrounded by all things tech, Nathan always imagined himself working in the Silicon Valley. He enjoys traveling to all the different universities across the country, connecting with students and painting a picture through conversations of what it’s like to work in the global center for high technology and innovation. Nathan received his bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of California, Merced. After working in the semiconductor industry for a few years he decided to go back to school and graduated with his MBA from California State University, East Bay.

E. Lara Lash (she/her) is an aerospace engineer who loves working with experimental diagnostics to support wind tunnel research and customers. She currently leads the unsteady pressure-sensitive paint (uPSP) development for NASA, which is an optical diagnostic for obtaining surface pressure data on wind tunnel models. She and her team focus on innovating the uPSP technology to be applicable for large, production-level wind tunnels. This involves acquiring data with eight high-speed cameras and forty lamps, offloading the data quickly and transferring it to the NASA Advanced Supercomputer (NAS), and then processing the terabytes of data with an award-winning, open-source software. uPSP provides high-spatiotemporal data sets in evaluating unsteady acoustic and structural loads that assist in the design of launch vehicles, re-entry capsules, and aircraft for commercial and government customers. Prior to her role at NASA Ames, she was a full-time student. Dr. Lash has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in History from Lafayette College, and a Masters of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee. Outside of work, she loves to read, hike, and enjoy quality time with family and friends.

Felix Chan Lim holds two Ph.D. degrees – one in Engineering and another in Management – and brings over 30 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. Currently serving as the Vice President of Operations & Quality at a MEMS IC company. As a former College Dean of Engineering, Dr. Lim has authored numerous book chapters and academic papers, covering key topics such as operations productivity, quality systems, manufacturing efficiency, intercultural communications, and corporate social responsibility.

Lianli Liu is a faculty medical physicist at the department of radiation oncology, Stanford Medicine. Prior to joining Stanford, she received her PhD degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and completed clinical training at Michigan Medicine. Her clinical duty involves treatment plan review, radiation machine calibration and clinical consultation to ensure the safe practice of radiotherapy. Her research interests in on developing new medical imaging techniques that can be incorporated into clinical workflow for improved treatment outcomes.

Lea Mak is the Propulsion Analysis Lead for Special Programs and an Associate Fellow at Lockheed Martin Space with over 17 years of technical experience. Over her tenure at LM, she has supported numerous national security and civil space programs, including Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), and Fleet Ballistic Missiles (FBM). Lea started at LM Space in 2005 as a summer intern while completing her Bachelor of Science at California Polytechnical State University at San Luis Obispo.

Kelly Masegian is the SJSU STEM Undergraduate Career Counselor, Career Liaison to College of Engineering and College of Science, and former Internship Coordinator with the Foothill/DeAnza Internship Program at NASA Ames.  She received her MS in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Career Counseling from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, TX.  She also received a Career Development Facilitator certification from the National Career Development Association as a supplement to her degree.  She is passionate about helping students with career development and is a proponent of lifelong learning.

Armine Matentsian is an energetic and innovative leader and team member, who can anticipate and drive change.  She is an advocate of result-driven actions and continuous improvements; a change agent with strong interpersonal and collaborative skills with an analytical background and creative problem-solving skills. She has over 25 years of experience in both the corporate world; Synopsys, IBM, Smith Barney, and an entrepreneur as Change Agent helping her customers and clients re-align their strategy and execution both in business and personal lives.  Her motto is “When there is a will, there is a way” and “The only thing constant is CHANGE”.     

Armine is a Program Manager at Synopsys Corporation working with the executive management team to re-engineer and deploy current processes to accommodate ever changing complex and fast-paced environments of software development and release management processes.  

Previously Armine worked for IBM Corporation for 16 years with several career changes within IBM.  The positions she held include; World Wide Channel Strategy Manager, Marketing Communications Campaign Manager, Market Driven Quality (MDQ) Program Manager, System Strategy Planner, Product/Component Engineer.

With her full schedule, Armine always finds time to give back to her community through non-profit organizations, promoting her beliefs in women’s causes – education and well-being; both physical and mental. She is on the executive board of NAMI Tri-Valley (National Alliance of Mental Illness Tri-Valley chapter). Armine has worked very closely with San José State University faculty and students promoting continuous technical and cultural partnerships and mentorship between the corporate world and academia.

Armine is Stanford University Certified Project Manager.  She received MBA in Marketing from Pace University of NY and a BS in Electrical Engineering from NYU University.  She is also a lifetime member of World Future Society and a Distinguished Toastmaster with Toastmasters International.

