GradSWE Committee
Jiachun Shi | GradSWE Director
Jiachun is a fifth year PhD student in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Washington in 2017 and her Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2019. In her free time, she loves baking, watching thriller movies, and playing with her dog Sony and cat JoJo.
Laura Gray | weSTEM Director
Laura is a third-year PhD student in the Energy-Water-Environment-Sustainability track of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Biological Engineering from the University of Arkansas in 2019 and her Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2021. She loves rock climbing, gaming, traveling, being outside when possible, and can frequently be found haunting local coffee shops.
Shradha Sehgal | Secretary
Shradha is a second-year master’s student in the department of Computer Science. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from IIIT-Hyderabad in 2022. She loves dancing, traveling, trying new cuisines, and exploring coffee shops on campus!
Shivani Kamtikar | Treasurer
Shivani is a second-year Ph.D. student in Computer Science. She received her Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2022 and her Bachelor’s from Pune University, India, in 2020. Other than research, she loves oil painting, hiking, traveling and reading. She also has a big plant collection in her apartment.
Denissa Purba | Professional Development Coordinator
Denissa is a 4th year PhD student in Civil Engineering, focusing in Transportation Systems. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia, in 2016 and her Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2020. She loves binge watching Netflix, gaming, and traveling.
Qiong Wang | Professional Development Coordinator
Qiong is a 4th year PhD student in Mechanical Engineering, focusing on soft actuators. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautic Engineering from Zhejiang University, China, in 2019 and her Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2020. She enjoys running, baking and gaming. Three places to spot her during weekends: Famer’s market, coffee shop and Meadowbrook Park.
Naina Balepur | Outreach Coordinator
Naina is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in Computer Science currently working on modeling altruistic behavior on social networks. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2020 with degrees in Applied Mathematics and Philosophy. When she’s not beep booping you can find her cooking, reading, rearranging her furniture, or forcing her very shy cat outside on a leash.
Simrita Jayasimha | Social Coordinator
Simrita is a second-year Masters student in Computer Science. She received her Bachelor's degree in Computer Science & Engineering from PES University, India in 2020 with a specialization in Data Science/Machine Learning. She enjoys baking, playing board games and watching movies.
Jingfang Zhang | University Partnership Coordinator
Jingfang is a 3rd year PhD student in Informatics, focusing on cancer and A.I. interdisciplinary researches. She received her master degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2018 and has worked at Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology since then. She enjoys creative thinking, new challenges, cycling, reading, cooking, and more.
Renalka Khan | Allies in STEM Liaison
Passionate about promoting diversity and inclusion in STEM fields, Renalka is an active member of GradSWE and Allies in STEM. She is a second-year Masters student in Computer Science. With a strong commitment to advocating for underrepresented minorities, Renalka aims to dedicate her efforts to creating a more inclusive environment through mentorship, awareness campaigns, and outreach initiatives in STEM for all. She enjoys reading books, cooking, photography and spending time with family and friends. .
Kejing Xu | SWE Liaison
Kejing is a second-year Masters student pursuing a degree in Materials Science & Engineering. She is on a “3+2” joint program held by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Zhejiang University. Being aware of the gender inequality problems in STEM, Kejing aims to empower women in STEM through the SWE mentorship program.She enjoys hiking, dancing, reading and making friends in her free time
Mousami Shinde | GradSWE Social Media Coordinator
Mousami is a second-year Masters student pursuing Bioinformatics at the School of Information Sciences. She received her Bachelors and Masters as a dual degree in Biological Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM) in 2020 and has two years of professional experience working as an analyst in finance. She loves reading books, playing video games, taking long walks in the sun, and experimenting with food.
Archana Verma | weSTEM Speaker Coordinator
Archana is a third year PhD student in Chemical Engineering. She received her Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University in 2021. She is fiercely passionate about supporting women in STEM, advocating for accessible mental health care, and combating climate change. In her free time, you can find her spending time with friends, dancing, cooking, playing badminton, reading, or drawing.
Tessa Clarizio | weSTEM External Partnership Coordinator
Tessa is a fourth year PhD candidate in Energy-Water-Environment-Sustainability track of Civil and Environmental Engineering, researching atmospheric chemistry and air quality modeling. She received her Bachelors in Environmental Engineering with a Minor in Energy Studies from the University of Notre Dame in 2017, and a Masters in Water, Waste and Environmental Engineering from University College Dublin in 2018. She enjoys traveling, baking, knitting, and hanging out with her cats.
Nusrat Chowdhury | weSTEM Logistics Coordinator
Nusrat is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Mechanical Science and Engineering department. She did her M.Sc. on soft materials tribology from Material Tribology Laboratory. She did her Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering in 2021 from BUET, Bangladesh. She is now working in David Cahill’s lab towards her Ph.D. degree. She is very passionate about women’s empowerment and gender equality. Apart from work, she loves to travel, cook, exercise, listen to music, spend time with friends, and play badminton. .
Emily Lawson-Bulten | weSTEM Speaker Co-Coordinator
Emily Lawson-Bulten is a third year PhD student in the Agricultural & Biological Engineering Department. Her research grows out of Contextual Engineering and aims to provide engineers with guides to understanding and addressing unjust power dynamics when working with communities, especially in non-industrialized areas. She has worked on water systems in seven countries, promoting humility in engineering understanding to emphasize community decision-making. She graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and International Development Studies from Calvin University in 2017. She then worked in industry and government as a Natural Resource Engineer before coming to UIUC for her PhD. She loves the outdoors, refurbishing old things, ceramics, and – of course- her pup.
Mashiat Hossain | weSTEM Attendee Relations Coordinator
Mashiat is a third year PhD student in Environmental Engineering and Science within the Civil and Environmental Engineering department. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from BUET, Bangladesh in the year 2017 and 2019, respectively. Before embarking on her doctoral journey, she served as an assistant professor in the same institution for 2 years. Beyond academia, she has a penchant for exploration—be it traveling to new terrains, experimenting in the kitchen, or seeking the coziest local coffee spots.
Rachel Gaines | weSTEM Publicity Coordinator
Rachel is a fourth-year PhD candidate in Chemical Engineering studying process optimization of electroorganic syntheses, where she primarily focuses on reaction engineering and scale-up of glycerol electrooxidation. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from Appalachian State University, where she also played Division 1 field hockey and was a member of the national team. In addition to her research, she enjoys weightlifting, scrolling through Zillow, and drinking specialty coffee.
Abby Beck | weSTEM External Partnership Coordinator
Abby is a PhD candidate in Civil Engineering working to incorporate equity into infrastructure decision-making for improved community resilience to natural hazards. She received her Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2019 and her Master’s in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2020. Outside of work, she loves to cook, bake, throw pottery, knit, read, and enjoy the outdoors.
Apurva Godbole | weSTEM Social Media Coordinator
Apurva is a third year PhD student in the department of Chemical Engineering and Biomolecular Engineering. She received her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology, India in 2019. She is a voracious reader and loves creative writing. She runs her own blog called Simply Searching and enjoys going ice skating, painting and traveling.