Cadence 2021 Women in Technology Scholarships Winners Share Their Learnings

The Cadence 2021 Women in Technology Scholarship recipients have provided inspiring lessons for us all. We asked these talented women about their passions, vision for the future, and advice to underrepresented groups in technology. Read about how the scholarship recipients are advancing women in technology and check out the video below to learn about their journeys within STEM, words of advice, what this scholarship means to them, and what has inspired them.

Congratulations to all our 2021 scholarship recipients and thank you to all the students that submitted applications. For details on how to apply for the 2022 scholarship, keep an eye on our Women in Technology Scholarship page.

Jayashree Adivarahan - Arizona State University

"Progress begins with ideas, and those ideas can only be of high quality and potential when there is diversity. To advance women in STEM - including students like me - I believe we should strive to be the face of the change."

Japnit Kaur Ahuja - The University of Ontario Institute of Technology

"I uncovered a young global leader in myself. Nothing is more fulfilling than helping a new generation of female programmers set to take the technology world by storm."

Emily Anaya - Stanford University

"I have advanced underrepresented groups in several ways but primarily by mentoring undergrad women interested in pursuing a technology career. I plan to continue helping women reach their goals in technology."

Alexia Atsidakou - University of Texas – Austin

"I believe that as a woman, my participation in such initiatives can potentially help other people from underrepresented groups in technology and engineering gain more confidence and not feel marginalized. My goal is to join more initiatives that focus more on women and other underrepresented groups."

Iliana Bray - Stanford University

"Throughout my undergraduate and graduate studies at Stanford University, I have actively focused on improving the experience for those who are underrepresented in STEM through committee work and joining and founding student organizations. My goal is to become an EE professor at a research university, and use my leadership as a faculty member to develop a healthy, inclusive culture of belonging for my students and the department."

Samantha Coday - University of California Berkeley

"As I advance further in my studies there are less and less women to look up to. This helps remind me how important it is for me to continue mentoring and teaching so future students never have to feel alone in this field."

Yingying Fan - Rice University

"In the future, I aspire to be a university professor focusing on leveraging microwave circuit techniques for high-impact biomedical applications. Now I am stepping on this journey and hope to be the inspiration of others for more presence of younger-generation of women in technology to bring more insight."

Kathleen Feng - Stanford University

"I focused on exposing women to the engineering majors and showing where opportunities for women in both academia and industry lie. I hope to become a professor, a position in which I can use the experiences and background I gained as an undergraduate and graduate student to encourage the next generations of women in technology."

Fernanda Ferreira Fontenele - Cornell University

"I am actively advising students in my former institution who want to pursue studies in STEM fields, and I am creating a website to share career resources in two languages. Additionally, I have been giving talks to organizations of female undergraduate students in STEM, and I have been getting training on diverse teaching at Cornell to support my work for the fourth time as a TA in an important Engineering course."

Sneha D Goenka - Stanford University

"It is extremely important to build self-confidence which can sometimes be lacking when we don’t see enough women in positions we aim to achieve ourselves. Moreover, I am further motivated to continue as a part of academia and become a professor to bridge these gaps and be a vocal role model, share my experiences and learn from the experiences of other women in the field."

Aparna Kumar - Columbia University

"I wanted to continue my efforts towards helping women in technology once I joined college. I know that it can be really helpful to know there are others who share your identity and having that community is really important in any field. I have tried to find that community for myself as well as promote that community by serving as an Aspirations in Computing campus representative for the current school year."

Laila Fighera Marzall - University of Colorado Boulder

"During the interview process to be selected for a doctorate program, I encourage new female candidates to present themselves with confidence, stepping up on the stage, and show how great researchers they can be. Today we are 8 women Ph.D. students, out of 18 at CU Boulder, that I helped my advisor to recruit."

Chenlin Meng - Stanford University

"I am motivated to empower girls and women to develop AI algorithms. At IJCAI (International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence) 2021, I gave a talk on machine learning for sustainability to empower girls and women to use AI for real-world applications."

Priya Mishra - Stanford University

"I strongly believe in contributing and giving back. I frequently assist female students in getting involved in research and guiding them through the process of applying for internships, interviews, and graduate school. I believe this initiative can create a safe space and nurturing environment for women who aspire to have a career in tech or pursue higher studies but are unsure of the first steps towards their goal."

Mandovi Mukherjee - Georgia Institute of Technology

"I want to lead by example. I want to reach out to teenage girls in school and young adults, who are on the brink of making career choices, through seminars and workshops to foster their interest in technology. I feel that hands-on workshops, where the participants work on fun personal projects, is an ideal platform for this."

Anara Myrzabekova - University of California Berkeley

"I enjoy helping my community that brought me up; therefore, I am always willing to help. I want to become a professional in my field and become a role model for minority groups facing challenges."

Yamuna Phal - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

"I want to serve as a role model for future women engineers. I would like to help more female students, to realize that not only is electrical engineering a great career, but they could make ground-breaking contributions."

Sreshtaa Rajesh - Brown University

"The most effective way I can think of to advance women in technology is to put myself in positions of leadership at which point I can actively promote inclusion of gender minorities in technology through my actions."

Marium Rasheed - Utah State University

"As an advocate of STEM education, I bring the perspective of women to the forefront. I hope to be an inspiration to many young female engineers that hope to pursue a career in electrical engineering."

Michella Rustom - University of Southern California

"I believe I can advance women in technology by simply being that woman who can inspire others to be better contributors to the advancement of humankind. One of my plans in the future, once I finish my PhD and start working in the industry, is to initiate a scholarship and fellowship awards on a university level that offer opportunities for brilliant women in my country to pursue their degrees in STEM disciplines."

Renata Saha - University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

"I believe Women in Technology scholarship programs such as this one by Cadence provide a good platform for women to voice their opinions and build a bigger community. My advice to the future women in technology would be, if you are exhausted from the gender bias all around you, learn to take a break but never to quit."

Richelle Smith - Stanford University

"I’ve learned that an important role of an engineer and eventually a professor is to inspire and create opportunities for others, especially women. I propose to continue this commitment to advancing, teaching, and mentoring the next generation of women in technology through my career as a professor."