Ashraf Karim joined ServiceNow in December 2024 and serves as the Senior Vice President of Connected Customer Experience. In this role, she is focused on driving transformation to simplify and elevate digital experiences for customers and the ServiceNow employees who serve them. She leads a global team dedicated to delivering seamless, personalized, and connected experiences—leveraging data and automation built on the ServiceNow AI Platform.

Prior to joining ServiceNow, Ashraf held key leadership roles at top companies, including Cisco, Google, and PayPal, where she led large-scale, data-driven transformation initiatives to revolutionize the customer experience and drive growth and profitability. Her dedication to customers and using technology to solve real-world customer and business challenges has resulted in increased revenue growth, customer loyalty, and operational savings.

Joumana Zeid is a biopharmaceutical executive with two decades of experience leading cross-functional teams and advancing innovative therapies across multiple therapeutic areas. She is currently the Vice President of Program Leadership at Mirum Pharmaceuticals, where she oversees the strategy and execution of clinical-stage programs in rare diseases.

Before joining Mirum, Joumana served in senior program and portfolio leadership roles at Carmot Therapeutics and Federation Bio, where she helped shape and advance pipelines in metabolic and microbiome-based therapeutics. At Federation Bio, she led cross-functional development teams and built core operational and strategic capabilities as the company transitioned from research into the clinic. She continued this work at Carmot as Vice President of Portfolio Strategy, driving strategic alignment and advancing the company’s metabolic programs.

Earlier in her career, Joumana held roles of increasing responsibility at Aimmune Therapeutics, Achaogen, and Plexxikon. She began her career at Genentech, gaining broad experience in bioprocess development, device development, and portfolio management and operations.

Joumana holds BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from San José State University and an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Leena Agarwal is a Technical Program Manager specializing in AI/ML platforms, cloud infrastructure, and hardware/software systems. With nearly two decades of experience across Amazon, Meta, Cruise, Block, and Woven by Toyota, she has a proven track record of driving complex, cross-functional programs from zero to launch — including AI assistant platforms, autonomous vehicle systems, and large-scale cloud infrastructure.

Beyond her industry work, Leena mentors early-stage startup teams, speaks at university programs and industry conferences on TPM practices and AI/ML systems, hosts the Agentic AI Execution podcast, and organizes TEDxTwin Pines Park. She is an advocate for emerging technical talent and cross-functional collaboration.

Hi I am Navya, and I believe technology should be seamless, not a struggle. At Adobe, I am building the AI-assisted design systems and web components that power experiences for millions. When I am not coding, I am likely on a stage. Last year, I traveled to 15+ global conferences to advocate for a more accessible, collaborative web.

Ms. Jaya Bajpayee brings nearly 10 years of executive leadership experience in science, technology and program/project management. In her current capacity as the Deputy Director of Exploration Technology Directorate at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Ms. Bajpayee provides executive leadership and strategic direction for a diverse portfolio of NASA’s most critical technical domains including NASA’s advanced supercomputing, human systems integration, intelligent systems, and entry systems & technologies.  

Throughout her tenure Ms. Bajpayee has had the privilege of serving in numerous high-impact positions that utilized her skills to formulate and direct strategic initiatives; build and lead high-performing multidisciplinary teams; and bridge the gap between high level scientific goals and operational execution. Her leadership style is defined by a commitment to technical excellence and a forward-thinking approach to program management.

Beyond her technical and executive responsibilities, Jaya is a dedicated mentor and a passionate advocate for equity and fairness in the workplace. By mentoring talented individuals and championing organizational transparency, she works to ensure that the science, technology, engineering and project management fields remain accessible and equitable for all.

Anahita is Deep Learning Algorithms Manager at NVIDIA, working on algorithmic optimizations that makes AI inference faster. Prior to joining NVIDIA, Anahita worked at Intel for over a decade, most recently as an AI Research Science Manager focusing on optimizations and bias mitigation strategies for various multimodal and generative AI applications. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Columbia University specializing in Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. Anahita has also worked in the defense research and development space on speaker recognition and GIS systems. Throughout her career Anahita has worked on the intersection of research and engineering in the field of AI and has published her work at top-tier AI conferences such as Neurips, ICLR, CVPR for which she also serves as a reviewer.

Melanie is a Civil Engineer with over 30 years of construction management and engineering experience on water resource, water and wastewater treatment and public infrastructure projects.

Rashmi Chandra is a Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) in IBM’s Infrastructure Business Unit, where she leads the Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS) strategy for the IBM DS8000 Enterprise Hybrid Flash Storage Server. In this role, she drives the design and delivery of advanced RAS capabilities and enterprise‑grade cybersecurity solutions that support the always‑on requirements of mission‑critical, high‑performance workloads across IBM Z, IBM i, and open systems environments.

