Elsa Maria Castillo

Advisor for SWE UNM and co-Advisor for the Hispanic Engineering and Science Organization: Since July 2019 and after 16 years working for the School of Engineering (SOE), she became the new Director of the ESS Center and continues to serve as the SOE Scholarship Administrator. In ESS, Elsa has written several grants to secure funds from private, corporate, state and federal sources to support student scholarships, outreach, recruitment,and retention efforts. Many of these grants are funded through NASA, NSF, DOE, Army, etc. She collaborates closely with School of Engineering faculty members to include ESS in college-wide projects and offer outreach support in several grants. She is also a life-time member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), a member of the Society of Women Engineers, American Society of Engineering Education, and is part of the NM Hispanic Heritage Committee and the UNM Provost Committee for Staff, among other engineering and science outreach organizations.

Q: Why are you passionate about women and allies in STEM?
A: “Working and advocating for women and allies in STEM has become a life passion for me.  The present and future of this state, this country and the world is in STEM and we need to prepare and encourage the future generations to develop the love for STEM since they are taking their first steps through college.  We need more female and STEM allies to join forces to get more youth in interested in these fields, especially girls.  We also need more role models to inspire our future scientists and engineers, more mentors and advocates to inspire our STEM college students and provide support and encouragement to the female professionals in the field to do not give up. I strongly believe in SWE and its core values:  Integrity, Inclusive Environment, Mutual Support, Professional Excellence, and Trust.”

​​​Sakineh Chabi

Assistant Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering: Dr. Sakineh Chabi joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering as an Assistant Professor in August 2018. She received her PhD in Materials Engineering from University of Exeter in 2015. During her PhD studies, she worked on graphene related 2D and 3D materials.

Research Interests: Engineering multifunctional materials, mechanics of materials, polymers, ceramics, and energy-related materials.

Maryam Hojati

Assistant Professor in Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering: She worked on a variety of research studies that equipped her with the skills to conduct diverse research in material and structural programs in the civil engineering discipline. Her current research is mainly focused on digital construction and how to alter the construction industry by utilizing additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D-printing.

Research Interests: Digital construction and how to alter the construction industry by utilizing additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D-printing.

Neven Ali

Lecturer III in Department of Nuclear Engineering: During her MS and PhD studies, Dr. Ali worked in process imaging and visualization using radioisotopes based techniques. She was able to advance the engineering knowledge, design and scale-up of gas-solid spouted bed for advanced nuclear fuels manufacturing and TRISO nuclear fuel particles coating for the new generation (4th Gen) of nuclear reactors where this step has been considered as the bottleneck for commercialization of the 4th generation nuclear power. Such advancement was made possible by implementing for the first time the advanced non-invasive measurement techniques (Gamma Ray Computed Tomography and Radioactive Particle Tracking) that measure the local hydrodynamics to validate the new mechanistic scale up methodology of TRISO nuclear fuel particles coaters.

Q: Why are you passionate about women and allies in STEM?
A: “I believe creative women have the passion to improve people’s way of life and have a deep talent for innovation. Women can be great scientists and leaders to make a profound impact on society.”

Research Interests: Thermal-hydraulic of 4th generation nuclear reactors, LWR and SMR,
Advanced nuclear fuel manufacturing, and Process imaging and visualization using nuclear technology.

Manel Martínez-Ramón

Professor in Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: (Telecommunication Engineer, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 1996, PhD in Telecommunications, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 1999) he is a professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and he holds the Chair King Felipe VI of the University of New Mexico. His area of knowledge is Machine Learning, where he has conducted research for more than 20 years. He teaches courses related to Machine Learning for graduate students and conducts research in Smart Grid applications of Computational Intelligence. He is also a founder, activist and member of the Executive Council of the United Academics of the University of New Mexico.

Q: Why are you passionate about women and allies in STEM?
A: “As an educator I have witnessed quite a bit of bias in STEM teaching, in a way that women are not encouraged to pursue STEM careers, and also a lot of discrimination, often not perceived or neglected by men in engineering. By discriminating women in STEM we are wasting at least 50% of the STEM talent:  we need women to boost STEM.”
​
Research Interest: Smart Grid applications of Computational Intelligence

Liz Godman

Research Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department: She has a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Florida A & M University. Since her time as a collegiate to even now, she has been involved in professional organizations such as SWE. She knows firsthand the value of participation in extracurricular organizations both as a member and as a leader, and looks forward to supporting the UNM collegiate section. Dr. Godwin has researched everything from luminescent materials to 2D and 3D graphene for bioengineering. Her main focus has been on the synthesis and characterization of materials. That includes advanced manufacturing using tools such as an aerosol jet printer to make strain gauges for NASA inflatable habitats. She encourages all undergraduates to get involved in research, as it provides valuable perspective to the theory learned in the classroom. In addition to her research experience, Dr. Godwin looks forward to sharing her professional experiences from national research labs, NASA, and Intel Corporation. “In order for us to address the most challenging questions in our society, we need diverse perspectives which include those provided by women. Additionally, I want to see more women thrive in the field of engineering.”

Q: Why are you passionate about women and allies in STEM?
A: “In order for us to address the most challenging questions in our society, we need diverse perspectives which include those provided by women. Additionally, I want to see more women thrive in the field of engineering.”

Research Interest: Synthesis and characterization of materials