FutureME Mini Talks

**Special Presentation: 2019 Old Guard Early Career Award**

Join the ASME FutureME community for an opportunity to network and hear from experienced engineers as they present short inspirational talks!

At this social event, our Mini-Talks presenters will share their personal stories and experiences in career development. Our speakers range from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and you will learn how they became successful in their fields. The Mini-Talks will offer best practices and advice that may be applicable to your own individual careers and aspirations. All Mini-Talk sessions will be followed by a Q&A session.

In addition to the Mini-Talks, you will have the opportunity to meet new people from across the globe and practice your networking skills through a fun and interactive group activity. You will also have the chance to speak one-on-one with our guests, speakers, and other experienced early career engineers and Broaden your network.

Your Network is Your Net Worth!

Cake and Ice Cream will be served. Prizes will be awarded.

 

Program Moderator: Ritesh Lakhkar, Program Manager, Google LLC

Biography: Ritesh Lakhkar is an interdisciplinary engineer and program manager. He is currently working as Program Manager in Cloud business at Google LLC. He has diverse experience in smart speakers, smart displays and wearables at Google LLC and Fitbit Inc. Prior to his current role, he worked in smartphone and LCD glass cutting and finishing technologies at Corning Incorporated and in manufacturing R&D at Caterpillar Inc. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Govt. College of Engineering, Pune, India, a M.S. from Purdue University, and a Professional Engineer license. He has a passion to transition new technologies from R&D labs into production through scaling. His interest foreign language and technical expertise helped him to travel extensively around the world. Ritesh volunteers for ASME, contributing significantly to technical communities and student and early career engineer programs.

 

Presenters Talks & Biographies

Dr. Columbia Mishra, Senior Thermal Engineer, Thermal Engineering & Innovation team Intel Corporation

Topic: Dare to be YOU

In a world of constant changes and choices, staying true to ourselves is even more critical than ever. In this talk, Dr. Columbia Mishra will walk you through her thought process and journey on how she evaluated her choices, whether it is professional or otherwise in the bigger context of her life’s mission and vision. With a multitude of external influences affecting our lives it can be a challenge to do what is true to us versus what is simply the norm. The most human desire to be accepted and being part of an inclusive environment doesn’t have to be a choice of between being who we are and trying to fit in. Dr. Mishra will talk about how you can “Dare to be You” throughout the process while pursuing a certain career path or transitioning; how to continue to evaluate the chosen path in the broader context of your life’s mission and vision. In addition, she will talk about why it is ok to pursue a path that serves your goals; whether it is high risk, large scale global impact or out-of-the-box entrepreneurial.

Presenter Biography: Dr. Columbia Mishra is a Senior Thermal Engineer in the Thermal Engineering & Innovation team at Intel Corporation. Columbia develops thermal and mechanical enabling solutions to support the Client silicon roadmap at Intel Corporation using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods and hardware prototyping. Prior to this, she worked as a Resolution Enhancement Technology Design Engineer at Intel developing numerical models for mask corrections in photolithography.

She has industry experience working for companies like Apple, Inc, California; Stress Engineering Services, Inc., Houston, Texas; Makino Asia in Singapore and Tata Motors, India. Dr. Mishra received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin specializing in nanoscale thermal transport. She received her B.S. from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India and her M.S. from Texas Tech University in Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Mishra has published in journals such as Nature Materials, Journal of Fluid Mechanics and ACS Nano, and has been cited over 1000 times. She is a recipient of the competitive 2014 Qualcomm Innovation Challenge Fellowship and UT Austin Student Leadership Award. Dr. Mishra has served as Topic Chair for multiple ASME conferences such as International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE) and Summer Heat Transfer Conference (SHTC). She is in the class of ASME’s ECLIPSE 2019-2020 program. Columbia continues to be a part of the K-20 Computational Heat Transfer committee within ASME’s Heat Transfer Division. Columbia is an avid space enthusiast and on her journey to acquire a pilot license. Full of zest for life, she has been a finalist in Miss India USA Texas, volunteers as a mentor to first generation high school students and leads a music band.

