2015 CBE Alumni Panel

2015 Panel Discussion: Women in Engineering

Join past and present women Chemical Engineers from Drexel University as we discuss the realities of industry and academia today. Over a provided breakfast and lunch, alumna will impart their wisdom to current students, and have the opportunity to network with peers across the industries.

Panel Event Sponsored by The Dow Chemical Company and Drexel University Alumni Association
Raffle Prizes Sponsored by Trader Joe's and Joe Coffee

View event photosSaturday, April 25, 2015 9AM – 2:00PM
Bossone Atrium, 3rd Floor

MODERATOR:

Dr. Maggie Wheatley received her BS in Chemistry from Oxford University, UK, and an MS in Biochemistry from the same institution. She saw the engineering light and pursued her PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto, Canada. She went on to do a post doc. with Dr. Langer at MIT, Boston, investigating controlled drug delivery. Subsequently, after a three-year taste of industry at Glaxo Smith Kline research facility at King of Prussia, she joined the Department of Chemical Engineering as the first female faculty in 1987. In 1998 she joined The School of Biomedical Engineering Science and Health Systems at Drexel as an inaugural faculty member. Dr. Wheatley’s main research area is development of novel polymeric platforms to act as contrast agents for diagnostic ultrasound, with a strong interest in drug delivery and drug targeting in cancer. Recent collaborations have included targeting liver cancer with colleagues at University of Pennsylvania and pancreatic cancer with colleagues at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. Dr. Wheatley is now looking into oxygen delivery to hypoxic regions in cancer tumors to increase their sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiation with a PhD who graduated from her lab (an absolute joy). She also has projects in developing polymer constructs for spinal cord repair.

PANELISTS

Suzanne Chiavari serves as a national engineering practice leader for American Water, the nation’s largest investor owner water & wastewater utility. In this role, Chiavari is one of the company’s top technical experts in various engineering disciplines that are of critical importance to the company’s operations. Her areas of expertise include applying new innovative technologies to solve business challenges, building sustainability and resiliency, and managing critical water resources and infrastructure. Chiavari interfaces with environmental and regulatory agencies, universities and officials on water related issues, has spoken on numerous topics and provided expert industry testimony at governmental hearings.

Chiavari brings over 20 years of experience in the utility industry, having started her career as an engineer for the City of Philadelphia Water Department. She holds a B.S. in chemical engineering and an M.S. in environmental engineering from Drexel University. A registered Professional Engineer in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, she also is a member of the New Jersey Section of the American Water Works Association, and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. She serves on the board of the NJ Alliance For Action, the South Jersey district board of Junior Achievement NJ, and Drexel University’s President’s Council on Energy and the Environment. Chiavari was named a Woman of Distinction by the Philadelphia Business Journal, the Girl Scouts of Central and Southern NJ, and South Jersey Biz Magazine, and named to Drexel University’s College of Engineering Alumni Circle of Distinction.

Julia is a 2009 graduate of the Drexel CBE BS/MS program. As part of the program, she completed co-ops at GlaxoSmithKline biopharmaceuticals as a validation engineer and Hovensa LLC as a technical services engineer. She completed her master’s research in self-healing polymers at the Army Research Laboratory with advisor Dr. Palmese.

Since graduation, Julia has spent the last five years with Colgate-Palmolive. She has held roles in manufacturing operations, continuous improvement, and manufacturing support services. After completing an assignment in Rome supporting the acquisition and sourcing of a new Colgate brand, she is now working in the Morristown, NJ manufacturing facility as a production planning supervisor. Her team focuses on customer service, inventory, and synchronizing supply and demand in a just-in-time manufacturing environment. Julia is a graduate of the Kent State University lean six-sigma black belt program, and also a graduate/mentor for the Women Unlimited leadership development program. She is currently working towards her MBA at Rutgers University, concentrating in Supply Chain Management.

Julia is a horseback-riding enthusiast, and likes to do any kind of outdoor activities. In her off time she loves to travel, try new foods, and go to musicals in the city!