Beyond her technical leadership, Rashmi is passionate about mentoring and engaging with emerging engineers. She actively seeks opportunities to share her expertise, inspire the next generation of technologists, and continuously learn through collaboration and community interactions.

Geraldine Coetzee is a Technical Program Manager at Applied Materials, working on Dielectric Atomic Layer Deposition (DALD) products, where she leads cross-functional teams through product development lifecycles for next-generation semiconductor manufacturing systems. 

Previously, Geraldine spent seven years as a Mechanical Engineer in Metal Deposition Products at Applied. She was responsible for the hardware design and system integration of high-temperature vacuum systems. During her time she earned four US patents for her innovations in process chamber components and plasma pre-clean technologies. 

Geraldine holds both a B.S. and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from San José State University. She was able to complete her master’s program while working at Applied as part of their tuition assistance program and thanks to SJSU’s evening courses.

Danielle Del Rosario is a Transportation Project Manager at Mark Thomas with over fifteen years of experience delivering complex highway, multimodal, and local road projects across California. She currently leads a $200 million highway improvement project in San Jose and manages a $5 million bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure project in Contra Costa County. Danielle is deeply committed to mentorship, serving as a three-time mentor in the Mark Thomas Mentorship Program and previously mentoring emerging professionals through WTS. She is known for fostering authentic conversations about career growth, industry challenges, and professional confidence. Beyond her project work, she volunteers as a Co-Manager for a Community Engineering Corps and Engineers Without Borders project supporting a tiny-home village in Richmond. Danielle earned her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is now pursuing her M.S. in Transportation Management at San José State University. A Bay Area native from Hayward and Union City, she grew up playing competitive volleyball and basketball. She is a new mother who enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and two fluffy dogs.

Ankita is an AI Solutions Architect at Google Cloud, where she partners with disruptive startups to build end-to-end AI solutions. She thrives in this extremely fast-paced environment, helping customers navigate ever-changing technical landscapes to deliver impactful results.

An alumna of San José State University, Ankita pursued her Master’s in Artificial Intelligence which paved the way for her to contribute to engineering teams at NASA, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Google, where she applied her technical expertise to a diverse range of challenges.

Driven by a relentless curiosity, Ankita is always ready to identify and dive into emerging AI trends. She remains eager to learn, adapt, and share her insights with the broader engineering community to push the boundaries of what is possible with AI.

Aarushi Dhanger is an SJSU graduate and Advisory Systems Engineer at Arista Networks, working in networking and data center technologies. She enjoys candid conversations about early career decisions, learning on the job, and carving out a personalized path in the tech industry.

Danielle Ferguson‑Macklin is a dynamic and innovative leader with more than eight years of experience designing and leading enterprise‑wide DE&I and Talent Community initiatives, and over two decades of experience driving change and developing talent across large, complex organizations—including the nation’s largest cable internet access provider and a leading financial institution. 

Currently serving as a Talent Communities Program Manager, Danielle focuses on building inclusive, high‑impact communities across the talent lifecycle—strengthening engagement, leadership development, external partnerships, and employee belonging at scale. Her work bridges strategy and execution, aligning business priorities with cultural initiatives that advance innovation, equity, and long‑term organizational resilience. 

Danielle brings deep expertise in business analytics, change management, and the study of human history and culture, which she leverages to design programs that are both data‑informed and deeply human‑centered. Guided by a passion for community impact and workplace inclusion, she intentionally weaves DE&I principles into everyday conversations, decision‑making, and leadership practices—creating environments where people feel seen, valued, and empowered to contribute fully.

Known for her fairness, creativity, and attention to detail, Danielle joined Teradyne in 2021 as a DEI Program Manager and has since expanded her scope to lead Talent Communities that support a more connected, inclusive, and future‑ready workforce for employees, customers, and communities alike. 

Outside of work, Danielle is a proud stepmom, auntie, and devoted mom to a Dean’s List Division I student‑athlete. She attended Howard University and Southern New Hampshire University for her undergraduate studies and holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration.

I have led Cloud Service Networking Control Plane Engineering team for the past 3 years. Before Google, I owned the upper networking organization in Uber. Before Uber, I was a stayhome mom for a year while my 2nd kid was born. I was an engineering director of PayPal, a company that I worked for 12 years. From FinTech to Networking, I reinvented myself after 40-year old. Now, I am super-excited about building AI Infrastructure.

Halleh Ghaderi, is an engineering leader with deep expertise in systems and software integration for complex medical technologies. With a background spanning biomedical engineering, medical devices, and surgical robotics, she has led cross-functional efforts to bring sophisticated hardware–software systems from concept to clinical reality. Halleh studied PhD in Biomedical Engineering at McGill University (Montreal, Canada) and has built her career at the intersection of engineering rigor, patient-centered design, and real-world impact at Medtronic, Verb Surgical, Johnson & Johnson and Intuitive surgical. Passionate about mentorship and advancing women in technical leadership, she regularly shares insights on navigating interdisciplinary engineering environments, building resilient teams, and driving innovation in highly regulated industries.

