IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016 - 23

design, and science and engineering.
Then, STAR partnered with local universities, including the University of Panama
and the Technological University of Panama, to recruit volunteers with a passion
for education. Today, male and female volunteers in purple IEEE WIE t-shirts spend
1.5-h sessions working with students and
incorporating experiments, movement,
and fun in a way that maximizes learning
and helps develop a broader sense of problem solving. "I knew what we could do
with STAR, but I didn't know how far we
could go in one year," Chen says.
It turned out they could go very far. The
pilot was a huge success, and now she has
her sights set on scaling locally, regionally,
and even globally. In fact, Dr. Margarita de
Fernandez, vice president of the Dominican Republic, invited Chen to present her
ideas at the National Palace in 2016.
With Chen at the helm, WIE Panama
and STAR have won multiple awards.

They took home the 2016 Best Achievement Award for Latin America, the 2015
IEEE Member and Geographic Activities
Achievement Award, and the 2014 IEEE
Women in Engineering Affinity Group of
the Year Award.

Paying it Forward
Chen is articulate, prepared, and charismatic. When speaking with her, one
quickly understands that she is confident
and self-assured and that being a woman
in a male-dominated field does not daunt
her. In fact, when she found herself as the
only woman in the program at Carnegie
Mellon, she fit right in. "I never felt it was
a disadvantage," she says. "It was nice to
be a woman among gentleman."
It wasn't always that way. When Chen
was a younger student, she dressed as if
she wanted to be obscure. Unisex jeans,
combat boots-she didn't want anyone to
think she had "shaved her legs for a pro-

fessor" or was "flirting with a boss." She
fought her femininity. Today, she encourages young women to be their authentic selves. Along with this self-confidence
must come the courage to lighten up.
"Women should be easier on ourselves," she says. "We tend to be harsh
and have high expectations. We can be
confident about what we do, but still
we doubt ourselves. We feel we have to
prove ourselves. We feel we don't deserve
a job or a promotion-and we do."
Self-esteem and confidence both
become necessary in a field that can still
harbor some gender bias. Over the years
with Alcenit, Chen noticed a discouraging trend: When her team presented in
front of a panel, Alcenit was not winning
bids, but yet when it came down to a
formal and more anonymous request for
proposal process, it was more successful.
Women have made great gains in STEM,
and yet Chen acknowledges "all the hard

Have a burning desire
to transform cities and
enrich lives?
You're On.
Brenda Sanchez
Electronic Standardization Engineer
Boston, Massachusetts

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2016