Women in Engineering

Shaya Jamshidi

Pamela Stokes

Dana Bennett

Anh Tran

Ursel Allen

Shaya Jamshidi

Sr. Director of Business Development; Solutions Architect - Engineer

Great engineering occurs when a problem is tackled from many angles, not just mechanical and software, but diversity of thought and array of experiences. I’ve been lucky in my career path to work at Leidos - I’ve had the chance to hone my skills in engineering programs and now bring those practices to solve capture challenges in a business development role.

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Lakeisha Edwards

Dr. Katherine Woolfe

Aruna Mathuranayagam

Jennifer Wong

Martha Clough

Paria Heidari

Colleen Beach

Sue Yu

Christy Grim

Erika Killian

Stephanie Fletcher

Maria Hedden

Debbie Opiekun

SVP, Military & Veteran’s Health Solutions

My journey to becoming a female leader in STEM required dedication, enthusiasm for solving problems, delivering timely results, building alliances, fearlessness to try new assignments, courage to ask questions, and building deep trusting relationships with customers. It is so important to be women in engineering – we bring a different perspective. We all deserve the opportunity to solve hard, interesting problems and make a positive difference in this world.

Pamela Stokes

Women have made extraordinary contributions to innovations in technology and bettering the world through unique and different perspectives. As an engineer, I hope to in some way encourage, empower, and inspire future generations to believe that if I can do it so can they.

Lead Project Engineer

Dana Bennett

Senior Project Manager

Being an inclusive leader is really at the heart of my approach to engineering. Creating a broad solution happens most naturally when the views and contributions of a wide breadth of contributors and perspectives are included. As a female solution leader, I strive to be inclusive since that hasn’t always been the case in the engineering field and it’s important to have a diverse set of role models.

Anh Tran

Senior Director, Transportation Solutions Engineering

Diversity is the key to success and we/women in engineering are the solution. We are creative, adaptive, inquisitive, innovative, pragmatic, analytical, and FEARLESS…So put yourself in uncomfortable positions, challenge yourself, and break the norm.

Ursel Allen

Systems Engineer Program Manager

Being a woman in engineering allows me to apply my passion for problem-solving and creating my own brand to empower future talent in STEM. Women are leading innovation as front-runners in thought leadership, using their creativity to be the catalyst in our expanding industry.

Lakeisha Edwards

Senior Information Systems Security Engineer (ISSE)

Being a woman in engineering gives me the opportunity to bring a different perspective to problem-solving and innovation. I am proud that my professional opinion is valued and that I have a seat at the table where technical solutions are being developed that help shape our nation's defense.

Dr. Katherine Woolfe

Signal Processing Engineer

In my career, I've found that diverse teams led by diverse leaders create more innovative proposals, technical solutions, and products than homogeneous teams. This is why it's important for women to be bold STEM innovators.

Aruna Mathuranayagam

Civil CTO (acting)

Being a technology leader is exciting and rewarding to me as it enables customer missions and complex problem-solving through innovation and thought leadership. It also prompts me to encourage the next generation of future technologists about its many benefits.

Jennifer Wong

Cloud Software Engineer

My parents’ support and encouragement helped me pursue my interests in STEM, which led to diverse and exciting engineering opportunities throughout my career. I want to inspire my daughters and show them that having more women in STEM would impact the world in a positive way.

Martha Clough

Leidos Research Support team

Having started as an intern over 25 years ago, an amazing group of women colleagues and mentors have surrounded me and helped shape my career at Leidos. As this group continues to grow, I am inspired by women embodying our core value of innovation to make their mark in the scientific world.

Paria Heidari

Program/Project Manager

In 1994, I was able to find a job where I was the only female software engineer in my group of 15 engineers training them on the ‘new’ Internet web pages and graphics. My technology background and education has always been an asset in staying on top of cutting edge technological developments as well as leading, supporting, training, and guiding other women in this field.

Colleen Beach

Cyber Security Principle

I have had amazing mentors and leaders, in turn I try to support other engineers whenever possible. I also volunteer at my hometown middle school to assist kids interested in careers in STEM. It is important to me as a successful woman to impress on the younger generation, in particular young girls, how to be confident, self-assured, work hard, and take advantage of every opportunity you can!

Sue Yu

Senior Solutions Architect

I was one of a handful of women who graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree in both undergrad and grad school. For the majority of my career, it took working hard, speaking up at meetings, expressing technical opinions, offering recommendations, lots of planning, practicing, and self-encouragement! I love working with women engineers and female leaders because everyone seems to have gone through a similar journey and understands the importance of being an independent thinker, self-sufficient, collaborative, and serve as mutual inspiration.

Erika Killian

FDA Programs Division Director

Cultivating the next generation of women engineers will bring more diverse ideas from different spectrums together, which promotes the innovative culture at Leidos. This is why I love advocating, encouraging and mentoring girls and young women to pursue and advance their careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

Stephanie Fletcher

Solutions Architect, Airborne Sensors and Analytics Division

My career journey with Leidos has been 16 years of one adventure after another with never a dull moment! I am where I am today by being willing to move out of my comfort zone – often way out – and trying new things. There have been so many days that I doubted my abilities to succeed – but with Leidos’ support, I made it through each one and gained greater confidence in my abilities.

Maria Hedden

SVP, Security Detection & Automation

As a kid growing up, my dad asked me if I wanted to be an engineer. I told him, ‘No Dad, I don’t want to drive trains!’ I have come a long way from then and have the opportunity to travel the world and lead amazing organizations. Today, I help to drive change rather than trains, leveraging my diverse experiences to foster operational excellence.

Christy Grim

Release Train Engineer

As an Optician for over 18 years, I decided to go back to college once again. Studying Information Sciences and Technology brought me to an internship, where I absorbed as much knowledge as I could working with highly talented individuals. Blending problem-solving, management, and software engineering skills has paved the way for my career here at Leidos as a Release Train Engineer.