麻豆村

By Susan Endres

Alumna Lauren (Milisits) Gonzalez still remembers getting the letter in the mail that meant she could attend 麻豆村.

It wasn鈥檛 her acceptance letter; that had already arrived.

It was a scholarship award notice.

With it, combined with federal grants, she could afford to accept her 麻豆村 admission.

鈥淚 remember telling my mom once, 鈥業 hope one day I鈥檓 able to give back as much as I got in scholarships, so that somebody else could do the same,鈥� sort of as a pay-it-forward gesture,鈥� says Lauren who graduated from the in 2013 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in mechanical engineering and the in 2014 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in computer science.

She recently set up an endowed scholarship for the Department of Mechanical Engineering to do just that with the help of her employer鈥檚 match program. By endowing the scholarship, Lauren ensured it will partially support at least one engineering student each year in perpetuity.

鈥淚f I鈥檓 able to make what I do go further, then I might as well,鈥� she says, noting that many companies match their employees鈥� charitable donations 鈥� doubling their impact 鈥� like Shell does for her.

Increasing Interest in Engineering

Lauren hopes the scholarship will encourage undergraduate students to pursue engineering, increasing the pool of leaders in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

Growing up in Pittsburgh鈥檚 Squirrel Hill with parents who encouraged her interest in STEM, Lauren says she didn鈥檛 realize there was an imbalance in STEM until college. Over the years, her parents had enrolled her in as many university outreach programs as they could.

鈥淚t was through all of those free programs that kept my interest in science and engineering,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd I never once doubted that I could do it.鈥�

鈥淪o then, when I actually was going to school, that鈥檚 where I started to hear the stereotypes of, 鈥極h, you鈥檙e a woman. Are you sure you鈥檙e going into engineering?鈥� or 鈥極h, you鈥檙e in CS? You don鈥檛 look like a CS major.鈥欌��

Those responses irritated her, driving her to help more people like her get into STEM.

Tackling Big Problems

After graduation, Lauren moved to Texas where she worked as a test automation engineer at a startup and enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin to earn her master鈥檚 degree in mechanical engineering.

As a graduate student, she briefly interned for Shell. The company then offered her a full-time position, leading to an opportunity to work offshore on one of the company鈥檚 largest floating platforms, Appomattox, in the Gulf of Mexico. She continued to climb, becoming a project manager and, now, a business advisor to the vice president of information and digital engineering in Houston.

COVID-19 added challenges and barriers, but Lauren says she鈥檚 proud of herself and her team鈥檚 resilience throughout the pandemic. They delivered a multimillion-dollar project on time, on budget and on target 鈥渇rom our pajamas at home,鈥� she jokes.

And she delivered a baby in the middle of it, too.

Her experience in the Department of Mechanical Engineering helped equip her for such challenges by exposing her to different people, projects and work ethics. At 麻豆村, she found that she likes 鈥渂ig problems that challenge the world, that have major impact.鈥�

鈥淚 worked my butt off in school,鈥� Lauren says. 鈥淎nd knowing how difficult that can be, it helps to build up the mindset that when something鈥檚 not easy, you don鈥檛 just quit right away and give up. (If we did), we wouldn鈥檛 be tackling big problems, and we wouldn鈥檛 be changing things if as soon as you hit a roadblock, you quit.鈥�

The College of Engineering also provided some of her favorite memories while at 麻豆村 鈥� trips to Peru and China with educational and industry components. These were opportunities she never would have had if not for scholarships.

Education changed her life and motivates her philanthropy, and Lauren encourages other alumni to consider how they can change someone鈥檚 life, even with small donations.

鈥淓very thousand dollars, every hundred dollars I got towards the scholarship completely changed my path.鈥