I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Oregon State University (OSU), expected fall 2018. Meanwhile, I am gaining research experience as a Firmware Engineer PhD Intern at Intel Corporation in Oregon. I received my B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering (EE) from University of North Texas, in 2011 and 2014, respectively. From 2012 to 2015, I conducted research under the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). From September 2015 to July 2016, I was a Research and Teaching Assistant with OSU and then joined Intel in July 2016. My research spans wireless sensor networks, localization, biotelemetry and environmental monitoring, signal processing, systems modeling, and so much more.

When I graduated high school in 2006, I didn’t have any engineering experience, but dreamt of being an engineer ever since a bridge building project in fourth grade. After my first year at another university, I craved a better EE program and transferred to UNT when I learned about the hands-on project-based curriculum in EE. It’s everything I dreamed and more. Undeniably, the path to graduation was filled with hard work, late-night (and weekend) study groups, sweat, tears, and energy drinks, BUT it is also filled with triumph, humility, compassion, and grandeur.

When I entered the UNT EE program in 2007, the Department had an obvious energy and everyone knew everyone. I really loved the senior design posters hung on the Department walls, filling the hallways over the years. The lab experience was excellent, with real-world benchtop equipment and components for experiments. UNT EE equipped us with everything for our lab assignments, but also had a small parts room with a lab manager so we could request parts to sate curiosity on-the-spot. After many small projects, Senior Design spanned two large projects for me. The first was an interdisciplinary project between EE and ME to design a control system for the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) machine at Discovery Park. Yes, it was awesome. The second was an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in collaboration with CS Senior Design students and sponsored by the UNT Honors College. Dr. Kamesh Namuduri was an outstanding mentor and helped secure opportunity for our team to present our design at NASA in Houston, Texas (with personal behind-the-scenes tour!) Yes, it was as awesome as it sounds, too.

My newfound experience with system architecture, sensor networks, and control systems truly set me up for success…and a craving for R&D. When approaching graduation, I was faced with ‘going full-time’ or going to graduate school. I looked into some of the graduate classes in EE and felt a calling to an elective by Dr. Miguel Acevedo on the topic of Environmental Monitoring Systems and another on Environmental Systems and Modeling. After speaking with him, I knew it was a perfect fit and he told me about a Research Assistantship with him in the NSF Research Experiences for Teachers UNT site doing interdisciplinary research with an environmental science and education focus. This experience prepared me for the NSF GRFP and introduced me to Texas Parks and Wildlife, with whom I discovered a need for an off-grid video system for burrowing owls to observe den behavior 24/7. The ‘Owl Project’ opened my eyes to the world of diverse technologies for environmental and wildlife monitoring. Likewise, Dr. Acevedo and his contributions to the Texas Environmental Observatory helped me find my passion and will inspire me always. I also hold fond memories of my digital communications classes with Dr. Shengli Fu and his endless devotion to education and inclusivity.

Also, at any university, retention has always been and will likely remain a struggle for women and minorities in tech disciplines, especially in graduate school. For me, a key element of my success was involvement in student professional organizations and volunteering. The UNT IEEE and SWE Student Chapters were amazing sources of support, inspiration, networking, and opportunity to expand my skillset. Volunteering with the UNT College of Engineering, the Texas Great Pyrenees Rescue, and other initiatives helped me connect with the community and communicate with mixed audiences. Volunteering with IEEE Ft. Worth Section for MetroCon conferences was excellent for networking, participating in poster presentations, and staying at the front of research. When Dr. Varanasi ask me to be the founding member of UNT IEEE HKN Honor Society Lambda Zeta Chapter, I led the effort to establish the section and start a tradition of induction ceremonies for scholars (I was the voice of ‘Volta’ those days…).

UNT helped me lay a foundation for success academically and emotionally. I’ve also found recognition in the name as an Alumna. People know UNT, “Mean Grean”, and the strong reputation. I will always hold dear the brilliant, motivated, compassionate faculty and staff that made it possible for me to share this story of success. Dr. Murali Varanasi and Dr. Oscar Garcia were among the first to make a lasting impression on me and continue to inspire me to this day. They offered more than simple conversation when you walked the halls or stopped by their office, sharing stories about the department’s growth and asking how classes were, much like a loving parent asks their child. The students meant everything, and that devotion was embodied by all the faculty and staff in the department and College that I had the pleasure of knowing. I cannot express enough appreciation to Shengli Fu, Kamesh Namuduri, Miguel Acevedo, Rudi Thompson, Costas Tsatsoulis, Nandika D’Souza, Peggy Foster, Oluwayomi Adamo, and Eric Ayeh. There are so many other people, places, and things that shape the experiences composing my past, I hope these have shed some light.