Why Diversity in Gender, Race, and Fresh Perspectives Are Critical to Engineering
Join host Professor Petra Bonfert-Taylor for an engaging conversation with Dartmouth engineers Maya Davis '13 Th'14 '16, Nancy Guevara '13 Th'14, and Natasha Herring '12 Th'13 as they share experiences and personal insight that call attention to the need to build access and support for women and engineers of color — and why their talents are vital to innovation and solving complex global challenges.
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM (PST) / 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (EST)
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Petra Bonfert-Taylor is a Professor of Engineering and Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at Thayer School of Engineering. She arrived at Dartmouth in 2015 from Wesleyan University where she was a professor in mathematics.
She received her Ph.D. in Mathematics from Technical University of Berlin (Germany) and subsequently spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan. Petra recently designed and created a seven-MOOC Professional Certificate on C-programming for edX, for which her team won the “2019 edX Prize for Exceptional Contributions in Online Teaching and Learning”. Petra has a strong interest in broadening access to high-quality higher education and pedagogical innovations that aid in providing equal opportunities to students from all backgrounds. She spearheaded Dartmouth Emerging Engineers, a program to help prospective engineering students tackle prerequisites.
Petra is a Fellow of the Association of Women in Mathematics, the recipient of the New Hampshire High Tech Council 2018 Tech Teacher of the Year Award, the Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching at Wesleyan and the Excellence in Teaching Award at the Thayer School of Engineering.
Maya Davis is a Global Supply Industrialization Engineer at Tesla where she is responsible for maintaining the quality, effectiveness, and integrity of Tesla vehicles and supply chain. Maya has led launch projects with suppliers that range from large multi-national companies to small locally-based entities. With her background in engineering development, continuous improvement, and Six Sigma Lean Quality Management, she focuses on customer specific design needs in order to foster innovation and prioritize sustainability.
Prior to her role at Tesla, Maya worked with Rolls Royce Motor cars in England developing the Cullinan and Phantom, BMW Germany on the i3/i8 electrical vehicle release, BMW South Carolina on coordinated production of the X vehicles, and with Harley Davidson Motorcycles in Wisconsin on electrification initiatives. Maya a proud graduate of Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth received her BA in 2013, BE in 2014, and MEM degree in 2016. At Thayer, Maya revived the National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE) as President from 2012 to 2013, served as Thayer's Graduate Student Council Representative in 2015, and just completed her three year term as a representative on the Thayer School Dean's Council. She was a member of the Executive Board for the Professional NSBE Chapter in Upstate South Carolina and is currently active with Black At Tesla, Women in Tesla, NSBE Professionals DC and continues to give speeches at conventions and local colleges encouraging diversity and inclusion in engineering and manufacturing spaces.
Nancy Guevara studied Engineering Sciences at Dartmouth focusing on environmental engineering. Shortly after graduating from Thayer School of Engineering with a BA/BE, she began working as an engineering intern at ATC Associates Inc., now ATLAS Technical Consulting (ATC), a national leader of environmental consulting services. She accepted a full-time offer at ATC as an Entry Level Engineer, where she has spent six years, quickly moving up the ranks to her current role of Project Manager. Nancy has six years of environmental consulting and management experience, focusing on Regulatory Compliance and Due Diligence, Industrial Hygiene, Health and Safety, and Material Science Services for public and private sector clients including financial institutions, real estate developers, transportation authorities, commercial and residential properties. On her time off, Nancy is an avid traveler, having visited over 20 countries in the last 5 years, she enjoys exploring different cultures, languages, food, and most of all meeting and connecting with new people. She also sits on the Executive Board of the Dartmouth Club of New York City, serving as co-events chairs, helping to organize events to bring Dartmouth alumni together in NYC.
Natasha Herring is a senior consultant in Guidehouse's Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure (ESI) practice.
She has an interest and passion around the energy industry's future, particularly how the utility industry will transform to address imminent global issues. Natasha combines problem-solving engineering skills with business acumen to remain equipped to address the complex national and international energy challenges that lie ahead - responsibly, creatively, and optimistically. Natasha received a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Dartmouth College and a Master of Science in Global Energy Management from University of Colorado, Denver’s Business School. Outside of work, she’s a published author in the International Journal of Business and Social Science, an advocate for increasing the diversity pipeline into engineering and energy careers, and is the President of the Denver Professionals Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). Natasha recently completed a three year term on the Thayer School Dean's Council.
Hayley Falzarano
Hayley.K.Falzarano@dartmouth.edu
Dartmouth Alumni Association of Silicon Valley (DAASV) "DAASV" is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. 570 El Camino Real, Suite 150-404, Redwood City, CA 94063
