Girlstart’s Women in STEM weekly series highlights various women who are making a difference in STEM. Be inspired as these incredible women describe how they became interested in their field, provide insight into a day in the life, and share learnings from their experiences.
Meha Jha
Refining Industry Marketing Manager, Measurement Solutions @ Emerson
Meha’s interest in Girlstart was initially sparked by our fun approach to STEM, which led her to teach a hands-on workshop at our annual Girls In STEM conference about lip gloss manufacturing. Volunteers like her are an integral part of Girlstart, and we are so excited that she has volunteered more of her time with us today to share her experience in different areas of STEM!
Was there a specific person, program, or event in your life that led you to your STEM career?
My dad is an engineer and was very influential in wanting me to get an engineering degree, because of the marketability of the degree. My parents said as long as I get an engineering degree, I can do whatever I want with it after.
Can you explain a little bit about what you do?
I work in Industrial Automation, and in particular in instrumentation. Instrumentation is used to measure process variables like flow, temperature, level pressure used to control the manufacturing of materials. In particular, I focus on how to use these different instruments in the oil refining industry. I actually work on the marketing side where I educate customers and our sales force on how to use these different instruments to improve safety, efficiency and reliability of operations.
What are your favorite things about being on the marketing side of Industrial Automation?
I like that I can leverage my strengths, yet still be in a technical field. Working in a marketing role allows me to still remain technical but also leverage communication, leadership, and other interpersonal skills. I love being part of the Energy industry in particular because it is so influential to economic development and providing critical resources we need for daily living.
Why is confidence in STEM important for girls?
Pursuing a STEM degree and career can be challenging but more than confidence I would say you need resilience! It is okay to fail, it is okay to not know how to do something, it is okay to be uncomfortable, and this will happen many times. You just need to be willing to stay on the course, be willing to fail, be willing to learn and grow from those failures, and then the confidence will come. Know that there are many that have come before you and if they can do it so can you!
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