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Netra Unni Rajesh

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.

Netra Unni Rajesh

Bio Engineering PhD Student @ Stanford University

Netra’s passion for STEM began in high school and led her to some incredible research experience. We are so excited to hear about her education journey and about the work she is doing in the bio engineering field. Click on the YouTube video below to view Netra’s conversation with Girlstart!

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Debisree Ray

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.

Debisree Ray

Data Scientist @ Big River Steel LLC

As a woman in STEM, Debisree wants to share and offer knowledge to help develop the next generation of female leaders. We are so captivated by her authenticity and vulnerability in telling her story and cannot wait to hear what she has to say today!

What sparked your interest in Girlstart?
Girlstart is a platform that has been successfully helping to develop and empower the bright and future female leaders of the society. As a woman in STEM myself, I would love to share and impart my knowledge as well as show my battle scars to develop this bright generation. We often find bright young girls shying away from the STEM fields or in need of some guidance. With my meager experience, I would like to reassure them and hold their hand through their journey as they take a potential step towards the future.

Was there anything specific that led you to your STEM career?
Yes, definitely.

1. When I was in primary school, I was fortunate to have a math teacher (Mr. Niren Brahma), who was very motivating. He used to teach much harder math than the actual scope of the course. I still believe that he has been the best teacher in my life so far. He made us think (for solving problems) in the classroom and wanted us to grow a crystal clear mathematical concept. I was one of his favorite students, and he envisioned me as a scientist in the future. I think that is the reason that I have always wanted to pursue the STEM field.

2. During middle school (it was an all-girls school), an alumnus (Dr. Sushan Konar, theoretical astrophysicist) visited the school to deliver a lecture to us. The talk was about the physics of the stellar objects in the universe. It was lucid, however, extremely scientific. It was an eye-opener for me and extremely motivating. I probably decided on that day that I am going to study Physics, no matter what. She became my role model on that day. Sounds melodramatic? Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction!

Can you describe your career?
I have always been fascinated by the physical laws of nature and the universe. That was the driving force for me to study STEM and follow a path of higher education. I have formal training (under-graduation, and the masters) in Physics. After getting exposed to various aspects of theoretical and experimental Physics, I decided to pursue Computational Nuclear Structure Physics for my doctoral studies, that led me to achieve a Ph.D. in 2017.

As explicitly explained in the Forbes article [1], it is evident that ‘the Data is the new oil.’ With an increase in the usage of electronic gadgets worldwide, the data pull is enormous. The ease of availability of this massive data has ensured that major business decisions are highly reliant on these hidden data patterns. Nowadays, there is a huge inflow of PhDs (including me) into the industries from academia. Most enterprises’ data teams are employing Ph.D. graduates with a background as academic researchers to deal with a complicated data-driven business problem. The real-world data scenario is noisy, unstructured, and complicated. Every data problem is different. Depending on the particular domain and the business problem, a data scientist needs to take a different approach. The data scientists are goal-driven versatile professionals who have to connect all the dots from data patterns to present the story to stakeholders; the main goal is helping enterprises with major decision-making and developing predicting models for future business directions. A data scientist needs to be a certain degree of an all-rounder. The typical job demands every bit of different aspects attached to it, such as the technical/engineering aspect, the scientific aspect (analytics), an aesthetic aspect (data visualization), and a storytelling aspect. As a Ph.D., I was trained to tackle similar problems objectively, thus making Data Science my dream job.

Although my primary research experience (most of my research publications and citations) endorse me being called an expert in nuclear physics; my eventual expertise (during my graduate and post-doctoral days) ensured me grow as a data science professional. This is how, with rigorous training in basic sciences and an intense and unique problem-solving outlook through computer coding and data handling shaped me as a data scientist. I believe that now I work as a scientist in a more real-world scenario, intending to demystify data. I call myself a data-nerd.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/11/15/data-is-the-new-oil-and-thats-a-good-thing/?sh=5abc09b07304

What are your favorite things about your field?
In industry or academic research (employing STEM), my absolute favorite thing is constant learning. I love the way I have to study and learn new things/techniques while working and implementing simultaneously.