Mrs. Maria Gonzalez is Sr. Manager, Flight Deck Avionics at Archer Aviation since 2021. Responsibilities include leading the Flight Deck Avionics System Engineering team to develop and certify the Avionic System for the Archer Midnight Aircraft. Prior to Archer, Maria worked at Honeywell Aerospace where she worked as a Systems Engineer and Integrated Product Team Lead for various Avionics Products supporting multiple Aircraft Manufacturers. Her career started over 20 years ago spanning various roles such as Avionics System Engineer, Integration Engineer, and eventually Product/Program Management roles. Maria has a BSE in Computer Systems Engineering from Arizona State University.

Hello! I’m Neha, a Senior Product Pricing Manager at NetApp with over a decade of experience in the pricing field. Throughout my career, I’ve had the pleasure of working with industry leaders like NetApp, Cisco, and various fintech companies. Outside of work, I love to hike, travel, and immerse myself in nature’s beauty.

Aja Hartman is an engineering professional with over a decade of experience in R&D and Additive Manufacturing. She holds more than 30 granted patents and 19 peer-reviewed journals including Nature and Materials Advances. Certified as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Scrum Master, she combines technical rigor with operational discipline. Her current work focuses on directly printed custom medical devices. Passionate about empowering the next generation of women in STEM, Aja is committed to creating a positive impact in her industry.

Kristen Holtz is the Head Autonomous Planning at Skydio, leading a team of robotics software engineers focused on developing predictable, safe, and optimized flight path behavior. Kristen was the first female engineer hired at Skydio and has played a foundational role in building the autonomy systems that power the company’s products, enabling industry-leading obstacle avoidance and fully autonomous flight.

Over nearly a decade at Skydio, Kristen has contributed to every generation of product, helping transform cutting-edge robotics research into robust, real-world systems deployed at scale. Prior to leading Skydio’s Autonomous Planning team, she led the cross-functional engineering teams for Skydio’s Dock & Remote Operations, and the Tracking & Cinematics that built Skydio’s autonomous flight behavior into what it is today.

Kristen holds a Master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University, where she focused on making robotic autonomy more robust, and completed her undergraduate studies at Caltech. She is passionate about building resilient robotic systems, leading high-performing technical teams, and expanding opportunities for women in engineering. Outside of Skydio, she enjoys spending time with her dog Cami and knitting.

Vinita Jain is a distinguished Product Leader and Executive with over 20 years of experience architecting future-focused technology and billion-dollar business models. As a Principal Product Manager for Amazon Web Experiences, Vinita drives the AI-powered vision and business strategy for next-generation browsing ecosystems across the Amazon device portfolio.

Her career is defined by her ability to turn technical complexity into delightful user experiences. During her 15-year tenure at Intel, Vinita spearheaded the launch of transformative platforms such as Thunderbolt™ and led the transition from hardware-centric to software-subscription business models. Her leadership in developing machine-learning-driven performance optimizations earned her 12 major OEM design wins and the prestigious Intel Achievement Award for innovations leading to over $1B in cost savings.

An entrepreneur at heart, Vinita serves as a strategic advisor to multiple AI/ML startups. She holds an MBA with honors from The Wharton School, specializing in Marketing, Operations, and General Management. Beyond her technical achievements, Vinita is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of innovators and championing women in technology, balancing her career ambitions with her roles as a present parent and community builder.

Crystal Jain is a Battery Engineering Manager at Form Energy, where she leads product development and electrochemical performance for long-duration energy storage systems designed to enable a renewable grid. She previously worked at Apple developing OLED display technologies for the Apple Watch and iPhone. Crystal holds an M.S. in Materials Science from Georgia Tech, where she researched thin-film solid-state batteries, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley. She also serves as a Program Director at the Volta Foundation, where she leads the Startup program to support and connect early-stage energy storage founders.

Gargi Kailkhura is a Senior Thermal Engineer at Arista Networks with about 10-14 years of experience across research and industry. Her journey from being one of only three women in a class of nearly 200 engineering students to becoming a globally recognized thermal expert reflects both technical depth and impact. She specializes in the thermal management of optics, high-power network switches, power-electronics and air- and liquid-cooled data-center systems using CFD. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park, and has authored several publications, holds patents, and contributed to award-winning products. Besides work, she is actively involved in organizing IEEE conferences, including ITherm, and believes future AI systems will scale with watts and thermals.

Kristin Keller is a Career Counselor at San José State University with expertise in career exploration, job search strategies, and leveraging AI for career advancement. She is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with over 10 years of experience in career counseling, recruiting, and human resources, providing a unique perspective on the evolving job market. Kristin is known for her innovative approach to career education and her commitment to student success.

