SPEAKER VIDEOS

Olivia Dsouza

Oliva Dsouza is a 2nd-year student at UW-Madison, studying electrical engineering and computer science. She is on the Low Voltage Team Lead for Badgerloop, Madison’s first solar car team, and the International Outreach Officer for the Society of Women Engineers.

Katelyn Desrochers

Katelyn Desrochers is a Mechanical Engineer who obtained her BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay in Fall 2020 and is ambitiously working to obtain her AAS in Automation Engineering Technology from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. During her college education, she was inducted into Michigan Technological University’s chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the oldest engineering honor society, for integrity and excellence in engineering. Katelyn has previously interned for Marathon Petroleum Corporation in Detroit, Michigan and Catlettsburg, Kentucky as well as 3M Company in Maplewood, Minnesota. Through speaking and mentoring high school females, she is changing the conversation of STEM and redefining the engineering culture through normalizing failure and diminishing insecurities. 

Blair Hoch

Blair Hoch is a Research Scientist at Schreiber Foods focusing on cultured dairy product development, primarily cream cheese and yogurt. She gained her bachelor’s of science from Penn State University in 2017 majoring in Food Science. Blair received the opportunity to intern at 2 companies during her undergraduate studies, one at Saputo focusing on Operations/Quality Assurance and at the Hershey Company in research and development. Following graduation, she accepted a full-time position in product development at the Hershey Company where she worked on the seasonal chocolate product development team. She is also currently pursuing her Master’s in Food Science.

Sallie Meyer

Sallie Meyer has had a winding journey to her career in technology. She holds a BA in Musical Theatre Performance as well as a BS in Computer Science – Information Assurance and Security, both from UWGB. She currently works as the Data Processes and Project Manager for ChemDirect, a start up located in TitleTown Tech.

 

Jill Hilbert

Jill Hilbert graduated from Michigan Technological University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in Transportation and Structures. Jill currently works at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation as a Civil Engineer Entry, Civil Engineer Senior, Deputy Project Manager, and Project Manager. She has designed projects of varying complexities including urban reconstructions, rural pavement resurfacing, interstate rehabilitation, and safety improvement. 

Valerie Rehn

Valerie is majoring in Environmental Engineering at UW-Madison, with a certificate in Sustainability. She works on Engineers without Borders’ Uganda Project team. On this team, she travelled to Uganda to conduct surveys and meet with contractors in the country to begin construction for a school in the rural Kamuli District. She is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Valerie conducts research for UW-Madison’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, studying resource recovery for sustainable fertilizers. 

Kylie Plouff

Kylie Plouff is a student at UW Madison majoring in chemistry, with minors in mathematics and Asian and American studies. On campus, Kylie tutors Organic Chemistry students and is a teaching assistant for General Chemistry lab sessions. She also conducts research in the Ge Lab and the Jin Lab. In the Ge Lab, she uses top-down mass spectrometry to characterize native intact proteins. In the Jin Lab, Kylie synthesizes tunable iron oxide nanoparticles to enrich low-abundance, high-weight proteins.