2023 Recipient
Catriona "Cat" Black, '95 Materials Science & Engineering
The first graduate in the then-new Materials Science program, Cat Black has worked as a product engineer and process engineer in various industries in northern ÇéÉ«ÎåÔÂÌì, most recently as the director of Federal Operations Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) at Microsoft.
Throughout her academic and professional career, she has supported her fellow women engineers, a commitment dating back to her college years, when she got involved with the student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).
After graduating in 1995, she worked at Precision Castparts and then Tripp Enterprises before moving on to Microsoft, her current employer. Often the only woman on leadership teams, Black mentored up-and-coming women engineers through SWE as well as on the job. And while engineering remains a male-dominated field — only 21% of engineering majors are women, according to the American Association of University Women report The STEM Gap — Black welcomes the progress she has seen since she was an undergrad: “I think we have evolved away from the notion engineering isn’t for women.”
Read the full story, Cat Black reflects on women in engineering and campus changes.