Her Story
About Sri
I came to the United States to pursue my master's degree in electronics, and after completing it, I worked as visiting faculty at Purdue University, teaching courses for two semesters before entering industry. I started as a Level 1 electronics engineer and quickly navigated through the field, learning the nuances of the corporate world. Within the first 2-3 years, I was promoted to Level 2 and then senior engineer, and was chosen as the resident engineer for GM's autonomous vehicle project. In that role, I was the only woman on a team of 20-30 men, and I had to collaborate with four different companies across four different time zones - the GM team, our own company, a production team in Japan, and the main sensor team in California. It was very hectic, working sometimes 60-70 hours per week, but it was a great opportunity that helped me develop interpersonal skills, program management skills, and technical expertise. This led to an offer in California, where I moved and started working in more technical roles, initially reporting directly to my CTO and learning many software skills. I then became a senior systems engineer at an AI company, leading sensor characterization work. While working full-time in Michigan and later California, I pursued my PhD part-time at Wayne State University because I wanted to understand where the automotive and autonomous vehicle field was heading. After about three and a half years in California, I realized I wasn't getting enough time for my thesis and research while managing my full-time job and family, so I made the bold decision to resign and move back to Michigan to focus full-time on my PhD. I've been a full-time student for about one and a half years now, and I've written 4-5 research papers with one already accepted at a conference. I'm now looking to return to California and pursue research scientist or applied AI-related roles in industry.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sri
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to hard work and commitment to my work. There were times when I was away from my family, spending weekends just studying for my PhD apart from my regular work, and I used to feel like I don't have time at all, no quality time at all. But sometimes it just pays - you don't see it in the future, but it always pays, is what I believe. Hard work will never fail, is what I think. I'm also very dedicated and responsible with my work. If work is assigned to me, I always take it very responsibly and try to get it done on time or even before the deadline. I try to make it perfect, and perfect is a simple word, but in order to get things to that level, there are many things that have to be taken care of before it goes in. I think it's the work ethic. When I was working remotely at Septon in California, I worked 60-70 hours per week for 4-5 months, and when I moved back, the CEO, CTO, and all the managers gathered and gave me a standing ovation and clapping for my work. That was a moment I could not forget in my life, and I think it's all because of how dedicated I am with the work.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would definitely say that life and career choices are two different things. I don't want them to be completely avoiding life and focusing on the career, or completely avoiding the career and focusing on relationships. I want them to be strong enough to handle both at the time. I also want them to hope for the best - don't leave the curiosity or the mindset of improving yourself, and they should never look down on themselves, is what I strongly suggest. If you see all the top roles, all the top CEOs, all the big companies, there are men everywhere. So sometimes a woman can feel like, oh, maybe I may not be able to achieve there, or maybe I cannot do that. But at least if it is not a physical job, if it is a mind-related or technical-related role or a program manager-related role, yes, you should definitely not look down on yourself, and you should definitely aim higher. Aiming higher will always make you move forward. That's what I believe. If you don't even aim higher, you don't even move.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important value to me is respect for other people, no matter the gender. I want my child to have this value, and I get that from my current husband - we both tell our kid the same thing, to treat everyone the same and respect them, no matter what. I think it should be cultivated from childhood, and it must be there in the corporate world as well. When I was the only female and the smallest person on the big GM project, initially I used to feel nervous, and there were times once or twice where my question wasn't answered or my suggestion was not received properly. But slowly, after they gained some trust, it was fine. You just need to consider first with respect whatever the other person is saying. Respecting other people is a very important thing everywhere - it should be there everywhere.
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