Rosie Medina is the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Promex Industries, a Silicon Valley-based provider of advanced design, packaging, and microelectronics assembly services. She leads customer acquisition, revenue growth, and marketing strategy.

Since joining Promex in 2015, she has leveraged 30+ years of semiconductor industry experience across commercial, medical, and military-aerospace sectors. Previously, she held leadership roles at CORWIL Technology and began her career at Norsk Engineering while attending Evergreen Valley College.

Supraja Meedinti, a senior software engineer at Waymo, is driven by a passion for building resilient simulation infrastructure that ensures the safety of the Waymo Driver. Her expertise, honed through SRE roles at Google managing Search and Analytics infrastructure, empowers her to champion reliability in software design. Beyond her technical contributions, Supraja is deeply committed to her community, spending weekends mentoring high-achieving, low-income students on their path to college. She also finds joy in cooking, reading, and traveling, and cherishes meaningful conversations.

Dr. Sandra Melo Carlos is a Principal Scientist with a joint appointment in the Computational Sciences and the Molecular Oncology departments at Genentech. Her academic background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Colombia’s National University, and a PhD in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of South Carolina. Sandra started transitioning from being a focused experimentalist to computation during her postdoctoral training at Stanford University, and fully moved to computational biology during her first job in the industry at Agilent Technologies. Now at Genentech, Sandra combines her deep understanding of biology and her computational skills to improve therapies in the oncology space.

Neeta is an accomplished medical industry leader with over twenty five years of global experience in diverse organizations from startups to large corporations.  She joined Intuitive Surgical in Feb 2015 to create the Program Management Office. (Product Operations & Digital PMO). Most recently, she took up the responsibility to manage the Strategy and Operations for China at Intuitive, which is the 2ⁿᵈ largest market. Neeta was with Siemens for 12 years and; had various leadership roles, from Business Head South Asia Cluster based out of India to Chief Information Officer within the Siemens Ultrasound Leadership Team based out of California. She was responsible for Product Management, Portfolio and Strategy for Siemens Ultrasound worldwide and started a PMO over there as well. Fun fact: Neeta was the Product Manager for the Sequoia product line, which is now in the Smithsonian, representing Ultrasound.

She has worked in start up companies like Medix Biotech, geneticXchange & Yodlee, as well as being part of large companies such as Hewlett Packard and Genzyme, which later got acquired by Sanofi Aventis. Neeta has an MBA from Santa Clara University and a BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Bombay, India.

As a Jacqueline-of-all-Trades, Monique Michel has a diverse career that spans many different industries and roles. In each of these, she leverages a growth mindset to harness transferable skills, and excel in her role on the team for Juniper Networks’ University Talent Program. She is passionate about mentoring and coaching emerging talent supporting successful transitions from student to professional, volunteering with universities, like San José State University, student organizations, and non-profits, like the Latino Education Advancement Foundation (LEAF) to support the development of professional skills. Adding to her many other passions, like dance, gaming, travel, and literature, Monique has recently joined as the HR Chair for the San José State University’s Lucas College of Business Alumni Board, and is looking forward to continuing to engage with students and fellow alumni, innovating continued growth for students and alumni.

Shiva Moballegh holds a Master’s in EE from SJSU under the supervision of Prof. Birsen Sirkeci, specializing in Communications and Signal Processing. After graduation in 2015, she joined Samsung Display Lab as an Image and Video Processing Engineer. In 2019, she joined Genentech as an AI scientist where she has developed ML solutions for various stakeholders such as clinical scientists, protein scientists, portfolio strategists, etc.

Renee joined Earth Systems in 2021 after several years as a senior level geotechnical engineer inthe San Francisco Bay area. As a senior geotechnical engineer Renee is responsible for client communication, development of project scopes, cost estimates and proposals, scheduling and coordination of project teams, oversight of projects in progress, and budget management. She oversees field work, personnel and equipment, laboratory testing and analysis, and is responsible for engineering analysis and report preparation. She has performed geotechnical investigations for public works, commercial and residential projects throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Central California and Southern California. She has experience in earthwork and mass grading operations, foundation design, soil stabilization, pavement design and rehabilitation, ground improvement, surcharge, and slope stability. Her foundation design experience ranges from design and observation of shallow and deep foundations, conventional and post-tension mats, augercast piles, drilled displacement columns and stone columns. She completed her B.S. in Civil Engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Her favorite memories from undergraduate studies were winning back to back National Concrete Canoe championships. She completed her M.S. in Civil Engineering at San Jose State University while working full time as a staff engineer. It was an honor for her to return to San Jose State in 2021 for a semester as an adjunct professor to teach CE 140–Geotechnical Engineering. She is a registered Civil Engineer (P.E.) and Geotechnical Engineer(G.E.) in the state of California.