Snehal is a Software Engineer at Apple, where she specializes in engineering the internal tools and scalable frameworks that drive efficiency across software engineering teams. With a career spanning over a decade at Silicon Valley leaders including Apple, Clover Network and Intuit she focuses on building robust tools to streamline development workflows and enhance product quality for high-priority initiatives. She obtained her Master’s in Computer Engineering from San José State University. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, gardening, and spending time outdoors hiking.

Kristine Kohn is the Senior Manager of the Ergonomics and Industrial Athlete program at Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) where she has worked for the last 4 years. She has over 20 years of experience developing and managing corporate ergonomics programs for small businesses, national and international Fortune 500 companies across many industry sectors with proven results for increased efficiency and decreased injury costs. She holds a Master’s degree in Health Ergonomics from the University of Derby and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. She is also a Certified Professional Ergonomist (CPE) and a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES).

A versatile technology leader with deep expertise at the intersection of technical innovation and business strategy, Angie Krackeler specializes in driving adoption of emerging technologies, improving operational performance, and supporting business growth. She brings extensive experience in sales, marketing, and business development, and has guided global teams across 15 countries while managing multi‑million‑dollar initiatives. Angie is known for helping organizations understand and apply technology to advance their objectives, showcasing solutions to clients worldwide, and connecting them with the right teams for successful implementation. She is also an active public speaker and trusted adviser to universities, startups, and international delegations.

Viji Krishnamurthy is VP of AI Strategy at Oracle Industries group serving diverse markets including Healthcare, FSI, Consumer, Energy & Water, Construction Engineering, Communications and Government. With a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, she’s led AI and Gen AI services at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, served as Chief Data Scientist for Oracle IoT apps, managed Industry 4.0 IoT applications, and spearheaded AI/Gen AI/ ML features across Oracle SaaS including SCM, ERP, HCM, and CX Cloud. Viji also holds multiple patents in AI/Gen AI/ML applications.

Cecilia Carranza Lewis is a senior technical staff member (STSM), Software Architect at IBM with over 40 years of experience in IBM Z Systems on the mainframe operating system. She leads global teams to deliver complex data management solutions focused on supporting enterprise clients’ data growth and data security. She holds several patents and is a frequent speaker at user conferences. 

In addition to her technical work, Ceci is passionate about growing technical talent and K-12 STEM outreach. She received her BS in Computer Science/Math from Santa Clara University. She joined IBM shortly after graduation.

Ou Li is Senior Director of Business Development at UTAC Group, bringing over 25 years of experience across the semiconductor value chain, including technology development, product management, manufacturing, sales, and global business strategy.

Prior to joining UTAC, Ou served as Senior Director of Engineering and Sales at ASE, where she led critical customer engagements and delivered innovative semiconductor hardware solutions for AI, high-performance computing, robotics, and automotive applications. Earlier in her career, she held a range of technical roles at Spansion, AMD, and LSI Logic, supporting the development of memory, CPUs, chipsets, and ASICs.

Ou is an active mentor and career coach and actively involved in industry–academia collaboration. She has been an invited speaker for GSA Women in Semiconductor Hardware and a featured speaker at various leading industry conferences. Ou currently serves as General Chair for IMAPS CHIPcon 2025 and 2026, is a member of several IEEE EPS technical committees, and IEEE and IMAPS Silicon Valley chapters.

Ou holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and two Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University and the National University of Singapore.

Felix Lim holds two Ph.D. degrees – one on Electronics Engineering and another in Management. He has over 35 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. Formerly with Intel, ST Microelectronics, Vishay Siliconix and Fairchild Semiconductors, among others, Felix currently serves as the Vice President & General Manager of a semiconductor company.

As a former College Dean of Engineering, Dr. Lim has authored numerous books chapters and academic papers, covering key topics such as operations productivity, quality systems, manufacturing efficiency, intercultural communications and corporate social responsibility.

Fionne Liu is a technology executive and AI strategist with experience spanning autonomous systems, frontier AI, and enterprise deployment. Earlier in her career, she worked on autonomous driving initiatives, focusing on real-world machine learning deployment in safety-critical, large-scale systems.

She later joined Microsoft’s Corporate Strategy & Investment group as an AI subject matter expert, collaborating with frontier AI labs and infrastructure leaders including Nvidia, OpenAI, and Meta during the early emergence of generative AI.

Today, she serves as U.S. CEO of Jeen.ai, leading the company’s global expansion and bringing governed, production-grade AI into large enterprises.

