Her Story
About Angelar
I grew up in Kenya, where I completed my primary school and high school education. Throughout my schooling, I wanted to be a medical doctor, which was expected for smart children in my village. I scored a 4.0 equivalent (A constant) in my national examination, but got an A-minus in biology, which cut me out of medical school placement. Instead, I was placed into law school in Kenya. Through mentorship and sponsorship from the trustee of a program that sponsored me through high school, I was connected to Zawadi Africa, which helped me apply to schools in the U.S. I came to Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia as a biology major, still wanting to go to med school. However, Professor Peter Chen challenged me to truly examine why I wanted to pursue medicine. Through research with him, shadowing doctors, and self-reflection, I realized that if someone was brought to me in an ambulance, I would be crying with them instead of trying to help them. I discovered I could have more impact through research. I became the first undergraduate student doing research with Dr. Chen to publish a paper with him in a peer-reviewed journal. I also did research at MIT, collaborated with researchers at Emory University, and worked at Genentech. I fell in love with spectroscopy and decided to pursue a PhD. My graduate work focused on using spectroscopy to characterize materials for organic solar cells and organic display systems like OLEDs, driving green energy and impacting how people live. After defending my PhD on March 7th, 2022, I started at Dow Chemical on March 21st, 2022, doing fundamental research. I recently transitioned to 3M on January 5th of this year as a research specialist in process analytical technology. I moved because Dow was going through reorganization, and 3M offered a great fit where I could continue bringing value to the industry while developing my skills in optical spectroscopy. At 3M, I'm closer to actual products that go to market, which aligns with my goal of working on things that make people's lives better.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Angelar
01What do you attribute your success to?
I will say mentorship from people that believed and continue to believe in me. If it weren't for a professor of mine, Dr. Peter Chen of Spelman College, which is where I did my undergrad, with his mentorship, I was able to change my mind and switch up to doing a PhD instead of going towards the medical field that I would say I wasn't passionate about. I've met a lot of people that have been really, really good mentors to me, and sponsors to me, that continue to support me. Without them, I would not be here today.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Someone mentioned recently, you know, bring your full, authentic self to work, and do the best at your work. Because even though you might have sponsors, you might have mentors, at the end of the day, they will need to talk about your work. And so, if you have not done your work very well, then they probably won't be able to advocate for you. So, let your work, as other people advocate for you, let your work also advocate for you.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say they should believe in themselves and be open-minded. Because if I wasn't open-minded enough to let people advise me and actually receive advice, I would probably not have pursued a PhD. So I would say be open-minded and be advisable. Because we are learning, we are growing, especially young women, they're learning, growing in different environments. And so, it's great to be courageous and to know where you're going, but be open, be flexible. You never know what things come your way, and you never know how different experiences influence your passion.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I never knew that I would actually have to be a salesperson. Specifically in this role that I'm in right now, I am trying to bring process analytical technology, which is PAT, in the plant. And so you have to convince people that this is the technology that they actually need. This is what is going to give them the results they're looking for. So that is one challenge that I'm learning to be a great salesperson, because that's the only way I can bring the best technology to solve the problems that the team has. But also making sure that, in addition to all the work that I'm doing, I'm staying up to date with instruments that are cutting edge and that are just getting into the market to see can this be a better tool for the problem that I have. Is this going to be a cheaper option for the problem that I'm facing? So making sure that there's a good balance between what I'm currently working on and staying up-to-date with the state-of-the-art technology that's out there.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I really care about family and giving back. Family is a great foundation and a great support. It's not all the time that people get a lot of support from family, so I truly hope that everyone gets a little bit of support from their families, because it helps a lot. But also giving back because I've had a lot of people pour into me. And I believe that we are poured into to also give. So if we don't take it upon ourselves to grow the next generation of scientists, then who will? And so I believe in giving people opportunities and supporting them to become the best person they can, whether it's through mentorship, whether it's through sponsorship, whether it's through financial support, or just talking to people and letting them know of the opportunities that exist. So giving back, because that way, I can grow the next generation of scientists, of leaders. But also building a strong support system that I can call family. Not necessarily blood family, but people that got my back.
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