For Women’s History Month, SWE spotlights five Latina engineers who have been instrumental to the Society’s history.
As the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, it also recognizes the three-decade strong partnership with SHPE that has resulted in successful programming and advocacy for women and girls in STEM fields.
In SWE Magazine’s Spring 2004 edition, then-President Alma Martinez Fallon wrote in her President’s Note about “Women Engineers Working Together for the Good of All,” calling for closer collaboration between the two organizations.
SWE formally partnered and offered joint memberships with SHPE for the first time beginning in July 2005. In SWE Magazine’s Fall 2005 edition, then-editor Anne Perusek shared that 63 SWE members had already opted to hold memberships in both organizations within that short time.
Since then, SWE and SHPE have worked together, united by the mission of promoting an inclusive environment, improving networking opportunities, and expanding professional development programs for women engineers.
In celebration of Women’s History Month and our continued partnership with SHPE, we at SWE are highlighting the work of Latinas in engineering.
Anna Salguero
Past president and Fellow Anna Salguero was SWE’s first Latina president. From joining SWE in 1973 as a student member to her role as SWE’s 30th president during the 1992-93 fiscal year, she fulfilled many other positions in the Society, including being charter president of the Southwest Texas Section as well as section representative and chairing and serving on various committees on the national level, including scholarships, career guidance, publicity, and more.
· Listen to her on SWE’s Diverse podcast, Episode 76: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with Past SWE Presidents, where she shares her thoughts on whether SWE has become more inclusive over the years.
Alma Martinez Fallon
Past president and Fellow Alma Martinez Fallon served as SWE president in 2004. She is a senior management consultant with decades of experience in engineering management, manufacturing, supply chain management, and corporate strategies. In 1997, Fallon was selected as one of SWE’s Distinguished New Engineer award recipients and was also the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers 2004 Junipero Serra Award recipient.
· Learn more about Fallon’s journey through this oral history interview with SWE Archivist Troy Eller English from 2021.
· Eller English also speaks about Fallon’s contributions to SWE’s advocacy efforts as she helped SWE partner with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to hire its first Washington representative on SWE’s Diverse podcast episode, Tales from the Archives – Getting from There to Here in Public Policy
· Read Fallon’s In Focus column from SWE Magazine’s Spring 2024 issue, discussing the job market, challenges, and prospects for women in mechanical engineering.
Mabel Esteves Velasquez
Past vice president, Fellow, and Distinguished Service Award recipient Mabel Esteves Velasquez became the first female engineer at Hewlett-Packard Puerto Rico in 1981. She was also celebrated as a SWE Distinguished New Engineer in 1980. She worked with the Society at all levels, including founding three SWE sections. She passed away in 2008, but her legacy continues through SWE Sacramento Valley Section’s Mabel Esteves Memorial Scholarship.
· Learn more about her in SWE Magazine’s Spring 2016 Women Engineers You Should Know issue.
Eileen Vélez-Vega
An active member in SWE, Eileen Vélez-Vega has had a prestigious career in Puerto Rico. She was named Puerto Rico’s Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works in December 2020 and was the first woman to hold the position. She was named a SWE Distinguished New Engineer in 2013 and an Emerging Leader in 2018, and served on the SWE board of directors, a position she stepped down from as she took on her new role.
· She penned this Day in the Life post for our All Together blog about her experiences as a civil engineer with Kimley-Horn Puerto Rico, LLC.
· Listen to her on our Diverse podcast, Episode 97: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage with Latina Leader, where she discusses her career path in STEM, the significance of being a Latina leader within SWE and her company, and the obstacles she has faced as a minority in engineering.
· She was featured again on the Diverse podcast this year, Episode 294: The Power of Perseverance With Secretary of Puerto Rico DTOP Eileen Vélez-Vega, where she reflects on her inspiring STEM journey and the unique pivots along the way — from being the first engineer in her family, to interning at NASA and Walt Disney World, to building a successful engineering career and ultimately leading a state government agency.
Claudia Galvan
Claudia Galvan received the SWE Advocating Women in Engineering Award in 2023 and was the chair of the Latinos Affinity Group for several years. She served as the president of the SWE Santa Clara Valley Section, the largest in Region A. She has mentored emerging leaders at the U.S. Department of State’s TechWomen initiative, working with women from the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia, and has received several awards, including the SWE Star.
· Learn more about her journey in SWE Magazine’s Spring 2023 Women Engineers You Should Know issue.
· See her Q&A on SWE’s All Together blog, titled Hispanic Heritage Month: Latina SWEsters, Part 3
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