Sandia Women’s Connection holds 33rd annual event at Sandia California

Sandia opened the doors of math and science career possibilities for girls from 21 regional high schools at this year’s Sandia Women’s Connection Math and Science Awards.

“It’s an amazing event to reach out to these young ladies and hopefully make a difference in their lives, exposing them to the national lab industry and encouraging them to look into careers they maybe weren’t aware of but may have a passion for,” said Pam Lober, co-chair of Sandia Women’s Connection.

The 33rd annual event, held on April 16 in Sandia California’s auditorium, honored 36 high school juniors from Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, San Ramon, Mountain House, Tracy, Manteca, Stockton, San Lorenzo, San Leandro and Oakland.

The awardees, their families and their teachers joined Sandia volunteers for the event, which included mentoring sessions with workforce members in addition to the awards ceremony.

“The students can see a glimpse of the kind of work that Sandia does that will influence their future careers,” said Erika Tsang, who helped organize the event. “I enjoyed witnessing the proud moments from parents and teachers.”

Sandia Women’s Connection volunteers reached out to schools. Staff members from each school nominated one junior in math and one junior in science to receive awards. Nominators included teachers, department heads, guidance counselors, principals and vice principals — people who have noticed the girls’ talents and hard work.

“I hope each of you continue to pursue a career in math and science,” Associate Labs Director Andy McIlroy told attendees via video. “Each of you has a bright future ahead, and I hope Sandia’s recognition and support will propel you further toward your chosen careers. Please consider all of us at Sandia to be a resource for you now and in the future.”

Speakers at the event included Trish Benguerel, Laura Losey and keynote speaker Gaby Bran Anleu, who all congratulated the girls and cheered them on in their educational journeys.

“We’re not only celebrating you, but we also want to introduce you to the stories of successful female engineers and scientists here,” Trish said. “We invite you and encourage you to pursue an internship and work in something so important like national security.”

In telling their own stories, Laura and Gaby both emphasized the importance of finding mentors to help along career paths. Laura shared her story of attending electrical engineering graduate school classes that had only 10% female students.

“I was looking around, and it was hard to feel like I belonged,” Laura said. “I had a wonderful adviser, and he told me he believed in me and that I needed to believe in myself. That moment was a turning point.”

Gaby spoke about connecting with a female role model — the co-author of her favorite heat transfer book — whom she found inspirational while in graduate school.

“That’s when I realized that having mentors is important, especially if they look like you. If she can do it, I can do it,” Gaby said. “She motivated me even when things got hard.”

Looking around the room, Gaby pointed out the families and teachers who have already shown support for the awardees.

“I can see right now you already have some people cheering for you,” she said. “They nominated you because they see the potential in you. Even here at Sandia, I have found really great mentors helping me to get to where I am right now. Look for those mentors everywhere you go.”

Attendees also heard from California Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan and U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell via recorded video messages showing their support for the girls and the Sandia Women’s Connection award program.

“I applaud Sandia National Laboratories for continuing to do their part in encouraging young girls to get involved in math and science,” Swalwell said. “Because of programs like this, our STEM workforce is becoming more and more reflective of our community.”

Event speakers not only encouraged the girls to pursue mentorships and education in STEM fields but also urged them to consider future internships at Sandia.

“If you want to work with the best, if you want to work on amazing projects, if you want to be able to move the needle in some way — think Sandia,” said Mariaelena Marcano, who leads Sandia California’s Student Intern Program. “You’ll be challenged, and you’ll be given real work. You’ll leave here knowing you’ve increased your skillset and built your network. The hope is you might circle back at some point to Sandia.”