Ekta has over 20 years of industry experience, along with 4 patents and 14 publications and is recognized for being visionary thought leader and driving new technologies and innovation. In her current role as Head of Material Science, she is leading the technical support for selection, characterization, and performance of raw materials used in manufacturing and analytical testing for all biologics programs at Gilead. Before joining Gilead, she was at Genentech and led the material science program for cell therapy with a focus on understanding, controlling and qualifying materials for cell therapy using science and risk-based approach. In her previous roles, she led the technical regulatory team for global filing of initial market application for Phesgo, the first Genentech fixed dose combination monoclonal antibody, lead projects in a wide range of areas, both upstream and downstream, including commercial manufacturing support, process development, and new technology evaluations. Before joining Genentech, Ekta was a process engineer at Merck, working on vaccines and process operations. She holds Chemical Engineering degrees from the Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Punjab, India and Bucknell University, Pennsylvania.

Isadora Ventura-Quintanilha McCullough is the Americas Business Development Manager for Certified Pre-Owned Instruments at Agilent Technologies, where she helps companies expand access to advanced laboratory tools that accelerate scientific discovery. Originally from Rio de Janeiro, Isadora moved to California to study Chemical Engineering at San José State University—without a clear roadmap of what her career would look like.

Her journey took an unexpected and exciting turn when she realized her engineering mindset could be applied beyond traditional technical roles, allowing her to help scientists and companies find the right solutions to power their research. Her path from engineering to sales to business development highlights the versatility of an engineering degree and shows students how technical backgrounds can open doors to leadership roles that blend strategy, communication, and innovation.

With over eight years at Agilent, Isadora is known for her strategic problem-solving, her ability to build meaningful customer partnerships, and her leadership in growing Agilent’s Certified Pre-Owned business. She also serves on the core leadership team of Women@Agilent, where she is passionate about supporting and empowering women as they enter and thrive in workforce.

Dr. Sandra Melo Carlos is a Principal Scientist with a joint appointment in the Computational Sciences and the Molecular Oncology departments at Genentech. Her academic background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Colombia’s National University, and a PhD in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of South Carolina. Sandra started transitioning from being a focused experimentalist to computation during her postdoctoral training at Stanford University, and fully moved to computational biology during her first job in the industry at Agilent Technologies. Now at Genentech, Sandra combines her deep understanding of biology and her computational skills to improve therapies in the oncology space.

Neeta is an accomplished medical industry leader with over twenty five years of global experience in diverse organizations from startups to large corporations. She joined Intuitive Surgical in Feb 2015 to create the Program Management Office (Global Product & Digital PMO). Most recently she is responsible for Asia Commercial Operations & China Strategy for Intuitive. Neeta was with Siemens for 12 years & had various leadership roles, from Business Head South Asia Cluster to Chief Information Officer within the Siemens Ultrasound Leadership Team. Neeta has an MBA from Santa Clara University and a BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Bombay, India.

Neeta enjoys volunteering for various organizations. She has done a few marathons for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Neeta was the Exec Sponsor for the Intuitive Pan Asian Community & now she is the Exec Sponsor for the Women’s Intuitive Network (WIN).

Monique Michel is a dynamic talent strategist with 35+ years of cross‑industry experience in HR, recruiting, operations, and training. She has built and scaled early‑career programs for organizations including Juniper Networks, Amazon (via SPS Global), Veritas Technologies, and Aruba (HPE), strengthening diverse technical pipelines and empowering emerging engineers. A dynamic storyteller and facilitator, Monique brings warmth, authenticity, and actionable insight to help women in engineering recognize their strengths, articulate their value, and navigate their careers with confidence and purpose.

Sherry is a researcher at Google DeepMind, where she leads initiatives at the intersection of artificial intelligence and productivity tools to drive the next generation of collaborative intelligence. Throughout her 15-year tenure at Google, she has spearheaded engineering and innovation across diverse, high-impact domains, including Google Ads, Google Fiber, TensorFlow, and Robotics. Prior to Google, Sherry spent 14 years as a systems and kernel engineer at Sun Microsystems, architecting world-class enterprise systems.

Software Developer at NetApp, currently focused on building caching infrastructure to maximize system efficiency and optimize data delivery for high-performance environments. Driven by my interest in scaling distributed data storage and database management.

Thuy is a Career Counselor at San José State University, dedicated to helping students and alumni discover their true selves and confidently navigate the professional world with curiosity. She is recognized for combining a life design approach, creative techniques, and AI-driven tools to make career development engaging and meaningful. 

Thuy earned her Master of Arts in Guidance and Counseling from Loyola Marymount University and is currently obtaining a certification in Instructional Design and Technology at CSU Fullerton to create more impactful career education content.

Megha is a strategic Program & Project Management leader with over two decades of experience driving high-stakes, enterprise-level initiatives at NetApp. Proven expertise in bridging IT Strategy and Business Intelligence to unlock value. Passionate mentor focused on developing PM best practices and fostering professional growth in emerging talent.

