Dr. Elif Akçalı

UF SWE Advisor
​Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering

     Dr. Elif Akçalı is an Associate Professor in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department here at UF, and SWE’s faculty advisor. She is also “studying” under a training grant provided by the National Science Foundation to learn about quantitative research methods to enhance engineering education. Dr. Akçalı considers herself to be an engineer, a teacher, and an academic. 
     Several years ago, when visiting her childhood home, she read her entries in her elementary, high school, and college yearbooks. In each of them, she expressed a desire to be a teacher, which had grown from an elementary school teacher to a high school teacher to an academic. With engineer role models in her family, becoming an engineer was just the thing to do for her. She is curious about anything and everything in life. Being an academic allows her to have freedom to pursue whatever interests her and learn broadly.
​     As an industrial engineer, Dr. Akçalı loves having the ability to think about systems and the ability to use a systematic approach to all things. From the way she loads the dishwasher to the way she hangs her clothes in her closet. From the way she navigates through the campus to the way she organizes her work. She seeks efficiency and tries to eliminate redundancy. She sees herself as an industrial engineer to the core. 

​     Along with her passion of learning, Dr. Akçalı is passionate about finding her own voice and carving her own path. She is also passionate about helping others to find their own voices and carving their own paths. 
     Outside of her professional life, Dr. Akçalı loves the arts, and has a visual arts practice. Being in the kitchen is relaxing and fun for her,  but it can also be creative and challenging at the same time. When possible, she loves to travel as much as she can. Dr. Akçalı was born and raised in Ankara, Turkey. She misses being there when she is here, and she misses being here when she is there. Her last name contains letters in the Turkish alphabet. The Turkish alphabet has 28 letters - does not have 3 letters in the English alphabet and has 5 other letters. There are two variants of the letter i, one with the dot both in lower and upper case form and the other without the dot. The i in her first name has the dot but the one in her last name does not! Also, there are two variants of the letter c, one with a tail, and that's the one she has in her last name.

Dr. Helena Hagelin-Weaver

​UF SWE Supporter
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Chemical Engineering

     ​​Dr. Helena Hagelin-Weaver is an Assistant Professor in the Chemical Engineering Dept. here at UF, and SWE's faculty adviser.  She always had a passion for chemistry and mathematics growing up, and found chemical engineering as the perfect way to combine the two. Dr. Weaver grew up in Sweden and attended the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. She came to UF to work on her post-doc and then began working here directly after.
     Many female professors decide not to have children, but Dr. Weaver encourages rising female engineers not to let a full time career stop you if that is something you want. As a mother of two girls, she is able give insight on the balancing both family and career. ​

     ​​While being a professor allows her flexibility, it also isn’t a 9-5 job; the work often follows her home. However, as a professor, you are able to choose the projects you work on and determine your schedule more than many careers.  
     ​She also encourages that there are many resources, including fellow professors, that she can use as a resource. Overall, though she never intended to follow the route of being a professor, she is very happy with her decision. Being a professor allows creativity and the chance to make what you want out of your career unlike most conventional paths.

Emily Huber

UF SWE Counselor

     ​Emily Huber served as President of the Society of Women Engineers from 2015–2016. She felt that she could have benefitted from the guidance of a SWE alumnus during her time at UF and thus reached out to be our counselor for 2017–2018.
      She was drawn to engineering by reflecting on her childhood immersed in the Air Force culture and love for math and science. After graduating with her Bachelor's degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, she returned to Northrop Grumman where she previously held two intern positions over summers. She hopes to earn a Master's degree in the near future through a continuing education program at Northrop Grumman and work toward the position of a sub-group technical lead.
      Outside of work, Emily's current focus is her new puppy, Walt, whom she got a few months after graduating. She also enjoys 3D printing, screen printing T-shirts, baking, and reading. 

Alumni Mentors:

Dr. Allison Andrews

BS — Agricultural & Biological Engineering
PhD — Biomedical Engineering

     ​Dr. Allison Andrews received her Bachelors of Science in Agricultural & Biological Engineering in 2006 from the University of Florida where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.  She then attended Drexel University and received her doctorate in 2012 from the Biomedical Engineering Department. She completed Post-Doctoral Fellowships in Cardiovascular and Cerebral Vascular Pathology at Temple University. During that time she was supported on a T32 and then her own F32 NIH/National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) Fellowship. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Temple University. She is currently supported by a NIH/NIDA K01 mentored career award to study the blood brain-barrier during inflammation, HIV infection, and drugs of abuse.

Elizabeth Stelzer

BS — Chemical Engineering

     ​​Elizabeth Stelzer graduated in the spring of 2014 with a B.S. in chemical engineering. She spent the first five years of her career as a manufacturing engineer in various processes of the plant and is currently an EHSS engineer at Hemlock Semiconductor in Hemlock, MI. She is currently the treasurer of the local professional section of SWE. While at school, she was an officer for SWE and was involved with AIChE, Christian Campus House, UF's Career Resource Center, and the Engineering Leadership Circle (Epsilon Lambda Chi). Elizabeth also interned with Kimberly Clark and Dow Corning. Outside of her professional responsibilities she enjoys reading, baking, and spending time with her family.

