society of women engineers tampa bay

I am honored to have the opportunity to serve the Tampa Bay SWE chapter. I have discovered that the SWE women have been very welcoming and supportive. I’ve found that SWE fuels my passion for sharing engineering with others. I encourage everyone to get involved, find your passion and always enjoy what you do!

I graduated from the University of Central Florida with my Bachelors of Science in Civil Engineering. I am a licensed professional engineer in Florida and Louisiana and specialize in transportation design. I am currently an Airport Engineer with AECOM Transportation.

I am also a member of the American Society of Engineers, Tampa Bay Institute of Transportation Engineers and founding member of Engineers Without Borders South-Central Florida Professionals chapter. I have volunteered and mentored for the Girl Scouts and the Future City competition. Being an engineer and mentor keep me busy, but family comes first. I am married and mother of 2 young boys. My family is one reason why work-life balance is so important to me.

I look forward to serving the Tampa Bay SWE chapter and meeting all of you.

Hello Fellow SWE members;

I am very excited to be serving as Vice President of the SWE Tampa Bay Area Section this year.
For the past 2 years I have served as president of the section and am excited to serve as Vice President this year and focus on 2 key areas. I will serve as Membership chair and also serve on the Outreach committee. Both of these are areas where I feel I can make a difference for the section.

I first joined SWE in 1992 while living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I was co-chair of the charter committee for the newly formed Pikes Peak Section. I served as President, Vice President and Scholarship chair during my 7 year tenure.

When I moved from Colorado Springs to Vancouver Washington in 1997, I joined the Columbia River Section, where I served as President, Vice President, Newsletter editor CSR rep. and was a member of the scholarship committee.

I am originally from Lowell Massachusetts, where I graduated from Lowell Technological Institute (now University of Mass at Lowell) with a degree in Mathematics. I returned to school a few years later and studied Computer Science.

My professional career was spent primarily as a Software Engineer and Engineering Manager. I have worked for Litton Computer Services, Digital Equipment Corporation, MCI and Hewlett Packard. My earlier years were spent developing software for a variety of large scale software systems and more recently I worked as a Program Manager and Project Manager responsible for delivery of Printer Products for Hewlett Packard.

I took early retirement in April 2006 and live in Palm Harbor Florida. I am glad to be here and look forward to working with each of you this year.

I feel very honored to be given this opportunity to introduce myself to the Tampa Bay SWE community. I have been the SWE TBA Section Treasurer since our charter. I hold great pride in being a charter member of our section and it is great to see our section grow each year.

My experiences with SWE have been very educational. I always learn something new, even at our shortest meetings, and I truly love that about our organization. For example, I thoroughly enjoyed being a coach for our First Lego League team (http://www.firstlegoleague.org) in 2001. SWE TBA sponsored a robotics team of all girls from the Pinellas County Youth Engineering Society to participate in the First Lego League. Our challenge was to build a robot with Lego parts and program it to carry out the given challenge missions. When we first began, no one in our team, including myself, was familiar with robotics. However, we became a bit more familiar with the concept as the team met each week and practiced building the robot and programming various functions. Although the team did not win any local or state competitions, it was a great learning experience for the entire team. This is what I like about SWE!

I am the Chief Planning Engineer at the City of Tampa Water Department. Previous to this position, I worked for an engineering consulting firm in Tampa. In over 10 years of professional experience, I have had great opportunities to work on various civil and environmental engineering projects ranging from stormwater drainage improvement design to reclaimed water master planning.

It’s a bit challenging from time to time to balance family and work; but with the right attitude, a good set of priorities, and great family support (you really need this one), the balancing act can be handled. I thank my family for all their love and support, because without them, I would not have come this far.

I would like to end with one of my favorite quotes from American Poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

I invite all of those who read this newsletter to come out and be a part of this organization! Let’s leave a trail!

I have been working for the same engineering consulting firm since my graduation from graduate school. I received my professional engineer license in January. In just over 4 years of professional experience, I have had great opportunities to work on various civil and environmental engineering projects ranging from stormwater drainage improvement design to reclaimed water master planning. It’s a bit challenging from time to time to balance family and work; but with the right attitude, a good set of priorities, and great family support (you really need this one), the balancing act can be handled. I thank my family for all their love and support, because without them, I would not have come this far.

Nowadays, my husband and I spend most of our time chasing our little angel of 15 months. We love to take short road trips and visit different parts of Florida. I believe our daughter inherited my curiosity and desire for exploring new horizons and I hope she will grow up with the same enthusiasm she now has for any and every object. Who knows, maybe she will become an engineer?

I would like to end with one of my favorite quotes from American Poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

I invite all of those who read this newsletter to come out and be a part of this organization! Let’s leave a trail!

I am excited to serve the Tampa Bay SWE chapter. Although we are a small group I think we accomplish big things. It is an honor to work with such dedicated ladies as we have in the Tampa Bay SWE chapter.

I am a graduate of Georgia Tech with a Bachelors of Industrial Engineering. I am currently working as a Systems Engineer for Raytheon. At Raytheon, I serve as President of our Raytheon Women’s Network organization.

I am also a volunteer with Girl Scouts both as a troop leader for my daughter and on the Service Unit Leadership team for our area. I really believe in outreach to our children to spread the love of math and science. Every year I support the Great American Teach-In and go to different schools during Engineer Week to share my passion for being an engineer. I am married with two children; a daughter who is 9 and a son who is 11.

I look forward to serving the Tampa Bay SWE chapter and meeting all of you.

Here is a little about myself. I graduated with Chemical Engineering degree in 2002 from University of South Florida. Right after graduation I worked at the local phosphate company, Mosaic as a process engineer. After my daughter was born in 2007, my career took back seat and I became a stay-at-home mommy. I still like to keep up with the engineering world and that is why I decided to volunteer as a webmaster for Tampa Bay SWE. I enjoy beach, exercising, yoga, cooking, spending time with my daughter and husband, traveling. Lately I picked up sawing and dressmaking as a hobby. You can learn more about me at www.malikarisley.com.
Hope to meet you soon!