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Lisa Ward, PhD

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.

Lisa Ward, PhD

Program Manager @ AMD

Lisa was initially drawn into Girlstart because of our hands-on, collaborative education environment. Today, she is joining our Women In STEM blog series to discuss her career as a Program Manager and share her advice for the next generation.

Was there a specific person, program, or event in your life that led you to STEM?
I grew up with parents and teachers who believed in me and supported me with fun, challenging ways to grow my knowledge and love of math and physics. I especially enjoyed programs like MathCounts and Science Bowl.

Can you describe your career, and what you like about it?
My work combines electrical engineering, project management, statistical analysis, and communications. I work with colleagues across many teams to support collaboration on data projects. I also help share new tools and processes from those projects with all our teams. I really love sharing ideas and working with other people, and I love solving problems. Working in program management, I get to do both of those things in an engineering context. My favorite thing is that my work combines all of these together.

What would you like to tell girls who are interested in pursuing a STEM career?
Follow your interests. If you daydream about how something works, how to solve a problem, how to make something better, or why something behaves the way it does, then pay attention. That something may be your something. Seek out opportunities to explore that area more.

Why is confidence in STEM important for girls?
No matter what you do, you will make mistakes. It’s okay. Mistakes are part of learning. Mistakes are part of discovery. Mistakes are part of creation. But mistakes are also really frustrating and disheartening. Confidence is important because it helps you get past the mistakes. Confidence makes you try again so you can learn, discover, and create.

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Betty McDaniel

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.

Betty McDaniel

Senior Chip Designer @ AMD

Betty is an accomplished chip designer who is passionate about bringing more women into STEM fields. She has previously volunteered with Girlstart by teaching at various events, and we are thrilled that she is now sharing her words of wisdom with us today.

Can you first briefly describe your career?
I have been a chip designer in a variety of different types of microprocessors. First, I was a part of an awesome team that designed graphics chips, which are responsible for the visuals you see on your computer screens. Then I designed network processors with another team that enables so much information to be sent across the internet. Now I am designing chips at AMD that are the “brains” of the computer. It has been exciting to be a part of the digital revolution and to be able to contribute to cutting edge technology.

What are your favorite things about your career?
I am near the end of career now, and what I have most enjoyed is the constant newness – I am always learning something new, which keeps it interesting. Doing the same thing day after day, year after year, would be so dull. Instead, I get to do really big puzzles with open ended solutions that call for two of my favorite words: creativity and curiosity.

Second, I have enjoyed the trust and respect of my colleagues. Engineering truly is a professional job, even with just a 4-year degree like I have, so I am able to work independently despite being a part of a team, with each team member trusting each other to get their parts done well and on time. I have a lot of flexibility in how I do my work as a result, which I appreciate. You don’t get that kind of flexibility or respect in just any kind of career, and I don’t take it for granted.

Last, I enjoy the tangible rewards of being a chip designer. I know that I have been a part of bringing technology to where it is today. Can you imagine what it would be like to meet a global pandemic without the internet – without the ability to have video calls, meetings, and classrooms online, or stream movies, search for news, or connect with your friends? I have been a part of making that possible. There are financial rewards as well – I am well paid for just 4 years of college, and I am able to provide well for my family and not have to worry about money. Believe me, that makes life much easier.

What advice do you have for girls interested in a STEM career?
Work hard and stay curious. We are all unique, and you just might be able to look at a problem from your unique angle and come up with something BIG! Something that has never been done before!

What brought you to volunteer with Girlstart?
There are simply not enough women in STEM careers. While there are growing numbers of women from other countries moving to the US, there are not many US women becoming electrical engineers. I am usually the only US woman on my team, and often the only woman of any nationality. Women bring different perspectives to problem solving, and are needed if we want to remain competitive technologically. Additionally, I would like to see more women become financially independent and intellectually recognized. That means getting girls in the US interested in STEM subjects and opening their eyes to career paths that they might not have considered otherwise.

Why is confidence in STEM important for girls?
There are so many societal messages for girls to ‘dumb themselves down,’ despite all the counter messages they may be getting at home. STEM has traditionally been a male dominated arena, so if girls are confident in their STEM abilities, I believe that they will be confident in all aspects of their life. It can’t help but spill over. I want girls to never make themselves small in order to help someone else feel bigger – that only makes us all smaller. When girls are doing their best, everybody benefits!

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Karla Saludares

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.

Karla Saludares

Owner/Founder @ Texican Oil & Gas LLC

Karla has volunteered with Girlstart in the past, and loved speaking at our summer camps. She is truly passionate about inspiring the next generation of women to thrive in various STEM fields, and we are so excited to have her on the blog today to share her story as an Engineer.

What sparked your interest and made you want to volunteer with Girlstart?
As a young girl, I was never exposed to science and math in a way that made it cool or inviting. As a mother to a young girl, I want to let girls know that there are many careers within STEM where they can flourish. I really believe that it is our job as a community to help raise the next generation. We are here to help as mentors, volunteers, teachers, parents and counselors.