Dr. Nily Dan received her BS in Chemical Engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in 1987, and her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1992. She had post-doc positions in the Weizmann Institute (Rehovot, Israel), Institut Charles Sadron (Strasbourg, France), and Princeton University. In 1995 she started teaching in the Department of Chemical Engineering in University of Delaware, and moved to Drexel in 1999. Since then she has spent a year as a visiting researcher at Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, and two years as program director at the National Science Foundation’s Biology Division. Dr. Dan’s research focuses on the development of novel ‘functional’ materials, that is, materials that can respond to their environment. She has studied polymeric materials for gene therapy applications, a number of drug delivery systems such as liposomes and polymersomes, and environmentally sensitive polymeric materials. Her recent work investigates the response of biomaterials to applied fields for biomedical applications, and encapsulation systems for food additives. She has published more than 90 research papers. Recently, she has helped develop and manage a leadership program for senior women in science and engineering- the Executive Leadership in Academic Technology and Engineering (ELATE). The goal of the program is to increase the numbers of female university leaders in science and technology fields.

Amutha is a 2012 Ph.D. and 2005 BS/MS graduate from the Drexel CBE department. As part of the BS/MS program she completed he Co-Op s at Arkema Chemicals as a plant engineer, at Excelon as a lab research engineer and at DuPont as a pilot plant engineer. She completed her Master’s research in Fatty acid based polymers and her Ph.D. research in Room Temperature Ionic Liquids with Dr. Giuseppe Palmese.

After her graduation from BS/MS, Amutha spent last ten years at DuPont. During her tenure she held roles in Technology, Continuous improvement and Operations Manager. Amutha is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and led continuous improvement projects across Chambers Works Plant site. In her current role as an Operations Area Manager she is responsible for providing leadership and direction for the Waste Water Treatment Facility at Chambers Works Plant with the focus of safe, continuous and efficient operations.

Amutha likes Music and she plays Veena (string instrument) during her off time.

Dr. Vibha Kalra is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Drexel University. Prof. Kalra received her BS degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India in 2004 and PhD from Cornell University in 2009, both in Chemical Engineering. Prior to joining Drexel in the Fall of 2010, she worked at Intel Corporation in the electronic packaging research division. Dr. Kalra’s research focuses on integrating experiments and computational simulations to study process-structure-property-performance correlation in nanofiber-based materials for various applications, particularly energy storage devices. Dr. Kalra is an associate editor of Chemical Engineering Science Journal (since Sept. 2013). She is a recipient of several awards including the Drexel career development award (2011), NSF CAREER award (2012), ONR summer faculty fellowship award (2013) and the ECS early career travel award (2014).

Dr. Padma Narayan received her PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering from Drexel University in 1999. She received her Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering at Villanova University in 1994. Padma is currently a Senior Research & Development Leader for the Industrial Solutions Portfolio at The Dow Chemical Company in Freeport, Texas. She leads a group of scientists and engineers who are involved in product development for various industries such as agricultural, pharmaceutical, consumer products, paints/coatings, and oil & gas. Padma joined Dow in 2010 and was previously located in Midland, Michigan. She has held prior positions at Johnson & Johnson in Raritan, New Jersey, and Pfizer in Groton, Connecticut, as a Principal Scientist/Group Leader. Her area of expertise in the pharmaceutical industry involved particle technology, and formulation research and process development for oral dosage forms (tablets, capsules, suspensions) and transdermal formulations. She has developed and commercialized drug compounds for the pain, metabolic, and central nervous system therapeutic areas. Padma has published various scientific papers and actively reviews journals in the chemical engineering and pharmaceutical fields. She is an active member of the Society of Women Engineers and American Institute of Chemical Engineers. In addition to her industrial and scientific pursuits, Padma is also a violinist and has played in various community orchestras across the country. She is active in the Sigma Alpha Iota music philanthropic society and as a volunteer in local STEM efforts in the Houston area.

CBE Alumni Panel Archives