 

Dr. Lee Clemon, Lecturer (Assistant Professor), University of Technology Sydney Old Guard Early Career Award 2019 recipient

Topic: Transition like you mean it

Dr. Lee Clemon will discuss how to succeed and embrace career transition and staying focused on your goals and values through that process. He will touch on how your skills, attitude, and network all play an important role: each needs specific attention to be successful. Dr. Clemon will share his personal experiences of handling transition early in his career; from starting in government, pivoting for a PhD, relocating to different continents, which has now lead him to his current academia career path and the skills that have seen him through.

Presenter Biography: Dr. Lee Clemon, an Eagle Scout, and Boren Scholar, received a baccalaureate degree from the University of Kansas. He joined Sandia National Laboratories as a Research and Development Mechanical Engineer and simultaneously attended graduate school. Lee received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2013 and 2017, respectively. At Sandia he designed and commissioned mobile systems to dispose of chemical weapons fielding two operational systems. In 2018, Lee joined the academic staff of the University of Technology Sydney as a leading researcher in sustainable additive manufacturing.

Lee actively serves ASME in volunteer development and Codes and Standards. Lee trained students in communication, ASME operations, and leadership skills for 6 years. He organized and delivered 3 conferences to train students in leadership skills. In 2015, Lee joined the VOLT Executive Committee and now serves the training needs of ASME’s middle and senior leadership. He is the organizer for the Cross-sector leader development workshop which builds cooperation and collaboration across ASME’s sectors. Lee also provides support to the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section VIII, Division 3 through the Resource Development Group. He serves Standards Australia as a committee member on the material testing.

 

Nawaz Ghodi, Director, Sathway Associates LLP, Rajkot

Topic: Developing Skills with ASME & Giving back to the community

As an Engineer, it’s all about which unique skill sets we possess in comparison with others. It’s always important to gather the skills which act as an added feather in your cap. Nawaz Ghodi says ASME provided a platform for him to give back to engineering student programs and leadership development, particularity in the region of India. Being pro-active within the engineering profession as a volunteer Ghodi will talk about what he gained through his overall experience and how it has transformed his career and have contributed to developing transferable skills through his involvement in ASME.

Presenter Biography: Nawaz Ghodi earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from B.H. Gardi College of Engineering & Technology - Rajkot (Gujarat), India and chose a path to freelance in the arena of skills development. Ghodi is Director at Sathway Associates LLP, Rajkot (Gujarat), India, engaged with innovation in training methodology leading to restructuring of courses and its conduction with various modules of teaching, learning and integral development of learner’s personality. Ghodi has been an avid supporter of the ASME student organization since 2013 volunteering through section leadership, training and programming in India. He has recently joined the ASME Student Design Committee and is chairperson of the ASME India Group Leadership Team. Previous ASME local involvement to India includes being a Judge for the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge and the Student Design Competition; member at large of the Student District Operating Board, and core committee member of the ASME Student Led Design Conference.

 

SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER

Garron Hobson, Patent Attorney and Partner, Thorpe North and Wester

Topic: Engineering Inventors/Innovators

Innovation is a lofty and elusive goal for many engineers and entrepreneurs. “Build a better mouse trap, and the world will beat a path to your door”, although a misquote, attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, embodies the spirit of innovation and the hope of inventors. Engineers are uniquely situated to innovate, solve problems, and change the world. Are you an inventor? What is invention? And what do you do now?

Presenter Biography: Garron Hobson is a patent attorney and has had the honor of working with inventors and engineers for over two decades. Prior to becoming a patent attorney, Hobson began his career in engineering earning a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. One of Hobson’s most satisfying experiences, as an engineer, was seeing his product designs on store shelves. In contrast, one of his most embarrassing moments, as an engineer, was having a product he designed pulled from production because the company attorney deemed it too dangerous and a potential liability. He has written patents for a variety of inventions from medical devices to household and electronics. He is a father to four children.