Can you give us a brief overview of your career path?
I am a petroleum engineer (graduated from The University of Texas at Austin). My job has involved how to most efficiently and economically find and produce oil & natural gas from the earth and bring it to the surface. Specifically, for most of my career, I was a reservoir engineer. We are essentially project managers that collaborate with various disciplines such as drilling, completions, land, regulatory, and management so that we can execute a drilling program.

Was there any influence in your life growing up that pushed you towards STEM?
I knew I wanted to be an engineer because I loved math. My junior year in high school I visited the college/counselor room and saw a bar chart on what the starting salaries were for different types of engineers. Well, petroleum engineering was at the top; I went for my BS in Petroleum Engineering and enjoyed all the challenges and problem solving!

Do you have any words of encouragement you would like to share with girls interested in a STEM career?
If you are a girl and are considering a STEM career, jump in! Start by learning as much as you can about math, science, and technology. Your job for the first few years of your life is to learn as much as possible. Ask your question in class. Raise your hand. Work hard. No one can stop you. Ask for help when you need guidance.

Why do you think confidence in STEM important for girls?
The ability to have confidence in STEM for girls is the beginning to powerful and meaningful change in the world. It is a step for true equality, for innovation.

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Marcae Bryant-Omosor

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.

Marcae Bryant-Omosor

Software Engineer @ USAA

Marcae has volunteered with Girlstart at previous events and enjoyed mentoring and sharing her story with the participants. We are thrilled that she is doing the same today by inspiring an even bigger audience through our Women In STEM Blog!

What sparked your interest and made you want to volunteer with Girlstart?
Girlstart shares a similar vision that I am passionate about that address’s emergent needs within our city, state, and national fronts. Mentoring our most precious resources to craft the desire, passion, and skills necessary to lead our nation across all facets of STEM-driven industries. Having a strong support system is essential to the root of their success and leaders today must own our position in promoting their success. Strategically and intentionally surrounding young girls so that they can envision themselves in the driver seat one day and building them up by equipping them with vital resources to be successful. This is me doing my part; teamwork is key as we must work cohesively.

Can you briefly describe what you do?
I am a tenacious problem solver, solving today’s IT challenges to effectively identify, protect, mitigate, and harden the company’s network from unwanted attackers to protect the company’s most valuable data, and sensitive information resources. This can be done from many paths from software application development, network cyber defense, internet of things, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other choices depending on personal interests.

What are your favorite things about your career?
For me, I am a change agent, advocate, mentor, software engineer, and speaker that will continue to make a difference in community, state, and national endeavors pertaining to nation security, cyber-infrastructure, and cybersecurity workforce diversity and equity. Through empowerment, I enjoy solving critical problems of today and offering time-centered solutions that make a difference on all levels. Whether I get to develop secure coding practices, protect a network node that is attacked working, or tuning the latest machine learning model my job is never boring for me. Each task helps to protect our friends, families, or neighbors from cyber attackers and preserve our personal information as we continue in the digital age.

Was there a specific person or program in your life that encouraged you to pursue your STEM career?
Two esteemed professors from the University of South Florida spearheaded the Youth for Engineering Society that ignited my passion for math, science and computers. I spent many Saturday mornings from 9AM – 12PM working on advanced math problems, computer programming, and science experiments that pushed my mind and challenged me to think critically, problem solve, and never give up on my dreams.

What advice would you like to give girls who are interested in pursuing a STEM career?
For future young women seeking STEM opportunities and careers, I would encourage them to embrace the following strategies: (1) adopt a learning-by-doing strategy; (2) seek sponsorships to help empower personal growth; (3) invest in short-term and long-term goal-setting plan; (4) don’t let anyone derail you from accomplishing your goals; (5) truly embrace full engagement and immersion within your goal plan at any opportunity.

Why is confidence in STEM important for girls?
Confidence is a foundational pillar and plays a major role for women of any age as we effectively navigate our career journeys. Confidence helps to ignite conviction that girls can secure and do well in STEM careers. Also, confidence helps girls embrace knew opportunities and challenges, participate in networking and sponsorship programs, and design valuable professional development plans that help propel careers. However, girls must believe that they can do the job, advance their knowledge, and strategically align goals for promotion and growth of which confidence is the key to achieving this mindset.

Is there anything else you would like to share? Any other words of encouragement?
Barriers and obstacles will certainly creep into our paths; however, I have developed the following mindset and processes to help me overcome. For me, investing in a love for reading coupled with a zest to learn new things has remained with me from the beginning. Therefore, I would recommend others to adopt such a game plan combined with participating purposefully in networking, creating authentic personal development plans, and above all “DO IT” anyway. Meaning even if you don’t know, even if you’re not sure, even if you are afraid…DO IT anyway. At the end of the day, chalk this experience up to growing pains and get back up and try again. Without failure there is no success.

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