Aishwarya Parasuram is a Tech Lead at Waymo and a recognized leader in the field of autonomous driving and robotics. Specializing in safety-critical motion planning, she has led high-impact engineering efforts that allow autonomous vehicles to navigate complex urban scenarios safely. An inventor of 10 US patents, her work has been instrumental in transforming advanced research into production-grade systems, enabling Waymo’s fleet to cover millions of autonomous miles.

As a passionate advocate for technical excellence and diversity, Aishwarya actively serves as a judge for global technology awards and speaks at major industry events like Google I/O. She has been recognized as a Senior Member of IEEE, an honor bestowed upon fewer than 10% of IEEE’s half-million global members. She holds a Master’s in Computer Science from UC Berkeley and continues to drive the industry forward, fostering technological progress for the benefit of humanity.

Jess Prudent is the Mentorship & Micro-Internship Coordinator at the San José State University Career Center, where she supports students in building career readiness through meaningful professional connections and hands-on experience. With a background spanning higher education, nonprofit, and private sector work—including roles at UC Santa Cruz and SJSU—Jess has served as an academic advisor, program coordinator, and large-scale event planner. She has led over 200 interviews with student staff and university professionals, giving her a unique perspective on what makes candidates stand out. At the 2026 Silicon Valley Women in Engineering Conference, she will share interview strategies, insider tips, and best practices to help attendees confidently showcase their strengths and career potential.

Farah Rahhal is a Quality Manager at Abbott, where she works closely with engineering and cross-functional teams to help bring safe, reliable medical devices to patients. Her work focuses on building strong processes, navigating complex regulations, and guiding teams through change, including company growth and global expansion. A graduate of San José State University, Farah is passionate about mentoring and supporting professional development and knowledge-sharing within the engineering community.

Brandi is a research scientist who finds sustainable materials solutions by using computational methods including atomic simulations and AI. She builds and uses software that can predict properties on different material systems, such as how toxic additives are in consumer products, and how long it will take plastic to biodegrade. She also gets to wrap those softwares in very pretty websites that make them easily accessible to consumers. Her technical skillset allows her to discover materials which are more environmentally friendly, and help others do the same.

Beth Rieken is an aerospace engineer and space systems leader with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. She previously worked at NASA, contributing to strategic innovation and space exploration initiatives. She now serves as a Mission Manager at Muon Space, where she leads cross-functional teams developing next-generation satellite systems for Earth observation and climate missions.

Dilan is a California Professional Civil Engineer with over 26 years of experience providing engineering services, regulatory liaison, and regulatory oversight of civil, environmental, and remediation projects in public and private sector environments. Dilan is currently Chief of Alameda County Environmental Health Department’s Land & Water Protection Division (LWPD) with local oversight programs for hazardous materials releases, onsite wastewater systems, and small water systems and has a staff of civil engineers, geologists, hydrogeologists, and scientists. The LWPD currently provides oversight of over 400 environmental cleanup cases for investigation, cleanup, and redevelopment of sites with releases of petroleum, chlorinated solvents, metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Dilan has developed programs in the LWPD to expedite redevelopment sites and evaluate vapor intrusion mitigation and migration engineering controls including design, construction quality assurance, and performance verification testing. Dilan is an avid cyclist outside of work.

Mona Salvi is a technology and security executive with 20+ years of experience in CyberSecurity. She is currently the Director of Product at Capital One, leading Application Security, Offensive Security and Cyber SRE responsible for the strategic vision for secure software development, embedding advanced security practices into SDLC and DevOps pipelines, while building long-term security vision, managing risk, and leading high-performing teams. Previously, she was Senior Director of Security, Fraud and Risk at HubSpot, shaping initiatives for customer trust, fraud, and product risk. Mona joined HubSpot from Intuit, where she built a product management discipline for  Enterprise Security and Trust and Safety functions.  Before Intuit, Mona led Symantec’s high revenue growth business of Identity and Authentication for Enterprise and Internet of Things. Prior to that, Mona has held several Engineering and Product leadership roles at Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Bank of America and Verizon Telecommunications. Mona is an active mentor and executive speaker on security leadership, personal branding, and career growth in cybersecurity. She has been featured on podcasts and contributed thought leadership to university and industry publications. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mumbai and completed executive education in Organizational Leadership at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Engineering Leader with 13 years of experience in silicon debug, product engineering and test automation, she demonstrated success as a change agent in identifying and capitalizing on opportunities to drive process efficiencies, and accelerating time-to-market by 99%. She is a visionary leader and pragmatic innovator who increases product velocity and slashes costs through low-risk, proof of concept programs, scaling winners across multiple product lines. Respected coach and mentor who adapts style to inspire global teams to excel, while instilling accountability and setting stretch goals.

