Women & Engineering Leadership Society Summit

Aaron Bobick joined Washington University in St. Louis as Dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science and the James M. McKelvey Professor  on July 1, 2015. Prior to Washington University, he was a professor and founding chair of the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was a member of the faculty since 1999.

Abigail Cohen, BSBME '13
Taking the Leap into Entrepreneurship
Abby Cohen is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Sparo, an award-winning, digital health company dedicated to helping people with respiratory conditions breathe better, be more active, and live happier. She is also civically involved and is currently co-chairing the $10 million Evolve Capital Campaign to further develop T-Rex, downtown St. Louis’s innovation center and is on the Executive Board of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America St. Louis Chapter. Abby graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering.
 

Katie Johnson, BSME '10
Beyond #MeToo: How to Define and Defend your Future in Tech
Katie Johnson is a design thinker, innovation strategist, and user researcher who moonlights as the lead singer of an 80s rock band called Sonic Arcade. With a background in aerospace engineering and a passion for people, Katie wakes up every day excited to solve problems at the intersection of technology and human behavior. As a STEM student, a tech employee, and now a consultant to the tech industry for EchoUser, Katie cares deeply about making Tech a welcome place for people of all backgrounds. Katie earned her BSME from Washington University (2010) and her MSAE from Georgia Tech (2012).
 

Cheryl Perlmutter, BSME '00 PMBA '05
Ready to Mix it up? When to Lean into a Career Change
Cheryl began her career at Boeing as an engineering co-op. During her 18 years at Boeing, Cheryl worked as an affordability analyst, systems engineer and supplier program manager. She supported the Space Shuttle program as well as various aircraft, weapons and support programs. She spent several years working with suppliers internationally before she moved into management, overseeing Supplier Management teams. Cheryl transferred her experience in supplier contracting to Edward Jones where she is currently a senior leader in their Sourcing department. Cheryl earned her BSME and MBA from Washington University.
 

Polly Shrewsbury, BSChE '95
Oh the Places You'll Go & Insights Gleaned Along the Way
Long ago, Polly took her parents' guidance to heart: "be an engineer, because there is nothing you cannot do with that degree." The skills gained from the discipline have served her well, taking her from academia, to management consulting, to entreprenuer and now private equity, currently as the COO of AdTech company foched on omni-channel AI. Her talk will describe her journey, explain how it all ties together and offer lessons she learned and sometimes re-learned along the way. Polly earned a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, San Francisco; a BSChE from Washington University; and a BS in Chemistry from Centre College. She serves on the Board of Ballet Austin and is the Washington University Eliot Society Chair for Austin/San Atonio.