UH Engineering STEMinist Podcast

In the Season 2 premiere of the University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering Steminist Podcast, we dive into the first of a series of conversations with Cullen College electrical engineering alumna Nancy Ladin. Hear about how Nancy's experience with a STEM summer camp led her to apply to the Cullen College as well as her advice on navigating the web of networking and landing an internship at an industry-leading aerospace and defense company.

Nancy Ladin talks about navigating post-graduate life as a young professional gaining valuable experience at an aerospace company. After becoming a working mom, Nancy reflects on how family obligations led to a greater appreciation for work-life balance, the value of positive company culture, and how she landed a new opportunity at a Houston-area commercial space company.

A routine electrical engineering safety test gone wrong contributed to the worst nuclear disaster in history, resulting in contamination and radioactive fallout that could leave the region uninhabitable for 20,000 years.

Our early career advice series with UH electrical engineering alumna Nancy Ladin wraps up with this third episode full of perspectives on life as a working mom, the importance of effectively communicating the need for accommodations, moving past imposter syndrome, and how regional differences can affect work culture in surprising ways.

What's it like to monitor erupting volcanos all over the world, fight back against science misinformation on social media AND overcome some unfair pressures of being a young faculty member? Hear all that and more in an interview with Kadie Bennis, volcanologist at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History Global Volcanism Program.

A continuously declining bee population has the potential to affect humanity, biology and the global food chain in surprising ways.

Biomedical engineering, running marathons, and directing several prominent organizations? Aria Shankar truly does it all during her time as a student at the University of Houston. Aria introduces us to a behind-the-scenes viewpoint of writing for Parameters, orientation leading, and acting as the Director of Operations for Frontier Fiesta.

First-generation students often experience many challenges where the rest of us had prior knowledge or the opportunity to ask for help. Shania Perez tells her interesting story from graduating high school, to attending two different colleges at the same time, to securing her job post-graduate job at CenterPoint Energy. She drops many golden nuggets of advice!

Shania Perez wraps up her story by giving more details about working for CenterPoint Energy, her personal experience with imposter syndrome, and even drops a new concept: 'pluralistic ignorance'.

The University of Houston’s Engineering Career Fair is a huge event for both students looking for opportunities and those who put the event on. Professional societies, a career fair center, and recruiters team up to make this event accessible virtually and in-person this year, which calls for a career fair miniseries. In this first discussion, Ali, Janice, and Emily talk about the innerworkings of the career fair and all the team work that goes into this event.

Do your research before attending the University of Houston's Engineering Career Fair! This episode is chalk full of tips to get your resume into the 'yes' pile like checking eCONNECTIONS, researching companies, and checking in with yourself about your personal goals.

Prepare for the Engineering Career Fair by perfecting your resume, researching companies, applying for jobs prior to the fair, and pre-registering for the fair. The day of the Career Fair, practice your elevator pitch, bring paper copies of your resume, and dress sharp. After the Career Fair, follow the 333 rule: follow up with companies you spoke to 3 days post Career Fair, then 3 weeks, then 3 months. Thank you Tahimy Landestoy for the awesome advice!

Current PhD student at the University of Houston in environmental engineering, Marcela Strane, tells us about her research studying microplastics in wetlands. Marcela also speaks openly about what it's like as a Latinx person in STEM and her REU experience as an undergrad.

Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC) team leads, Sameera and Akash, give us a broad overview of the competition, a brief summary of their proposed topic, and talk about the influence of this competition in their life as engineering students.

Sarah Hakam, the recipient of the Outstanding Senior of the Cullen College of Engineering, talks about her story from majoring in biomedical engineering to getting accepted to a dual degree graduate program including both an MD and a Masters in Engineering.

One of the Marine Energy Collegiate Competition (MECC) team leads, Akash Doshi, discusses with Dr. Mim Rahimi about carbon capture. Dr. Rahimi excellently explains how carbon capture works, what his lab is doing to work on the problem, and how every single one of us can help.

Holly Stower, an analyst at Cleantech Group, answers questions from Sameera Rednam, a team lead for the Marine Energy Collegiate Competition. Holly describes her position and mentions several ways we can help the environment such as being knowledgeable about what we purchase, contributing more time and research to ocean exploration, and voting.

Alyssa Johnson, a UH alumna, describes her interesting journey from community college in California, to attending the University of Houston focusing on Energy and Sustainability, to working multiple jobs in the retail, medical, and energy fields. 

Ruby Patterson, a University of Houston PhD Candidate studying planetary geology, talks about her research from Iceland, to the Moon, to Mars. Her past internship at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) focused on the Apollo Mission and she aims to publish a manuscript about the samples that will be returned from the Moon to Earth.