Radhika Shankar is Vice President of Applications Engineering and has been at Synopsys for 23 years. Radhika has over 28+ years of industry experience in semiconductor design and EDA field engineering. Radhika leads the World-wide customer success group at Synopsys that requires

•Strong technical skills

•Excellent Communication

•Innovative team building and Leadership

Radhika has consistently received high praise for excellent customer focus, team-oriented approach to solving problems with a strong YES-IF mindset. In 2019, Radhika received YWCA tribute to women award. Radhika is also the executive sponsor for Women in Sales and Engineering group, WISE. Radhika is passionate about promoting inclusion and diversity in all aspects of life.

Megha brings a rich blend of sales, customer-centricity, and entrepreneurial spirit. She spent 11 years at Akamai where she led Managed Services for North America growing its footprint with the strategic enterprise customers. Her leadership helped shape a customer-first culture that consistently exceeded expectations. Most recently, Megha launched her own consumer wellness brand, giving her a fresh lens on innovation and engagement.

She describes herself as a curious, hands-on, people person who learns best by doing—an approach that aligns perfectly with our field-driven, customer-focused mindset.

Hitisha Sharma is an Associate Principal and Head of EE Department at Point Energy Innovations leading large-scale decarbonization and infrastructure projects across California. Her portfolio of work includes impactful infrastructure projects across the United States from the top legacy consulting firms as well as from innovation-centric, medium-sized companies.

Her current work focuses on sustainability-driven design for higher education, transportation, and public-sector developments, operating at the intersection of electrical engineering, climate impact, and leadership. 

Hitisha frequently speaks and serves as a judge at engineering and leadership forums, advocating for visibility, long-term impact, and expanded pathways for women in engineering. She shares insights from her own experience of often being the youngest – and the only woman – in decision-making rooms.

Jen is an experienced UXR leader with a passion for designing innovative and user-centric products that better how we live. In her current role at Google, Jen leads a UXR team focused on driving Photos and Google One growth. Prior to joining Google, Jen led research at Citi Ventures’ product incubator, Meta, data.ai, and Adobe. Jen holds a Master’s degree in Library & Information Science – Informatics from UCLA and a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from the University of Maryland. She loves having dance parties with her family and making really bad pottery.

Shruthi Srinivasan is a biomedical engineer and M.S. graduate from San José State University with experience spanning regulated medical device development and translational research. Prior to graduate school, she worked at Roche Pharmaceuticals, supporting verification and validation efforts for PCR diagnostic systems and strengthening her foundation in quality systems and regulatory compliance. Her graduate research focused on developing a microfluidic nano-biosensor for rapid detection of Botulinum Neurotoxin, integrating bio-transport principles, fluorescence spectroscopy, and statistical modeling to build a sensitive diagnostic platform. She currently works in the corporate sector, applying the technical rigor and research-driven mindset gained during graduate school to advance innovative healthcare technologies, while remaining committed to empowering more women to lead in engineering.

Isabel Suarez (BA Psychology, 2025) is an HR and Talent Coordinator at CORE Builders and a proud alumna of San José State University. With a strong foundation in psychology and a keen interest in organizational development and talent strategy, Isabel is cultivating a dynamic career in human resources. She is passionate about fostering inclusive environments and connecting young talent with opportunities that support career growth and long-term success.

Kelli Sum is a Human Factors Design Engineer at Intuitive Surgical, where she has spent the past five years contributing to the design and development of robotic surgical systems. With eight years of experience in the medical device industry, Kelli specializes in applying human factors engineering to complex medical technologies to ensure they are safe, effective, and intuitive for healthcare professionals.

In her role, Kelli leads user-centered design efforts across the product development lifecycle. She partners closely with mechanical engineers, software engineers, industrial designers, user interface and interaction designers, product managers, and biomedical and clinical research engineers. Together, they gather feedback from surgeons and clinical staff, translate user needs into design requirements, and identify usability risks in alignment with FDA human factors guidance for medical devices. Her focus is on ensuring that products are designed to fit the user — not the other way around — reducing frustration, minimizing error, and supporting safe clinical performance.

A proud alumna of San José State University, Kelli earned both her Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and her Master’s degree in Human Factors and Ergonomics there. She also attended De Anza College, and is passionate about encouraging students who are exploring pathways into engineering and human factors careers.

Outside of work, Kelli enjoys playing basketball, spending time with her one-year-old, and volunteering with the Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco Japantown. She is excited to return to SJSU to share insights from her career journey and experiences in medical device innovation.

Karla Talisse is a construction strategist and entrepreneur shaping how small and mid-sized builders enter, compete, and scale within the public and private sectors. She is the Founder & CEO of SoSheBuilds, a consulting firm that equips contractors, architects, and engineering teams with the systems, visibility, and strategic frameworks needed to win work and build sustainable operations.