Kathleen Hencke

BS — Aerospace Engineering
MS — Mechanical Engineering

​     ​Kathleen earned her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering in 2014 and her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2015. Recently, Kathleen has started working in Colorado with United Launch Alliance in their dynamic environments department, which deals with vibrations on the launch vehicles they produce. In college, Kathleen was a part of the BCM, the swing dancing club and, of course, UF SWE! She held multiple leadership positions in SWE, including president from 2013-2014. Kathleen also enjoys reading, rock climbing and swing dancing! And puppies, lots of puppies. ​

Kelsey Spagnolia

BS — Mechanical Engineering

     ​Kelsey graduated in May 2014 in Mechanical Engineering and worked at Honeywell Aerospace for 3 years before transitioning to L3Harris in Melbourne, FL as a hardware quality engineer. She now oversees the quality and mission assurance for space programs.
      When Kelsey isn't traveling or hiking, she's creating new food recipes, reading mystery thrillers, and hunting for early (if not 1st) editions of classic literature prints to add to her growing book collection. 

Megan Brill

BS — Mechanical Engineering

     ​​Megan Brill graduated from UF with her Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering in December 2010. While in school, she completed two summer engineering internships. Megan was a member of Florida Competitive Cheerleading for three years. After school, she worked in the food & beverage industry for Nestle for a few years in their Operations Management Trainee program. She currently lives in North Carolina and works as a Manufacturing Engineer for Precor, a producer of fitness equipment. Outside of work she enjoys doing CrossFit, exploring the outdoors in North Carolina, and coaching competitive cheerleading!

Megan Hamilton

BS — Materials Science & Engineering

     ​Megan Hamilton graduated from UF in winter 2013, with a BS in Materials Science and Engineering. Since then, she has shifted from MSE towards interaction design, human factors engineering, and user experience (UX) work. Megan is currently working on her MS in Human-Computer Interaction at Georgia Tech, and is aiming to work in the tech world as a UX designer when she graduates. She is happy to share her experiences from UF, engineering (and non-"engineering" paths after a BS in engineering!), career choices, and life post-Gainesville!

Michele Gibson

BS — Mechanical Engineering with minors in:
Biomechanics, Business Administration, & Leadership
MS — Industrial & Systems Engineering 
Currently pursuing MBA

     ​Michelle Gibson graduated from UF in December of 2013 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and minors in Biomechanics, Business Administration, and Leadership. During her time at UF as an undergraduate, she was involved with Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity, Delta Delta Delta Sorority, UF Student Government, UF Dance Marathon, as well as other organizations! Since graduating, Michelle has completed her Master’s in Industrial & Systems Engineering (Engineering Management Track) and is now working on her MBA, both through UF. Michelle has been working at Lockheed Martin since graduating from undergrad, and has held a variety of jobs during that time through involvement with the Operations Leadership Development Program. In her spare time, Michelle enjoys traveling and all things outdoors!

Dr. Ria Kontou

BS, MSc — Civil & Environmental Engineering
PhD student — Civil & Coastal Engineering

     ​Ria Kontou is a 2nd year Ph.D. student in the Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering at University of Florida. She holds a M.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor's from National Technical University of Athens, Greece. She is currently collaborating with the Center for Transportation Analysis at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Knoxville TN), where she models the market acceptance of alternative fuel vehicles. 
     Ria was one of the finalist's of the graduate collegiate poster competition of the Society of Women Engineers in 2014. She looks forward to mentoring undergraduate students interested in going to graduate school.

Colleen Murphy

BS — Chemical Engineering 

Colleen Murphy graduated from the University of Florida in the Spring Semester of 2014 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering. During her time at UF she participated in EFTP and eSwamp as a freshman and was involved with SWE and AIChE serving as the Evening with Industry chair for SWE for 2 years. Colleen had two 9 month co-ops, one at Arizona Chemical and one at Kimberly Clark and has been working for Shell as a process engineer at the Shell Convent Refinery near Baton Rouge, LA since she graduated. Colleen loves to travel to other countries and experience new cultures and food. Colleen looks forward to sharing her love for engineering and experiences as a full time Process Engineer with upperclassman in SWE!

Stephanie Weber

BS — Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Stephanie graduated in 2011 with dual degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. During college she interned twice with GE Aviation in Cincinnati and once with Schlumberger in Houston. She was extremely active in SWE and BEC and held multiple officer positions in both organizations. Stephanie has been working at Nielsen for over 5 years, starting with a two year rotational program (the Emerging Leaders Program) and is currently working as a program manager (remotely out of her house!). She is a newlywed who just moved to Houston, TX, and she loves traveling, shopping, eating, fitness, and her cat Bella!

Theresa Sutter

BS — Nuclear Engineering

Theresa Sutter graduated in 1991 with a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Florida.  She currently serves as a Director of Information Solutions at Curtiss-Wright, where she utilizes her subject matter expertise to develop tools and technology to deliver data on which her clients can make decisions. Theresa’s focus areas include regulatory information, supply chain, and work management. Prior to joining Curtiss-Wright, Theresa worked at Bechtel Power Corporation!

Are you interested in becoming a mentee in the
​UF SWE Alumni Mentoring Program?

If you’re interested in the mentorship program or updating your alumni profile, please contact alumni.swe.uf@gmail.com!