July 2017 - June 2018 Executive Board
President: Katie Byczek
VP of Membership: Alyssa Macuk
VP of Professional Development: Paige Basinger
Vice President of Outreach: Rosa Rueda
Treasurer: Abbey Schmoll
Recording Secretary: Kristen Banas
Corresponding Secretary: Andrea McKenna
President
Katie Byczek is a mechanical engineer at Navistar in Lisle. She received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from University of Illinois at Chicago in 2010, While at Navistar, Katie has had a variety of roles in design & validation, and most recently, program management.
In addition to her day job at Navistar, Katie also was President of the employee led affinity group, The Navistar Young Professionals (NYP) from 2014 to 2016. The NYP group had a member base of 300 employees, and sought to provide leadership and networking opportunities to grow energized, high performing talent at the company.
Katie has also served on the Society of Women Engineers Chicago Regional Section Executive Council since 2013. Her roles on the board have included Section Representative, Corresponding Secretary, Vice President of Professional Development, and most recently, President. Katie is excited to be the SWE CRS President for FY18 and looks forward to a successful year!
Contact Katie at: swecrs.president@swe.org
In addition to her day job at Navistar, Katie also was President of the employee led affinity group, The Navistar Young Professionals (NYP) from 2014 to 2016. The NYP group had a member base of 300 employees, and sought to provide leadership and networking opportunities to grow energized, high performing talent at the company.
Katie has also served on the Society of Women Engineers Chicago Regional Section Executive Council since 2013. Her roles on the board have included Section Representative, Corresponding Secretary, Vice President of Professional Development, and most recently, President. Katie is excited to be the SWE CRS President for FY18 and looks forward to a successful year!
Contact Katie at: swecrs.president@swe.org
Vice President of Membership
Alyssa (Macuk) Kueffner is a Senior MEMS Engineer at Knowles Electronics where she works to develop microphones for consumer electronics. She is a 2012 and 2014 graduate of Bradley University with a bachelor and masters degrees in mechanical engineering. Alyssa's research passion and thesis topic was and is in the study of tribology of MEMS, or microelectromechanical systems. She has previously interned at Navistar and Knowles. In her free time, Alyssa enjoys reading the classics and spending time with family and friends. She lives in Bull Valley, Il with her husband and their two adorable cats. Alyssa has been a member of SWE since 2008, and was actively involved with the Bradley University SWE Chapter. She is currently serving as the vice president of membership for the Chicago Regional Section and has enjoyed the opportunity to support the SWE community.
Contact Alyssa at: SWECRS.VPMembership@swe.org
Contact Alyssa at: SWECRS.VPMembership@swe.org
Vice President of Professional Development
Paige Basinger is a Project Engineer with a degree in Chemical Engineering at Holland Applied Technologies in Burr Ridge. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2014 and moved to the Chicagoland area to pursue career opportunities. At Holland Applied technologies her background is utilized for the design, procurement, and management of projects for biopharmaceutical and other sanitary unit operation skids. Roles vary based on the specific project, but include mechanical design engineer, process engineer, and project manager.
Prior to working at Holland Applied Technologies Paige Co-Op’d at Argonne National Lab in the Energy Systems department and was involved in various outreach programs such as Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. Throughout college she volunteered for SWE events at a local science museum, COSI.
Contact Paige at: swecrs.vpprofdev@swe.org
Vice President of Outreach
Rosa Rueda is a chemical engineer with a Ph.D. degree from the University of Alberta in Canada, and a bachelor’s degree from Universidad Industrial de Santander in Colombia. Prior to moving from Colombia to Canada in 2009, she worked for 3 years in the Colombian National Oil Company (Ecopetrol S.A.) as a research engineer in the area of Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) and about a year in C.I. Multiservicios de Ingeniería 1A S.A. as quality manager. In Canada, while pursuing her PhD, she was appointed as teacher assistant and also worked part-time as Chemical Engineer - Research Collaborator for a consultancy company that provided support to oil and gas industry clients in Alberta. In 2013, Rosa joined BP in Sunbury-on-Thames (England) as a Research Engineer in the Fouling Science team of the Technology Development department. Later in 2014, she was relocated to Naperville (IL) and got actively involved with SWE becoming the Collegiate Liaison FY16 and FY17 following her interest in supporting women in STEM.
Currently, in BP, she is a Senior Research Engineer in the Crude Knowledge Team in Refining Technology and Engineering unit (RTE), and she continues to be an advocate for women and minorities by actively participating as the site co-lead for the Latino network, and as a core team member for the Women in STEM Development Offer. She is excited to continue expanding her involvement in SWE and serve as the Vice-President of Outreach FY18.
