As the founder of an organization serving Latina STEM professionals and aspiring Latina engineers, 2019 CEET graduate Diana Iracheta is blazing important trails.
And key figures in her path are a husband-and-wife team in the Department of Mechanical Engineering: Iman Salehinia and Sahar Vahabzadeh, both associate professors.
“I always had trouble thinking about whether I needed to give up any part of myself to continue being in STEM or engineering,” Iracheta says in a recent NIU Alumni Association feature profile. “They showed me that you could have a great career and a family, and nothing had to stop. Watching them, I realized there could be room for whatever I wanted to do with my life.”
So far, that’s included founding Latina Engineer to empower fellow Latinas in engineering by providing educational and professional development resources.
Since Iracheta hosted the first International Latina Engineer Week (ILEW) conference in 2020, there have been over 3,000 attendees at those gatherings overall.
We’re proud of this Huskie’s initiative, ability to build community and passion for lifting up others. Most exciting of all: Diana’s only just begun.
Check out the full NIU Alumni Association story.
