Women in tech, perspectives from Terabee
On International Women’s Day 2021 Terabee speaks to three women engineers at Terabee to find out why they chose their careers and what advice they’d give to other young women in the high-technology arena. You’ll hear from: Francesca Cervone, Production Engineer; Aastha Papneja, R&D Junior Engineer (Software); and Van Nguyen, R&D Junior Engineer (Electronics).
Why did you choose to work as an engineer?
Francesca: The decision to do engineering was certainly driven by a passion for technology and science subjects, but also for other reasons. I have always admired my mother and my aunt, engineers with incredible determination and great careers, and I always told myself that when I grew up I wanted to be like that too.
Aastha: It is an exciting time to be in tech right now, and I just aspire to participate in it. We get to work on some really cool stuff at Terabee, and hopefully contribute to making a positive impact! And, I like using my creativity as well as my analytical skills.
Van: I have always been very interested to work as an engineer, especially an electronics engineer. Since high school, I was very curious about electronic devices and how things work. At that time, I began to follow this dream, and now I realize this work is a perfect match with my character.
Do you have any advice for women and girls who want to work in STEM or as an engineer?
Aastha: This is from me and other amazing women who I know in these fields. Don’t isolate yourself–we all need a support system sometimes. Find mentors and role models that you look up to. Finally, be curious and take chances!
Van: If I can give advice to girls who want to work in STEM, I would like to say: “Do the thing you like, follow your dream and you will be full of energy and be happy every single day in your career.”
Francesca: Engineering is a path that can give you great opportunities and a lot of satisfaction. And nowadays it is less necessary to overcome the stereotypes and those prejudices which suggest the world of STEM is exclusively for men: there are no longer male or female professions.
Could you please explain what you do at Terabee?
Van: I’m an electronic design engineer. My responsibilities include giving the idea a design, choosing the components, designing the schematics and layout of the printed circuit board (PCB) design, assembling the prototype, testing and solving the problem of the electronic board.
Francesca: My work as a production engineer includes the evaluation of production process key performance indicators, the analysis of ongoing processes and quality data, and definition and preparation of inspection procedures.
Aastha: I work as a R&D software engineer. This mainly consists of doing development on sensor modules and applications related to them at Terabee. Right now, with other members of my team, I am working on a 3D camera based on Time-of-Flight technology.