In addition to leading SoSheBuilds, Karla oversees Business Development & Marketing at HBI Commercial Construction, where she drives growth across storage, industrial, and retail developments throughout California, Nevada, and Arizona. Known for her ability to translate complex regulatory, procurement, and operational challenges into clear action plans, Karla has helped companies secure millions in contract opportunities through improved processes, stronger business infrastructure, and mission-aligned partnerships.

With a decade of experience spanning government contracting, real estate development, and construction operations, Karla is passionate about building pathways for emerging talent and underserved founders in the AEC industry. She regularly collaborates with public agencies, nonprofits, and community organizations to expand access to workforce development, small business readiness, and women-in-construction leadership.

Karla is committed to empowering the next generation of builders and innovators through education, strategic mentorship, and industry storytelling. She is honored to join the 2026 Silicon Valley Women in Engineering Conference and contribute her perspective on entrepreneurship, visibility, and building organizations that create real opportunity.

Sarah Thomson has over 15 years of experience in new product design spanning medical imaging and automated instruments. Since 2022 she has worked in Automated Productivity Solutions at Agilent Technologies, designing hardware for next-generation connected laboratories that utilize Agilent’s entire portfolio to deliver a complete automated workflow to customers in life sciences and pharmaceuticals. Ms. Thomson has a Bachelors of Science in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College.

Prerna Totla is a ML technical leader with over a decade of experience in the recommendation space. In her current role as Principle Machine Learning Engineer at Quizlet, she is setting the strategic direction for personalization and recommendations on the platform, helping millions of learners achieve their study outcomes. In her previous experience at Meta, she worked on various content recommendation systems across Instagram Feed, ads, Facebook Search and nonprofits, scaling both mature and net new systems.

Vinson Vũ is the inaugural Adobe Career Hub Coordinator at San José State University, where they empower students to achieve their career aspirations at the intersection of creativity, digital literacy, storytelling, and technology. Their prior experience includes serving as a Technical Recruiter at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and as a Management Aide for the County of Santa Clara at the Vietnamese American Services Center (VASC). Vinson is passionate about leveraging technology and bringing people together to make a positive impact in the community. 

Vinson has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Concentration in Management Information Systems with a Minor in Child and Adolescent Development. They are pursuing a Master of Science in Applied Data Intelligence from San José State University to drive responsible innovation and explore the societal impact of emerging technologies. Go Spartans!

Julie Willey is a Senior Systems Design Engineer at Google and a veteran leader in the consumer electronics space, dedicated to building products that “delight and inspire”. With a career spanning over two decades, Julie has been at the forefront of hardware innovation, from her current work on 3rd Party Glasses Platforms at Google to her instrumental role at Facebook Reality Labs, where she led systems architecture for the Meta Ray-Ban Generation 2 wearables. Julie’s expertise lies in navigating the complex intersection of hardware design, system architecture, and technology maturation.

Hannah Wu is a Product Manager at IntBot, a startup enabling humanoid robots to interact naturally with humans in real-world environments. A UC San Diego graduate in Cognitive Science with a specialization in Interaction Design, she leads the personality and experience of Nylo, a hospitality robot deployed in live settings.

Cady Xu is a researcher on the GenAI team at Google DeepMind, specializing in multimodal LLM agents. Her work focuses on advancing AI from open-ended generation to closed-loop execution, bridging the gap between high-level reasoning and reliable, autonomous task completion. Previously, Cady was a Machine Learning Engineer on the Google XR team, where she developed perception models and multimodal LLMs for immersive, context-aware interactions, driving forward the user experience of next-generation wearable technology.

Zhan Yu, Associate Vice President at Marvell Semiconductor, has built and led cross-functional, cross-geographic R&D organizations to design and develop high-performance, mixed-signal IPs. With over 20 years of semiconductor experience in the U.S. and Asia, she has made significant contributions to the industry.

Dr. Yu joined Marvell in 2001 as a design engineer. After delivering multiple successful designs in data storage and data communications products, she was promoted to lead R&D activities across various business units. She later took on the leadership of analog mixed-signal IP development in Central Engineering. Her technical contributions have been integral to Marvell’s advancements in Data Storage, Digital Entertainment, and Data Communication technologies. She holds over 20 patents and has published numerous technical conference and journal papers.

During her tenure in Central Engineering, she expanded her leadership portfolio across functions and geographic regions. She successfully established multiple new sites, driving Marvell’s development of pivotal SerDes IPs in advanced nodes, with consistent year-over-year IP and test chip deliveries critical to Marvell’s IP landscape.

Zhan holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UCLA and MBA degrees from INSEAD and Tsinghua University. She founded the Coaching Center at Tsinghua x-lab and is an avid mentor for women’s leadership development and young entrepreneurs. Additionally, she serves as an Engineering Technology Advisory Board member for the San José State University, Aviation & Technology Department.