Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1493016
42 I-CONNECT007 I REAL TIME WITH... IPC APEX EXPO 2023 SHOW & TELL MAGAZINE family grew up. With that legacy in the back of my mind, my priority was getting a good job. That's how I chose engineering. But once I was in the field, I learned about all the incredible adventures I could have as a student in STEM. I was able to join Engineers Without Borders and traveled to Mexico with a project. I lived in China and got paid to do research there for three months. I worked at NASA and traveled the country doing intern- ships and research, and I got paid for it all. That was absolutely surprising to me. I didn't realize how many adventures you could have. My story is one of reluctantly joining this industry, then enthusiastically staying and sharing everything I've learned about it with other kids like me. That is where my passion for communication comes from. Dylan Nguyen: In your keynote, you talked about issues facing women in STEM fields. What advice do you have for young girls going into a STEM career? What has benefited me the most has been having a strong-knit group of women who are also in STEM. As a woman in this field, you will face challenges—simple annoyances or large issues—and it is so incredibly helpful to have a community of like-minded people who have gone through similar challenges to help you get through those things. Nguyen: In what ways can we create and sup- port these networks and communities in both schools and in industry? It depends on what your role is. I think orga- nizations like Girls Who Code and Black Girls Code are really incredible and could use a lot more funding and attention. For me, in the aerospace industry, I am on the execu- tive team of the Brook Owens Fellowship, a fellowship for women and gender minorities in STEM who want to work in the aerospace industry. We provide mentorship, paid intern- ships, and a summer summit. There's also the Patty Grace Smith Fellowship, a similar orga- nization for Black students who want to work in the aerospace industry. These are programs that are creating the type of communities I was talking about. You don't usually have to do it from scratch. Te: Was there a certain group that really helped or mentored you? I got very lucky with the professors I had at West Virginia University; they saw that I was going the extra mile in terms of academics and research and internships, and I received a lot of support from them. I applied for every internship and every national scholarship I could. So often these opportunities would come in last minute while I was bogged down with work. I had professors who were very under- standing of my knocking on their door at 6 p.m. to ask for a recommendation letter that was due by 9 p.m. Sometimes we all need that little extra help to get access to the opportu- nities that will give us a leg up in our careers.