Contact Rosa at: swecrs.vpoutreach@swe.org
Currently, in BP, she is a Senior Research Engineer in the Crude Knowledge Team in Refining Technology and Engineering unit (RTE), and she continues to be an advocate for women and minorities by actively participating as the site co-lead for the Latino network, and as a core team member for the Women in STEM Development Offer. She is excited to continue expanding her involvement in SWE and serve as the Vice-President of Outreach FY18.
Contact Rosa at: swecrs.vpoutreach@swe.org
Treasurer
Abigail (Abbey) Schmoll has worked as a mechanical engineer in Specialty Chemical Manufacturing for over 12 years. She joined Solvay’s rotational engineering program after graduating from Iowa State University and rotated from South Carolina to Louisiana to Ohio. Abbey moved to the Chicago land area in 2015 to become a Production Superintendent for Solvay Inc.
Abbey’s experience in SWE started at Iowa State University where she stayed active with chair positions and meeting many successful women engineering students. She continued to stay involved and active as she relocated from state to state and she took on multiple officer roles in the Baton Rouge section. After filling the Recording Secretary position for CRS in FY17, Abbey took on the CRS Treasurer position for FY18. She will continue to fulfill the Treasurer role from a far, since she has relocated to France on a brief Marketing & Strategy assignment within Solvay.
Contact Abbey at: swecrs.treasurer@swe.org
Abbey’s experience in SWE started at Iowa State University where she stayed active with chair positions and meeting many successful women engineering students. She continued to stay involved and active as she relocated from state to state and she took on multiple officer roles in the Baton Rouge section. After filling the Recording Secretary position for CRS in FY17, Abbey took on the CRS Treasurer position for FY18. She will continue to fulfill the Treasurer role from a far, since she has relocated to France on a brief Marketing & Strategy assignment within Solvay.
Contact Abbey at: swecrs.treasurer@swe.org
Corresponding Secretary
Andrea McKenna completed her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University, and B.A.Sc. at the University of Toronto. Andrea has previously volunteered with Let's Talk Science, an organization that brings fun and educational science activities to elementary-school aged boys and girls, as well as the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST), an organization that promotes and empowers women and girls in STEM in British Columbia.
Andrea became involved with SWE when she moved to Boston in 2012 and served as a Section Representative and Communications Chair for SWE Boston. In FY17, Andrea was a Section Representative for the Chicago Regional Section and for FY18/19 is the corresponding secretary.
Andrea is currently a Project Consultant at Envista Forensics in Deerfield, performing damage assessments and failure analyses of mechanical/electrical systems and motor vehicle accidents. In her spare time, Andrea enjoys playing tennis, snowboarding, and traveling.
Contact Andrea at: swecrs.corrsecretary@swe.org
Andrea became involved with SWE when she moved to Boston in 2012 and served as a Section Representative and Communications Chair for SWE Boston. In FY17, Andrea was a Section Representative for the Chicago Regional Section and for FY18/19 is the corresponding secretary.
Andrea is currently a Project Consultant at Envista Forensics in Deerfield, performing damage assessments and failure analyses of mechanical/electrical systems and motor vehicle accidents. In her spare time, Andrea enjoys playing tennis, snowboarding, and traveling.
Contact Andrea at: swecrs.corrsecretary@swe.org
Recording Secretary
Kristen Banas is a licensed professional engineer (P.E., licensed in the State of Iowa) working in the engineering design consultant industry as a mechanical engineer. Currently she works at Affiliated Engineers in Downtown Chicago designing HVAC systems for hospitals and commercial buildings. Kristen has previously worked for KJWW now IMEG (in Rock Island, IL) and Henneman Engineering (in Champaign, IL).
Although Kristen did not participate in her collegiate SWE section she is so glad to be an active part of SWE now. This is her first voting position with the Chicago Regional Section (SWE CRS) executive board. Previous SWE positions held include SWE CRS Membership Chair (FY17), SWE CRS Downtown Circle Coordinator (FY16 & FY17), SWE Central IL counselor for UIUC Collegiate Section (FY10 & FY11).
Kristen is a proud Iowa State University alumni (go Cyclones!) with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.S. in Business Management. She is also a member of ASHRAE and a Big in the Big Brothers Big Sisters community program.
Contact Kristen at: swecrs.recsecretary@swe.org
Although Kristen did not participate in her collegiate SWE section she is so glad to be an active part of SWE now. This is her first voting position with the Chicago Regional Section (SWE CRS) executive board. Previous SWE positions held include SWE CRS Membership Chair (FY17), SWE CRS Downtown Circle Coordinator (FY16 & FY17), SWE Central IL counselor for UIUC Collegiate Section (FY10 & FY11).
Kristen is a proud Iowa State University alumni (go Cyclones!) with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.S. in Business Management. She is also a member of ASHRAE and a Big in the Big Brothers Big Sisters community program.
Contact Kristen at: swecrs.recsecretary@swe.org