What projects have you worked on?
During the Ph.D., I have worked on several computational projects in nuclear structure physics. The major one was to predict the nuclear driplines and landscape in covariant density functional theory. However, now as I have shifted towards Data and AI, my projects are around anomaly detection and prediction in the steel manufacturing industry, leveraging the power of Data and Machine Learning methodologies.

Why is confidence for girls in STEM so important?
The STEM fields employ a typical cutthroat attitude, especially in research. To survive in this relatively harsher environment, women should be more determined and confident in all their endeavors to succeed. Moreover, research in the STEM field often involves presenting your findings to your peers. A sheer determination is absolutely necessary to demonstrate the years of hard work confidently to your peers.

What words of encouragement would you share with girls who are interested in pursuing a STEM career?
A confident woman is a key to a better society. Throughout your journey in the STEM field, life will throw you a lot of curveballs. Don’t get down and disappointed. It happens to everyone. The key is, however, to pick yourself back up and refocus on your goals. Remember, everybody has bad days. It is important to learn how you can dodge them and put them in your rearview mirror.

What is your greatest accomplishment?
“I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” – If Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists in the history of humanity felt this way, then who am I to talk about the accomplishments?

Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Girls, throughout the world, need to be even more united to solve their problems. Only Education and a scientific mindset can change the world.

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Suzanne Szewczyk

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.

Suzanne Szewczyk

Research Scientist @ Gilead Sciences

Suzanne’s favorite subjects in school were always Science and Math, but she first realized she loved Chemistry in the 10th grade. Her love of these subjects led her to become a Research Scientist and we are so honored that she has chosen to speak with us today about her career and the ways in which she uses her skills to tackle important world problems like those in the medical field!

Can you explain what your job looks like?
I am a synthetic organic chemist by training and I currently work as a medicinal chemist at Gilead, a pharmaceutical company. I learned to synthesize complex molecules in a laboratory setting during my graduate education as a way to make compounds found in nature or design new molecules with interesting biological activities. Some examples of these activities include compounds that are antiviral or antibacterial. I currently use these skills to design and synthesize new molecules to be tested by biologists for their potential use as new drugs for human diseases.

What are your favorite things about working in research?
I am always inspired by the idea that science could help us answer almost anything about the world around us. Scientific research is like a never ending puzzle. It is much less about memorization and more about logic and creative thinking. I love working with my hands and appreciate being able to have a job where I get to do many things during the day, not just sitting at a desk. An understanding of science is really important to have as we often need to advocate for ourselves and our family when it comes to getting good medical care.

What type of projects have you worked on?
In graduate school I worked on synthesizing a complex neurologically active molecule found in nature. I also worked to develop new synthetic methodologies utilizing palladium and nickel catalysis. In my current role, I have been working on projects related to liver diseases and HIV therapeutics.

What would you say is your greatest accomplishment to date?
As someone who grew up in rural Pennsylvania and going to a small school, I never thought I could get into a school like Yale and complete my PhD. I am the only person in my family to ever receive graduate education. I also accomplished this as a woman in a field that is male dominated. Less than 10% of PhD chemists in industry are women.

Why is confidence in STEM so important for girls?
It is extremely important for girls and women to be confident in their intelligence especially in STEM fields. Women are still less likely to be in these positions than men not because they are not capable but because of the historic challenges women have faced and perpetuated sexism. I think a STEM education is one of the most reliable ways for women from any place or background to find success and work. Growth and innovation in STEM is a rapidly growing field in the world and in America. I hope more women will bring their creativity and diverse experiences to this field.

What words of encouragement would you share with girls who are interested in pursuing a career in STEM?
The best way to get a degree in anything is to never quit. Keep learning, keep applying and keep retesting if you have to, just don’t give up.

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Marissa Pang

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.

Marissa Pang

Data Engineer @ Cognite

Because of her own experiences as a woman in STEM and her desire to encourage other young girls, Marissa has chosen to share some of her story with us today in order to empower and inspire young girls to follow their passions. We are so lucky to have Marissa here today and cannot wait to hear what she has to say!

Tell us about your role as a Data Engineer at Cognite.
I help industrial customers use their data to become more sustainable. Data has always been important, but we’re seeing more and more emphasis on its power to enact real change. A lot of companies are trying to figure out how to make their data accessible in a scalable way. Cognite helps by providing software solutions that make industrial data accessible and more actionable so it can be used to its full potential. Whether that means creating dashboards or models that help with decision making, or ways to easily monitor sensors and equipment, or ways they can view all their data on their phone no matter where they are. I love helping customers solve seemingly small problems that can make a big difference.