Nithya Nair, a seasoned cybersecurity professional, is currently serving as a Principal Technical Specialist on Cybersecurity at Microsoft. Born and educated in India, I hold a Bachelor’s in Engineering and a Master’s in Management of Information Systems. My career journey spans impactful roles at Wipro, HP, and Robert Half, where I gained valuable experience in technology and security. For the past 6.5 years, I’ve been thriving in the Bay Area, leveraging my technical expertise and strategic acumen to deliver innovative security solutions and drive customer success.

Aadarsha Nanthakumar is a Systems Verification Engineer at Cepheid, where she plays a crucial role in ensuring reliability and performance of cutting-edge molecular diagnostic systems. With a Master’s in biomedical engineering from San José State University, Aadarsha combines a strong technical foundation with a passion for innovation in the medical technology field. Her enthusiasm for learning drives her commitment to make meaningful impacts on lives, advancing healthcare solutions and seeking new challenges to contribute to the field of engineering. In her leisure time, she likes cooking, playing sports and dancing.

Thuy is a Career Counselor at San Jose State University dedicated to empowering students and alumni to explore their authentic selves and navigate the professional world with confidence and curiosity. She is known for combining life design mindset, creative strategies, and tech to make career development tasks engaging and impactful.

Thuy earned her Master of Arts in Guidance and Counseling from Loyola Marymount University-School of Education in Los Angeles, California. She is a certified MBTI® facilitator and an active member of the National Career Development Association.

Brendah Njiru is Founder and CEO of Homy Robotics, an AI robotics startup developing human-centric healthcare humanoid robots for elderly care. Previously co-founded WEHEAD Robotics, bringing extensive experience in robotics innovation. Currently also serves as Co-Founder of Aeon Bio Healthspan Extension. Her research on Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia has been published in leading scientific journals including Nature and Brain. Cornell University Alum.

Zeel is an Engineering Manager at Amazon Web Services with over 6 years of cloud industry experience. After completing her Master’s in Electrical Engineering from San Jose State University, she began her journey as a cloud engineer and now leads a team of 15 engineers, focusing on operational excellence and career development. At her site, she drives customer experience initiatives and plays a key role in talent acquisition while leading strategic projects that deliver business value. Passionate about diversity in tech, Zeel actively mentors students and women colleagues, working to inspire and empower more women to build successful careers in technology.

Margaret Paulin is a Lockheed Martin Campus Relations Manager. An experienced leader, she has more than 27 years of tenure in university relations and recruiting. In this capacity, Margaret has partnered with campus career centers, university programs and student organizations to increase interest in careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). She also has partnered extensively with faculty and staff to help develop and maintain early career STEM talent.

Before joining Lockheed Martin, Margaret served in university relations roles at Northrop Grumman and Conexant. Margaret is a known leader in the advisory board space and has served on career services and diversity engineering advisory boards at USC, UCLA, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly SLO, UCI, VA Tech, and MIT. She is also a founding member of the Summer Student Leadership Workshop for engineering diversity organization e-board members. Margaret is also a member of the Mountain Pacific Association of Colleges and Employers (MPACE) and National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and has served in various leadership roles within these organizations.

Margaret has a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Education from California State University, Bakersfield. She is no stranger to university life and began her career managing residence halls and student activities.

Rosa is a design engineer with Ashley & Vance Engineering. She is part of the structural team in their Oakland office where she prepares building framing and foundation plans for construction blueprints. She grew up in Oakland and earned her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Cal Poly Pomona. She served as an intern with the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute after college. Before landing her dream job in structural design, she worked in construction management and then in forensic structural engineering.

Meghana Puvvadi is an accomplished Director specializing in artificial intelligence, machine learning systems, and platforms in several prestigious companies like AWS, Adobe, and Nvidia. Her expertise spans generative AI, large language models, and scalable distributed systems. As a technology leader with over a decade of software engineering and ML experience, Puvvadi has pioneered numerous innovations in AI-powered applications, inference platforms, and developer productivity tools. She has been awarded multiple patents for her contributions to natural language understanding and AI applications. She has served as a technical reviewer for prestigious conferences, journals, and engineering books. Her work in inference engines, GenAI applications using agentic and RAG frameworks, and model hosting platforms has significantly advanced the field of Gen AI, AI products, platforms and ML-infrastructure. Currently serving as Director of Engineering for AI products & platforms at NVIDIA, she manages comprehensive AI initiatives including employee productivity tools, developer assistance systems, co-pilots to make employees, developers and business processes efficient and platforms for hosting AI assistants and RAG-based applications.

