[Updated 06/14/2021]

---

FY21 Section Awardees

Congratulations to our FY21 Member of the Year!

The SWE-San Diego Member of the Year Award honors a female identifying SWE-San Diego professional member who has consistently engaged with SWE-San Diego activities over the past year, demonstrated leadership excellence and has community involvement.

​Candace Gray has been actively involved in many SWE-San Diego activities this past year and has volunteered to take on more responsibilities within the organization.  She has participated in Professional Development events, reviewed resumes for the Outreach Committee, co-hosted the first book club meeting, and judged engineering and science fair projects.  Candace was an On-Demand Speaker at the 2021 San Diego Engineers Week Festival, and she is serving as this year’s Banquet Chair. She was also elected to serve on the FY22 SWE-SD Executive Council as Vice President. Candace has a passion for sparking young girls’ interest in STEM and plans to use her education to help other women cultivate their leadership skills.

---

Congratulations to our FY21 Outstanding Engineer!

The SWE-San Diego Outstanding Engineer Award honors a local (San Diego County) female identifying person who has been actively engaged in an engineering or technology profession, has demonstrated outstanding technical excellence, and has at least fifteen years of cumulative engineering experience.

​Nilgun Fitoz has been a constructive change agent by advocating for a unified culture, growth mindset, and gender equality throughout her career. She believes in servant leadership and gets energized by new and tough assignments, learning opportunities, and mentoring future engineering leaders. She is an accomplished engineer and technical leader who is always part of the solution. She volunteers with SWE, BD’s Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) and Bridge To Turkiye Fund (bridgetoturkiye.org) in various capacities. 

---

Congratulations to our FY21 Distinguished New Engineer!

The SWE-San Diego Distinguished New Engineer Award honors a female identifying SWE-San Diego professional member who has been actively engaged in an engineering or technology profession, demonstrated outstanding technical performance, leadership in SWE-San Diego and the community in the first ten years of her career.

​Asha Dziewinski Pierce has been with Solar Turbines for 9 years, excelling in a number of technical positions and broadening her experience and responsibility within the company. Her technical breadth is complimented by her passion for engineering outreach and diversity & inclusion. She has held several leadership positions within both SWE San Diego and Solar ERGs, reaching out to over 1000 girls in numerous outreach events she has chaired. Her drive and passion make Asha the ideal SWE-San Diego Distinguished New Engineer for 2021.

---

Congratulations to our FY21 K-12 Outreach Volunteer of the Year!

The SWE-San Diego K-12 Outreach Volunteer of the Year Award honors a female SWE-San Diego professional member who has been actively engaged in the advancement of Science, Engineering, Technology, and Mathematics (STEM) fields as a desirable career option for K-12 girls. The award may be presented to one member annually.

​Dr. Tracy Nguyen is a champion of STEM Diversity on a mission to be a catalyst to closing the gender gap in STEM fields, through her support of girls and underserved students in robotics and engineering. Dr. Nguyen believes it's critical to pique children’s interest in STEM in elementary/middle school and to continue to cultivate this interest through high school. Although a practicing optometrist and informal educator, she is an enthusiastic outreach advocate that wholeheartedly embraces SWE’s mission and vision of empowering women to reach their full potential in engineering careers and achieve parity and equity, maybe even in her lifetime. 

---

FY21 Section Awards Nominations

Thank you for all of your hard work this past year!  It is time to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of our members and others in the technical community.

SWE-San Diego is proud to offer five awards for FY21:

• SWE-San Diego K-12 Outreach Volunteer of the Year
• SWE-San Diego Distinguished New Engineer
• SWE-San Diego Member of the Year
• SWE-San Diego Outstanding Engineer
• SWE-San Diego Diversity Champion

FY21 Awards Nomination Packet

Submit Nomination Packet Here

THE AWARDS NOMINATION PACKET IS DUE ON:
Wednesday, April 7, 2021 at 11:59pm PST

Please contact our SWE-San Diego Awards Chair with any questions or concerns at: awards.swesandiego@gmail.com

Thank you all in advance for your participation and support.  Here is to a great awards season!

---

CALL FOR JUDGES

We need Judges! Awards judging is a wonderful way to volunteer for SWE-San Diego — it's a chance to see what our amazing nominees are achieving professionally, contributing to SWE, and to the world.   

Any SWE-San Diego member, MAL, or corporate sponsor representative can be a judge. Judging can be done 100% remotely, usually over the course of a few hours. It's a great opportunity for those that don't have a lot of time, or need to volunteer on their own schedule.      

Please contact our SWE-San Diego Awards Chair with any questions or concerns or if you are interested in judging at awards.swesandiego@gmail.com

---

FY20 Awards Season    |    Past Award Winners

---