Hi, I’m Grace! I’m a rising junior at Northwestern University studying Industrial Engineering and Data Science. This summer I was a data engineering intern at GM, where I worked in the Super Cruise Analytics team to streamline and automate data pipelines for automatic emergency braking data for several vehicle programs.

I also developed a dashboard tracking these events and worked closely with the quality engineering team, who were the main stakeholder for this project. Overall, it was really fun to see how data patterns emerge when it is collected and analyzed on a large scale. Translating classroom knowledge into the workplace was a great learning experience, and my manager and team at GM were super supportive.

My past experience is a mix of consulting, data science, and marketing because I was interested in all of those areas, and I was trying to decide which one to pursue. I ended up being able to try a little bit of each, which I’m grateful for. I really love my majors and found that the technical skills I learned in data science and engineering were helpful in a business role and vice versa.

I remember the first week at GM, a manager I worked with said that the hardest part of his job wasn’t always the technical aspects but determining which features or data to look at. Collecting data and making models is time intensive, and the hypothesis driven thinking I learned in my previous roles was really helpful in determining which areas to look at to solve a problem.

I would say that communication and storytelling have been really helpful skills to try and get better at. At the end of the day, the data is there to help make a business decision, or help others in the company gather more information.

The people that I presented my finding to don’t always know every technical detail, so the way I communicated to them and used the data to tell a story about what was happening was important. This was actually advice I was given by some members of my team when I asked the same question!

Grace is actually also an intern who was affected by the Tesla layoffs this summer (we were going to be roommates together 🥹). She worked really hard to turn the tables around, and she was able to land an offer with GM in a very limited amount of time. So incredibly proud of her <3

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NASA’s largest planetary spacecraft, Europa Clipper, carries nine instruments to study Europa’s habitability. Prelaunch events include interviews, science briefings, and a NASA social panel, with all events streaming live on NASA’s platforms and social media. Read more HERE from NASA.

The robot pangolin “Plantolin” won the 2023 Natural Robotics Contest for its nature-inspired design. Created by high school student Dorothy from California, the robot was built by engineers at the University of Surrey.

Plantolin, which digs and plants seeds using its claws, was inspired by the pangolin’s behavior and aims to aid reforestation. Dr. Rob Siddall highlighted the robot’s role in restoring urban green spaces by mimicking how animals spread seeds in nature, addressing deforestation and climate change. Read more HERE from TechXplore.

Society of Women engineers have a digital library to explore engineering careers: chemical, biomedical, civil, mechanical, electrical, industrial, aerospace, architectural, marine, environmental, manufacturing, nuclear, mining, petroleum, and more.

They have STEM pathway courses built into a digital library for you to explore a variety of STEm careers to learn how you can make a difference. They also include a digital workbook for each engineering career pathway.

Check out more resources from the Society of Women Engineers organization HERE!