Alumna offers advice to women in engineering

For Women’s History Month, Women in MechSE (WiM) partnered with Women in Aerospace, Women in Nuclear, and Society of Women in Physics to set up a speaker series. Four speakers from each of the four disciplines are scheduled to give 45-minute virtual talks throughout the month.

Earlier this month, Kea Evans (BSME ‘18) spoke to a group of 18 students about her experiences at Illinois and beyond graduation.

Evans is currently working for Caterpillar, a company she first interned with after her freshman year at Illinois. While on campus she was very involved in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) as well as volunteering as a Women in Engineering (WiE) ambassador. Evans was one of the founders of WiM, although she said it was very much a group effort.

The theme of her talk was “Go All In,” to encourage students to “go the extra mile” and be very involved – not just on campus but in interpersonal relationships as well, to enable a good work-life balance and build confidence. She discussed her own experiences and struggles while at Illinois and how she learned and grew from them.

Evans specifically mentioned how MechSE staff Missy Biehl and Mariana Silva (who is now in the Computer Science department), and Angie Wolters from WiE were strong advocates and resources for her while at Illinois.

Evans said she looks forward to life post-pandemic when she can come back to campus for Homecoming and see her college friends.