I am honored to have my story shared in IEEE InSight after winning the IEEE-USA Jim Watson Student-Professional Awareness Award. This profile shares my journey though different IEEE roles through undergrad, and highlights my drive to bring value to all of the roles I served in. It also dives into my background and motivations for becoming an electrical engineer.
As the article describes, both of my parents were huge factors in the path I chose, although I didn't realize it at the time. My mother, an aerospace engineer at Sandia National Laboratories for almost 40 years, nurtured my science and math education. Her position as a working mother and engineer showed me that no matter what societal stereotypes said, women could be successful engineers and they didn't have to make a binary decision between career and family. I think that growing up as her daughter, I just never had the experience of feeling like any subject was off limits, or that there was anything I couldn't do.
My father is not an engineer, but I think his influences may have subtly driven me towards the field of electrical engineering. Trained as an automechanic, he has professional experience with large motors and generators. He taught me how to make the connections between the science and the real world. He taught me to be curious, to leave doors open, and to see the ways that different machines worked together. I never expected to end up as a power engineer, but now that I am, I've been able to have lots of interesting conversations with him about different evolving energy topics.
The quote from one of my nominators rings true, "there is only one Megan Culler," and I can trace my path now back to things I learned from my parents that built me in to the person I am today.