Brandi was born and raised in Houston Texas, and has a PhD in materials science from Stanford University. Her training is in data science and AI, quantum chemical simulations and classical computational methods, specifically combining them into high-throughput processes for data collection and evaluation. As a Research Scientist at IBM, she generates, simulates, and recommends novel molecules and materials for various applications, such as catalysts for plastic recycling and battery electrolyte additives. Her main passion is prioritizing sustainability above profit, and convincing others to do the same.

Marcella Rensi is a 3rd Generation San Francisco Bay Area resident with a B.A. in Economics from Harvard-Radcliffe, and Master’s Degrees in Transportation Planning and Engineering from UC Berkeley. Her interest in transportation started as a car-less high school student living on a steep hill in Oakland with a crummy bike and an obsession for collecting AC Transit bus schedules. Her first job in the industry was driving tour buses and campus shuttles in Boston and Cambridge, MA. She joined Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in 1997 and has progressed through the ranks to her current position as Deputy Director of Grants & Allocations. Her responsibilities include overseeing VTA’s 2016 Measure B salestax program and directing VTA’s programming, grants & asset management units. She still rides the Specialized Rockhopper that she bought with one of her first VTA paychecks.

Cecilia is a Senior Recruiter at Mainspring Energy with a background in Electrical Engineering and a passion for connecting top talent with exciting opportunities. She began her career as a hardware engineer after earning her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech, working at several Bay Area tech companies like Texas Instruments and Plenty. Her deep technical expertise, combined with her strong interpersonal skills, led her to pivot into technical recruiting, where she successfully bridges the gap between engineering and talent acquisition. Now a seasoned recruiter, Cecilia leverages her industry knowledge to identify and engage top-tier candidates, ensuring the right talent is placed in roles where they can thrive. She is passionate about diversifying the tech industry to address the growing threat of climate change and the need for affordable electricity for all.

Krystle is a Sr Technical Recruiter at ServiceNow with over 10 years of experience in Talent Acquisition. Over the past four years, she has supported ServiceNow’s growth by recruiting top-tier talent for both technical and non-technical roles, contributing to the company’s mission to improve the world for everyone by making it work more efficient and accessible. Prior to ServiceNow she worked at major tech companies including LinkedIn, Facebook/Meta and Roblox. As a first generation graduate from SJSU she has a deep commitment to helping students break into the tech industry. She has a passion for demystifying the recruitment process and enjoys empowering students and job seekers by providing them with insights and guidance on what they need to succeed in their careers.

Charu Sardana is a distinguished Senior Program Manager at TSMC. With her expertise, she empowers customers to successfully drive various semiconductor products from concept to volume-production. Before her tenure at TSMC, she worked at Altera/intel as an FPGA specialist. She has over 20 years of experience in process technology, device innovation & high volume IC manufacturing. Charu has in-depth understanding of semiconductors & advanced CMOS technologies. Her academic background from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (India), fuels her expertise in Si design rules, scaling, reliability, failure analysis and yield enhancement. Beyond the realm of semiconductors, Charu is an avid music enthusiast and culinary explorer, experimenting with cuisines from around the world.

Elnaz Sarraf is a successful entrepreneur and CEO, renowned for her innovations in the field of EdTech, AI, and Robotics. She is the founder of ROYBI® Robot, an AI-powered smart toy that teaches children language and STEM skills. This groundbreaking product has won several prestigious awards, including being named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions in Education and winning the World Economic Forum smart toy award. With over 15 years of experience as a serial entrepreneur, Elnaz has established herself as a leader in the industry. As the CEO of ROYBI, an investor-backed EdTech company, she has raised millions in funding to focus on early childhood education and self-guided learning through artificial intelligence. Elnaz’s journey to success has been shaped by her early experiences growing up as a woman in Iran, where opportunities were limited. However, her drive and passion for entrepreneurship led her to the U.S., where she has significantly contributed to the tech industry. Her achievements include being selected as Inc. Top 100 Female Founders, Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center Milestone Maker, named the Woman of Influence by Silicon Valley Business Journal, and Entrepreneur of The Year in Silicon Valley. As a board member of the Consumer Technology Association Small Business Council and a member of Forbes Technology Council, Elnaz continues to play a crucial role in shaping the future of education and technology. She has also been invited to speak at various conferences, such as the Mobile World Congress, ASU GSV Summit, LEAP, and Consumer Technology Association.

