In celebration of International Women’s Day, the College of Science and Engineering (COSE) will host “Women in STEM,” a panel and networking event at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8, in Belin Chapel on the Houston Baptist University (HBU) campus at 7502 Fondren Road, Houston, Texas 77074.
The event is designed to inform and educate young college women who have begun their early studies in STEM and high school girls on available career paths in the STEM field.
Panelists include Alicia Llewellyn, Innovation Specialist at NASA Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation, KBR and co-founder of Quite Uncommon; Dr. Linda Alrabady, Regional Smart Manufacturing Leader at Cargill Agriculture; Dr. Sherri Elder, Principal Technical Advisor at New Page Specialty Chemists and Tammi Warfield, Senior Vice President of Customer Success & Services at Delphix.
“The College of Science and Engineering is pleased to have the opportunity to host this panel of distinguished STEM women of faith who will share about their backgrounds and lived experiences as encouragement to our campus and community,” said Dr. Katie Evans, HBU’s Dean of College of Science and Engineering.
Spearheaded by Dr. Marian Zaki, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Cyber Engineering, the event is designed to feature a panel of successful women who can talk about the challenges of working in male-dominated STEM fields and achieving family and work/life balance.
The event welcomes all students interested in pursuing careers in STEM to attend. The featured panelists, along with a diverse selection of inspiring women, will be on hand to share their journeys in STEM and also discuss topics related to leadership and faith integration in the workplace, topics that relate to both genders.
“As women in STEM try to live out their faith in their studies and workplace, they need to be inspired by those who have walked the same path before them,” said Dr. Zaki.
The aim of coordinators is to give young girls the opportunity to align their talents and passions with a career path in college and empower young women to live their Christian faith in the workplace in the face of conflicts and present themselves with confidence in their careers without compromising their personal lives or desires to start a family.
A networking event will be held following the panel discussion to allow students to meet one-on-one with the event’s distinguished panelists and the influential women listed below.
Loretta Williams Gurnell is a STEM influencer and leadership strategist. She has a non-profit, SUPERGirls SHINE Foundation dedicated to assisting girls in middle school and high school have exposure to and access to STEM careers.
Maria Villalobos-Cruz is the Director of Clinic Operations at UT Physicians and has had an amazing career in STEM. She will provide insights on working in the healthcare field with a different degree/background than in the sciences.
Kimberly Penn is the Entrepreneur In Residence for Houston Community College (HCC) SW. Chief Strategist of Women and Drone and Founder of Techpak – one of the premier tech events for K-12 students in greater Houston.
Brenda Brombacher is the Director of the McNair Center for Entrepreneurship & Free Enterprise and an Associate Professor in the Archie W. Dunham College of Business at Houston Baptist University. She implemented the nationally-recognized Verizon Innovative Learning program that inspires and fosters digital inclusion for middle school students learning advanced STEM-focused curricula and innovative Next-Gen technology.
Dorothy Haraminac is an adjunct professor of Cyber Engineering at HBU and serves on the Advisory Board for HBU where she provides industry insight and builds strategic partnerships. She serves as Chairman of the Litigation Forensics Board for the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) where she provides insight for maintaining standards and credentials. She is one of the first U.S. court-qualified experts on bitcoin asset and cryptocurrency tracing. Haraminac received the Houston ACFE Speaker of the Year Award and was recognized as one of NACVA’s 40 Under 40 honorees in 2019.
Register for Women in STEMStudents who attend will be eligible to earn 1 CLW-B credit.