The Leaders, Makers and Dreamers
For International Women’s Day 2021, we sought to highlight amazing leaders and Trojan engineers that are changing the conversation about STEM.
Of the 58 student organizations at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, 39 are currently led or co-lead by women or non-binary students. From the AeroDesign Team to Code the Change to the USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, here is a snapshot of these elected student presidents and leaders.
Note: This page was last updated on March 8, 2021 and reflects the information at that point in time.
Yasmeen Mashayekh, President, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute
Major: Civil Engineering (Building Science)
Hometown: Walnut, CA
Dream: A solution to the refugee crisis.
Hometown: Walnut, CA
Dream: A solution to the refugee crisis.
Lauren Potterat, Executive Engineer, USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory
Major: Astronautical Engineering
Hometown: San Diego
Dream: I want to build an astromech droid - it’s about time we’ve brought BB-8 and R2-D2 to life!
Hometown: San Diego
Dream: I want to build an astromech droid - it’s about time we’ve brought BB-8 and R2-D2 to life!
Jillian Khoo, Programs Lead, AthenaHacks
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Fairfax, VA
Hometown: Fairfax, VA
Leena Mathur, President, Center for Artificial Intelligence in Society’s Student Branch (CAIS++)
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Cupertino, CA
Dream: Creating machines that assist people in the domains of education and healthcare.
Hometown: Cupertino, CA
Dream: Creating machines that assist people in the domains of education and healthcare.
Jessica Vela Guevara, Team Lead, SC Formula Electric
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Hometown: Tlaxcala, Mexico
Dream: Inventing special clothing with a turn-on feature that generates a repulsion against the earth's magnetic field so that we could levitate high off the ground, like Superman.
Hometown: Tlaxcala, Mexico
Dream: Inventing special clothing with a turn-on feature that generates a repulsion against the earth's magnetic field so that we could levitate high off the ground, like Superman.
Dominie Miyasato, President, Associated Students of Biomedical Engineering
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Hometown: Kahului, Hawaii
Dream: Inventing a body scanner that detects and diagnoses illness or injury, then recommends treatment based on your genetic profile.
Hometown: Kahului, Hawaii
Dream: Inventing a body scanner that detects and diagnoses illness or injury, then recommends treatment based on your genetic profile.
Elyse Pollack, President, Chi Epsilon
Major: Structural Engineering
Hometown: Los Angeles
Dream: Advancing cloning efforts
Hometown: Los Angeles
Dream: Advancing cloning efforts
Juliana Tichota, President, Women in Chemical Engineering
Major: Chemical Engineering
Hometown: Skokie, IL
Dream: Engineering something that purifies many different substances into clean drinking water
Hometown: Skokie, IL
Dream: Engineering something that purifies many different substances into clean drinking water
Jamie Flores, President, Code the Change
Major: Computer Science
Home: Boca Raton, FL
Dream: A less invasive solution to moderate scoliosis.
Home: Boca Raton, FL
Dream: A less invasive solution to moderate scoliosis.
Carys Gooi, President, Makers of Entertaining Games Association
Major: Interactive Media and Game Design
Home: Malaysia
Dream: I'd love to engineer instant replication of good food. Snap my fingers, and I'd have a nice, piping hot serving of nasi lemak in front of me...
Home: Malaysia
Dream: I'd love to engineer instant replication of good food. Snap my fingers, and I'd have a nice, piping hot serving of nasi lemak in front of me...
Randi Arteaga, Program Manager, AeroDesign Team
Major: Aerospace Engineering
Hometown: Anaheim, CA
Dream: Inventing a device that could remove all trash and microplastics from our oceans.
Hometown: Anaheim, CA
Dream: Inventing a device that could remove all trash and microplastics from our oceans.
Claudia Herrera, Co-Chair, Klein Institute for Undergraduate Engineering Life (KIUEL)
Major: Industrial and Systems Engineering
Hometown: Monterrey, Mexico
Dream: Engineering better technology that can allow us to monitor our health from the comfort and convenience of our homes.
Hometown: Monterrey, Mexico
Dream: Engineering better technology that can allow us to monitor our health from the comfort and convenience of our homes.
Claire Powers, President, Scope
Major: Computer Science and Business Administration
Hometown: Orange, CA
Hometown: Orange, CA
Sophia Musk-Burton, President, VEX Robotics Team
Major: Computer Engineering and Computer Science
Hometown: Malibu, CA
Dream: Building a future where everyone can interact with useful, people-friendly robots designed to help.
Hometown: Malibu, CA
Dream: Building a future where everyone can interact with useful, people-friendly robots designed to help.
Gabby Hansen, President, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Major: Electrical Engineering
Hometown: Vacaville, CA
Dream: Making the equivalent of a Roomba but for other appliances. Imagine an autonomous mini fridge gliding across your floor!
Hometown: Vacaville, CA
Dream: Making the equivalent of a Roomba but for other appliances. Imagine an autonomous mini fridge gliding across your floor!
Radhika Agrawal, President, USC Makers and Chair, Women in Engineering
Major: Computer Engineering and Computer Science
Hometown: Fairfax, VA
Dream: Inventing a chef robot that can make whatever food or fancy drink you're craving at a fraction of the price
Hometown: Fairfax, VA
Dream: Inventing a chef robot that can make whatever food or fancy drink you're craving at a fraction of the price
Cathleen Yang, President, Society of Women Engineers and President, Theta Tau
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Arcadia, CA
Dream: Engineering the microwave from "Spy Kids" that was essentially a 3-D printer for whatever meal you wanted!
Hometown: Arcadia, CA
Dream: Engineering the microwave from "Spy Kids" that was essentially a 3-D printer for whatever meal you wanted!
Ava Badii, President, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics of USC
Major: Astronautical Engineering
Dream: Building real-life Dyson spheres, megastructures which allow us to store and consume staggering amounts of energy.
Dream: Building real-life Dyson spheres, megastructures which allow us to store and consume staggering amounts of energy.
Caitlin Swanson, President, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Sacramento
Dream: Inventing a new way to tackle vulnerabilities created by humans in cyber systems.
Hometown: Sacramento
Dream: Inventing a new way to tackle vulnerabilities created by humans in cyber systems.
Glory Kanes, President, LavaLab
Major:
Hometown: Rye, NY
Dream: Building a platform to help survivors of sexual assault
Hometown: Rye, NY
Dream: Building a platform to help survivors of sexual assault
Florence Yang, President, Girls in Tech
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Cupertino, CA
Dream: Building a restaurant with a robotic food machine that makes açaí bowls, rice bowls, noodle bowls and delivers it all autonomously!
Hometown: Cupertino, CA
Dream: Building a restaurant with a robotic food machine that makes açaí bowls, rice bowls, noodle bowls and delivers it all autonomously!
Published on March 8th, 2021
Last updated on February 12th, 2024