Akaanksha Sinha (AK) is a results-driven cybersecurity leader with a decade of experience spanning diverse industries. Currently, AK serves as the Senior Program Manager and Security Architect – Global Software External Compliance, IBM, where she ensures IBM’s global software products meet complex compliance requirements efficiently and in a standardized way. In this role, she combines her deep technical expertise with strategic leadership to design scalable compliance frameworks that align with global standards. Previously, AK spearheaded cybersecurity audit and compliance initiatives at IBM, ensuring the security and resilience of 20+ shared services supporting both internal and external clients. Her technical expertise runs deep, encompassing cybersecurity, governance, risk, compliance (GRC), and security architecture. A firm believer in aligning security strategies with business objectives, her background in consulting empowers her to bridge the gap between technical complexities and executive-level decision-making. Never one to shy away from a challenge, AK is actively exploring the frontiers of AI and its applications in cybersecurity. She’s passionate about continuous learning and consistently seeks innovative ways to fortify digital landscapes.

Beyond her professional achievements, AK is a dedicated advocate for closing the cybersecurity skills gap and empowering women in STEM. She’s an active volunteer and mentor, recognized with the 2024 ISACA Star Volunteer Award and IBM’s Volunteer Excellence Award. She also architected IBM’s Cybersecurity Signature Internship Program, expanding it across three continents and achieving a 95% talent conversion rate. AK holds a Master’s in Information Systems with a focus on Cybersecurity from CUNY – Baruch College and is certified in managing cybersecurity risk from Harvard University. She frequently shares her insights as a volunteer guest lecturer at institutions like Texas A&M, Baruch College, City College, and Fordham, and she has presented on topics such as “Cybersecurity in the Age of AI” at global events. Key Skills: Cybersecurity | GRC | Security Architecture | AI in Security | Compliance Automation | Stakeholder Management | Technical Leadership | Mentorship

Jay Subrahmonia manages Responsible AI Technology and Product Development for Accenture globally. She leads the technical strategy for Responsible AI, including designing implementations and delivery of Responsible AI solutions for clients. Jay has more than 25 years of experience in building AI powered products at IBM, Intel and Accenture. She has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Brown University.

Prasanti Uppaluri is a Senior Engineering Director at KLA in the Broadband Plasma (BBP) Division. She is the head of software organization for Patterned Wafer Defect Inspection Systems which enable defect discovery, yield learning, and inline monitoring for leading edge logic and memory design nodes. BBP products deliver wafer-level data for complete characterization of process issues during development and high-volume manufacturing. Prasanti joined KLA about 10 years ago after working for nearly 20 years in the Electronic Design Automation Industry. She spent a majority of the 20 years at Cadence Design Systems where she directed the development for multiple physical signoff solutions that analyzed chips to determine whether they meet printability requirements, and electrically meet the design intent, area, timing, power, and reliability requirements. She received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from University of Iowa. She also completed a Mini-MBA at the Executive Development Center, Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. She has 28 issued and pending patents.

Sahika Vatan has over 20 years of expertise in systems and human factors engineering. Sahika has a strong track record of designing and implementing processes that enhance workplace reliability, efficiency, and safety. At Antora, Sahika is leading initiatives to bolster efficiency in “How We Work.” Before joining Antora, Sahika spent four years at Tesla, where she led a global initiative to build and deploy the company’s EHSS data management system. Prior to Tesla, she dedicated 13 years at Chevron, where she successfully integrated Human Performance principles into existing Operational Excellence processes. Originally from Türkiye, Sahika moved to the U.S. in 2001 to pursue her graduate studies. She is the proud mother of a 13 year old son, who keeps her energized and inspires her to try adventurous activities like ziplining, scuba diving, and conquering giant roller coasters. An avid traveler, Sahika has visited six of the seven continents. She also loves reading and has a personal library that far exceeds the time she’ll need to finish all her books!

Vinson is the inaugural Career Hub Coordinator at San José State University, where they empower students to achieve their career aspirations at the intersection of creativity, digital literacy, and technology. Their prior experience includes serving as a Technical Recruiter at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and as a Management Aide for Santa Clara County. Vinson is passionate about leveraging technology and bringing people together to make a positive impact in the community. Vinson has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Concentration in Management Information Systems with a Minor in Child and Adolescent Development from San José State University. Go Spartans!

Lisa graduated from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering (formerly NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering) in 2011 with a Master’s degree. She began her career at Marvell Semiconductor in the Central Engineering AMS team as a digital designer. Over the years, she has worked on cutting-edge SerDes technology and has now advanced to the role of Design Lead/Engineering Manager. In this position, she continues to lead a talented team in the development of PHY IP in the latest technologies.