Learn about Access Alums!

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Purdue offers many great opportunities for its students to interact and network with its alumni. Access Alums, organized by the Women in engineering program, is one of them. You get to hear from women who are leaders and engineers in their industry and exemplify the power of grit and perseverance.


Purdue Alumni at WIEP's 50th Anniversary Celebration

With the pandemic, everything has been a bit stressful, including being able to meet industry representatives and learn about the engineering workplace. Fortunately, this year, the Access Alum events took place virtually allowing for both fully online and on campus students to participate. Generally, alumni engineers from all disciplines take part in the Access Alum events so there is an event for everyone. For the Spring 2021 semester, we had the following alumni visits so far:-


  • Thermal Science Associate - Dr. May Yen (PhD ME 2017 Purdue; BS ME 2011 Purdue)

  • President of Kimberly-Clark North America - Kim Underhill (BS CHE Purdue 1982)

  • Northpoint Development Project Manager - Christina Hubacek (BS CE Iowa State)

  • Je Dunn Construction Project Engineer – Biridiana Guerrero (BS CEM 2019 Purdue)

  • The Kroger Co. Senior Industrial engineer - Katie Hubert (BS IE 2005 Purdue)

  • The Kroger Co. Director of Product Development and Quality - Tameka Carr (BS Food Science 1999 Purdue)

  • Eli Lilly Scientist - Barbara McAnulty (BS ABE 2019 Purdue)


Some of the Purdue organizations these alumni were involved in while at Purdue included ASHE and Sigma Lambda Chi (the construction management honors society), ASCE, Concrete Canoe and DBIA, Purdue Student Government, Society of Women Engineers, the Honors Engineering Peer Mentors and of course Women in Engineering.


I attended the Kimberly Clark President, Kim Underhill’s event. Her story was truly inspiring. There was plenty for me to learn from her even if my field isn’t chemical engineering at the moment. She highlighted how the values of lifelong learning, teamwork, hardwork and grit, that Purdue incorporates in its engineering degree, helped in her journey today. One important piece of advice was to take a business or economics course if possible. She also encouraged those who attended the event to have an open mind and not shy away from new opportunities and risks. For instance, at first, she wasn’t interested in the business marketing position that her mentor asked her to go for. After 6 months in the marketing position, she still wasn’t happy and yearned to come back. However, her mentor said that she hadn’t stayed long enough in her marketing position to reap the fruits of her hard work. She decided to stay for a couple more months and has never looked back since then. She acknowledges that the first couple of months were incredibly challenging and there were times when she felt overwhelmed especially since she had no clue about profit and loss statements in business. Yet, she persevered and here she is now - a president of a global multibillion dollar multinational corporation. In your engineering journey, you will face hardships and at times, others might not take you seriously but you must stand strong and believe in yourself to succeed. 


Although these alumni are from different engineering disciplines and in different industries, one key takeaway from all their meetings was ‘Ask questions’. Ultimately, it all boils down to two things -  your passion and perseverance. Purdue’s strong engineering foundation and pillars will help you evolve into a gritty individual. Being a female engineer is not always easy and there are times where you might feel unmotivated and stressed but it is important to always give your best. Additionally, if you are passionate about the work that you are doing then you would want to learn more and keep expanding your knowledge base. And in order to do that you must ask questions.


Now I know it can sometimes be hard or awkward to ask questions. I have felt that too. But it is important to step out of your comfort zone and interact. You never know what you may learn. And on that note, for those who are lost and concerned about the questions to ask the visiting alumni, I compiled a couple of questions with the help of Purdue WIEP - Access Alum that you could ask :- 

  1. How did you get involved with (a certain program / organization / company / profession / field) ?

  2. What advice would you give to someone who is not certain about which engineering

major to choose? Which career path to take (academia, industry, professional degrees,etc.)? 

  1. How did you end up choosing your field of study and work?

  2. What advice do you have for finding and excelling in leadership roles?

  3. What advice would you give to someone in my shoes?


Remember, some of the corporate representatives are often actively recruiting and accepting resumes so don’t forget to have your resume ready just in case. And as a bonus, the Purdue clubs who organize these events sometimes have snacks or raffles. For instance, this semester WIEP had decided to hold a raffle for a gift basket for the Access Alum events so be sure to enter your Purdue career account username and email ID in the sign up forms for a chance to win! 

Shruti Irap, FYE'24

Recruitment Project Committee


Stay Connected With Purdue WIEP!

Facebook: Purdue Women in Engineering

Twitter: @purduewiep 

Instagram: @purduewiep

Blog: purduewiep.blogspot.com

Email: welink@purdue.edu

Purdue Women in Engineering

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