Women in Engineering Webinar

Date: Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Time: 12:00 — 1:00 PM EST

Location: Virtual

Join us for a one-hour virtual panel discussion during National Engineers Week, hosted by Sarah Ostadabbas, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the Women in Engineering program at Northeastern. Following last year’s successful focus on career challenges and helpful resources, this year’s panel will explore the personal and professional experiences of women in engineering more deeply.

The panel will feature a group of female faculty and students from various engineering disciplines and career stages—from undergraduates to postdocs. This year, we’re excited to include participants from multiple campuses, enhancing the variety of perspectives shared. Please see their bios below.

The discussion will center around three pivotal questions:

Personal Journey in Engineering: What inspired you to choose your discipline within engineering, and what impact do you believe it has?
Career Crossroads: Could you share a pivotal moment when you faced a significant career decision? How did you approach this challenge, and what resources were most helpful?
Vision for Growth: How do you envision growth in your engineering career, and what steps are you taking to realize your future goals?

Registration is required to join this enlightening conversation, which promises to inspire and inform attendees.

Panelists

Sarah Ostadabbas is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Northeastern University (NU), Boston, where she has been since 2016. She completed her postdoctoral research at Georgia Tech after earning her PhD from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2014. At NU, she directs the Augmented Cognition Laboratory (ACLab) and the Women in Engineering (WIE) program. Her research merges computer vision with machine learning, focusing on representation learning for visual perception challenges. She has co-authored over 130 peer-reviewed papers and has been recognized by the US government and major corporations for her research contributions.

Leila Keyvani is an associate teaching professor in the First-Year Engineering program at Northeastern University and is affiliated with the civil and environmental engineering (CEE) department. She has a decade of experience teaching project-based first-year engineering courses and has also taught undergraduate and graduate courses in the CEE and mechanical and industrial engineering departments. She earned her PhD in Structural Engineering from Northeastern University, where her research focused on the progressive collapse of buildings due to natural and man-made hazards. In 2023, she moved to Northeastern’s Oakland campus to establish and offer first-year engineering courses there for the first time. Her current research focuses on engineering education, with an emphasis on innovative teaching methods, and experiential learning.

Kristina (Kristy) Johnson is an assistant professor at Northeastern University, jointly appointed in electrical and computer engineering (ECE) and communication sciences and disorders (CSD). Kristy received her PhD in affective computing from MIT and was a postdoctoral fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the Translational Neuroscience Center. She also holds an MS and Honors BS in Physics. Her research focuses on individuals with complex neurodevelopmental differences, especially those with autism, intellectual disabilities, rare genetic disorders, and minimal spoken speech. She works at the intersection of science and engineering, specializing in personalized naturalistic studies, digital healthcare, and augmentative technology.

Shayda Moezzi is pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering at Northeastern University’s Augmented Cognition Lab under the guidance of Professor Sarah Ostadabbas. She previously received her B.S. in Computer Science from MIT.

Sepideh Fouladzadeh is a second year PhD student in the bioengineering (computational, systems, and synthetic biology) department at Northeastern. She received both her BS and MS in mechanical engineering (control and dynamical systems).

Victoria Berry is a first-year mechanical engineering and computer science major at Northeastern University, originally from Quincy, Massachusetts. She is part of the Augmented Cognition Lab as an assistant researcher and works at the Center for STEM Education. Additionally, Victoria is part of the NU Taekwondo Team, the Robotics Club, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. She hopes to pursue a career centered on engineering and AI for law enforcement.

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