Catalysts for Positive Change

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVEN GROSS

As Northwestern University marks 150 years of enrolling women as undergraduate students, Northwestern Engineering celebrates our currently enrolled female students, poised to become catalysts for change. As they stand on the shoulders of the women who broke gender and bias barriers before them, these students reflect on their time at the McCormick School of Engineering, telling how they found the respect, inspiration, and support necessary to make change for good.

Hadallia Bergeron

PhD candidate
Materials Science and Engineering
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

My experience stems from the people I’ve met. The Materials Science Association has such a good culture—everyone is welcome. The Graduate Society of Women Engineers has really grown. I was a co-mentor in Science Club, which partners with the Boys & Girls Club. In the Hersam Lab, I helped build the metal organic chemical vapor deposition system. My involvement let me form relationships I’ll have for the rest of my life.

Brooke Schuler

Master’s candidate
MMM Program (MBA + MS Design Innovation)
Houston, Texas

I’m an application reader for MMM—the combined management and engineering degree. I love reading why students want to come here. MMMs are amazing. Everyone is curious, thoughtful. In Mindful Product Management, we worked with UNICEF to determine how to reach millennials to keep UNICEF relevant. I enjoyed working with a nonprofit that I really believe could make a difference, and I valued designing solutions that were inclusive and thoughtful.

Learn more about Brooke

Ieva Stakvileviciute

Senior
Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing and Design Engineering
Šiauliai, Lithuania

One of the first things I did at Northwestern was join the solar car team. I saw the car, and thought, this is it! I ended up as project manager. Our car went to the Formula Sun Grand Prix. It was very exciting. Sustainable transportation interests me. As engineers, we have the privilege of knowing how things work. We owe it to the universe to make it better.

Skylar Ladson-Gary

Junior
Chemical Engineering
Las Vegas, Nevada

I’m president of the National Society of Black Engineers—interestingly, all NSBE presidents have been women during the past few years. Seeing women who look like me in higher positions is empowering. I volunteer at the Peer Health Exchange. We go into Chicago Public Schools and teach sexual health and mental health to high school students. We’re near peers—not as “adulty” as teachers. We have honest conversations. It’s very real.

Learn more about Skylar

Swetha Marisetty

Senior
Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences with Kellogg Certificate in Managerial Analytics
Bettendorf, Iowa

I’ve found so many opportunities. I serve on the student board of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, and I’m involved with Tufaan Entertainment, which promotes South Asian arts and education. At Design for America, my team paired with the Open Doors Organization, developing design ideas to help parents of kids with autism avoid areas in airports that trigger sensory overload. Support from female mentors helps me do it all.

Be inspired by Northwestern women, womxn, and gender-diverse individuals who led the struggle to open doors, creating greater access and opportunity for all who followed.

Visit the 150 Years of Women website

Spring 2020 Magazine, McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University