3 minute read
News & Events
by Lango Deen ldeen@ccgmag.com
MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THESE NATIONAL CONFERENCES
Great Minds In STEM
Annual GMiS Conference October 5-8, 2022 Pasadena, California
American Indian Science and Engineering Society
AISES National Conference October 6-8, 2022 Palm Springs, California
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
Annual HACU Conference October 8-10, 2022 San Diego, California
Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans
SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference October 27-29, 2022 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
SHPE National Convention November 2-6, 2022 Charlotte, North Carolina
Migrant farmworkers' daughters
2019 saw the largest graduating class in University of California, Merced history, and Anna Ocegueda was one of the stars. One of five children of undocumented migrant farmworkers from Mexico, Ocegueda was the first in her family to graduate from university, earning a bachelor's degree in psychology and a minor in Spanish. Later that day, her sister took a photograph of her with their parents,
Top: Anna Oceguega and her parents Bottom: Jennifer Rocha and her parents
standing in orange groves. (https:// twitter.com/ucmerced/status/112870681 5347138560?lang=en). This year, Coachella native Jennifer Rocha, a University of California, San Diego graduate, took a similar photo in the farm fields where she worked with her parents. Since June 9, Rocha's story on UC San Diego's Facebook page has garnered 36,000 emojis and been shared 25,000 times. "Having to work two jobs, commute, and go to school at the same time was a struggle,” she wrote. “So many times, I wanted to give up, but my parents and their pieces of advice and support were the reason I kept going."(https:// www.facebook.com/UCSanDiego/ posts/10159431381224781)
This commencement season, business administration, computer science, finance, and psychology were among the top 10 degrees earned by the10,000 graduates at San Diego State University. Among those honored by the College of Engineering was graduating senior Jamilla Thomas. According to Delaney Weidner of San Diego State News, Thomas’s mother, originally from Grenada, earned a degree from SDSU 25 years ago and now works on Mars rover projects. Thomas began work at Rockwell in July. Both mother and daughter prospered at the College of Engineering under the same mentor, Theresa Garcia, now assistant dean of engineering student affairs, and directed the MESA (Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement) program at SDSU 1997 to 2014.
Jamilla Thomas and her mother
Since their graduation in 1997, Alfredo and Sandra P. Aldrete have remained active in MESA (formerly known as the Minority Engineering Program). They provide scholarships, serve on the MESA board, and volunteer for various college efforts. They both credit the MESA program with much of their academic success. This spring, the College of Engineering at San Diego State University announced that the couple made a gift to establish the Alfredo Aldrete and Sandra Pulido Aldrete MESA Endowed Scholarship for Engineering. Alfredo is a radio frequency communications test and evaluation engineer at G2 Software Systems. Sandra is a systems engineer at Northrop Grumman. As an Air Force veteran, Alfredo used his GI Bill to pursue his education at SDSU with credits he earned at the Community College of the Air Force. Sandra transferred from San Diego Community College to SDSU.
AIAA Engineer of the Year
Humberto "Tito" Silva III, a Sandia National Laboratories researcher, has been named Engineer of the Year by the world's largest aerospace technical society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Selected by a committee of his peers, Silva was cited for improving failure-rate predictions of aerospace flight systems as they reenter Earth's atmosphere. The work helps direct engineers to attack the worst problems first for reentry rockets, spaceships, and satellites. AIAA president Basil Hassan, who is also the deputy chief research officer at Sandia, said, "Tito's work helps ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the nuclear deterrent by helping to understand potential uncertainties in extreme thermal environments. The methodologies developed here could also be used for other entry and reentry-type applications that similarly concern engineers." HE
Humberto “Tito” Silva III
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