What prompted you to get involved with Girlstart?
I’ve been interested in STEM since I was a little girl and although I had opportunities and have been making a career out of it, it has always been dominated by men. In college, the classes were significantly filled with more boys and in my career, I’ve typically been on teams of at minimum 7 people and had just two of us girls on it. Besides just seeing the team not be diverse, I could feel the challenges of it. Microaggressions, unequal pay, unequal opportunities, etc. I always had to work harder and fight harder for what I deserved. And I believe that the way that we change these hardships, is by paving a brighter path for future generations. Part of paving that path is making changes in our workplaces now. But the bigger part of it is to help create opportunities for girls when they’re young. I believe in Girlstart’s vision and mission and that they are accomplishing this. I also really loved how Girlstart works hard on focusing on working with girls in communities that are underserved. That’s the way we can make the biggest difference in creating that brighter future. And I’ve always been interested in being a resource/mentor to help girls in STEM as I wish I had someone to ask questions to grow up. I am so excited to get involved with Girlstart and be a part of the Women in STEM Series!

Was there a specific person who helped you to choose your career in STEM?
I graduated from University with a degree in Mathematics and back then I was told by a lot of people that my career options were limited and the job market was bad. So I intended to go back to get an MBA later and took an entry-level administrative position at a bank in the meantime – where I thought it’d be a good bridge between math and business. But shortly after starting, I got coffee with a coworker who asked more about my background. When he learned that I had a degree in Math, he told me that right then and there, he wanted me to go meet someone the Data Science Manager at the company. So we went over to his office where he asked if I could program in R, which was highly sought after then and hard to find, which I did. Meeting those two people that day launched me into my career path, one that I didn’t even know was an option and that I found to really love.

What are some of your favorite responsibilities as a Data Engineer with Cognite?
I love building solutions that help people do something more efficiently or make more informed decisions. It’s an exercise in creative problem solving and I enjoy the process of building these solutions, but I also like that it helps make someone’s job easier. And every build is a new challenge: I get to learn new skills, new approaches, etc. I also like connecting with our customers; getting to really understand how they use things, how their job works, and how they think. Ensuring everyone’s perspective is a part of the project adds diversity to the solution and helps make it stronger.

Why do you think confidence in STEM is important for girls?
STEM has always been dominated by men. Because of this, it’s easy for young girls to feel like they aren’t capable. But we all know girls are smart, strong, and more than capable. The odds are only against girls because of bias, whether it’s intentional or not. As more girls get involved in STEM, that bias will disappear and it will get easier for women to thrive in STEM careers. Having confidence in yourself and your abilities is key.. If one can stay confident in themselves, they can prove to anyone just how amazing they are. And if you do butt up against that bias, having confidence is so important in helping girls know that they are strong and can overcome. Never settle for anything less than you deserve.

Do you have any wisdom for the girls who want to pursue a career in STEM?
Make sure you don’t enmesh the job/work and the environment. Find a job, school, or program that makes you happy AND a work environment that makes you happy. If you want to be a Software Engineer but you don’t feel supported, find a different team, department, company, don’t be discouraged and change your career, find a new environment that is supportive and welcoming. If you love your company but not the work, ask for a different role, or find the job you do want somewhere else that has those same qualities you loved about your company. And if you don’t like either, that’s ok too. Explore anything you are interested in. Find what you are passionate about and go after it. There is no box you need to fit into and there’s no career path you must follow. Find what works for you. And fight for what you deserve. Don’t be afraid to ask for it and stay confident in your abilities.

About Cognite:
Cognite is a global industrial Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) leader, with an eye on the future and a drive to digitalize the industrial world. We enable the full-scale digital transformation of heavy-asset industries, and we’re growing fast. We’ve created a new class of industrial software which we use to help digitalize heavy-asset industries, enabling them to operate more sustainably, securely, and efficiently. Our core software product is Cognite Data Fusion (CDF), designed to quickly contextualize OT/IT data to develop and scale company solutions. In other words, we help our customers make data do more. We use technology like hybrid AI, big data, machine learning, and 3D modeling to get there.

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