Core Board

FY21 Core Board

Kristen Wagner - President

Kristen Wagner is a Mechanical Engineer at PepsiCo – Quaker Foods & Snacks in Milling Research & Development. She has worked at Quaker for the past seven years since she graduated from The University of Iowa. Kristen has been active in SWE for eleven years; four years as a collegiate and seven years as a professional member. Throughout her professional career, Kristen has held various roles within SWE-ECI: President for almost two years, Vice-President, Jr. Girl Scout Day Chair for two years, and College Outreach Chair for three years. Kristen received the SWE-ECI Leadership Award in 2020 & 2019 and SWEsterhood Award in 2018.

Aside from work and SWE, Kristen’s favorite hobbies are traveling, being outdoors, and spending time with her husband Devin, their one year-old son, Logan, and their dog, Rylee.

Debarati Ray - Vice President

Debarati Ray is an Engineering Manager at Collins Aerospace leading the avionics development for Gulfstream and Embraer business and regional jets. For the past two years, she was deployed to Moses Lake, Washington to perform flight tests on the aircraft and get it ready for certification. Debarati joined Collins as a co-op in August 2010 and transitioned on to become a full-time employee after her graduation in June 2011. She graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida with a degree in Aerospace Engineering in 2011 and continued on to get her MBA through The University of Iowa’s Professional and Managers program.

Debarati has been involved with SWE-ECI the entirety of her professional career and had the opportunity to hold a variety of positions throughout the years: Membership Secretary, Marketing Secretary, Section Representative, President, and Treasurer.

Katie Allen - Treasurer

Katie is a Sr. Engineering Manager who works at Collins Aerospace. She has been active in SWE since her college years at the University of Notre Dame. She joined SWE-ECI in 2011 and has previously served as K-12 Outreach Chair when she inaugurated the popular Jr. Girl Scout Day event and President when she helped update the section bylaws and bring in Rockwell Collins corporate sponsored memberships. She has been treasurer many times and earned the Leadership Award for SWE-ECI in 2015 and 2016. Katie has attended and organized numerous section events.

Katie is happy to continue as treasurer as she feels that she is good at the role and has done a good job keeping SWE’s budget the last few years. She has ensured that our grant from Collins Aerospace is kept active, allowing many of the popular events to take place. Being treasurer allows her to help in many different aspects which she enjoys. It is also a good fit for her personal life, currently. The treasurer role allows her to support the section on her own schedule.

Jillian Nagle - Secretary including Membership

Jill is a Project Manager for P&G Oral Care in Iowa City. She studied Mechanical Engineering at The University of Iowa where she graduated in 2013. At The University of Iowa she was very involved with the Society of Women Engineers. She held several Executive Board positions throughout her four years and rounded off her collegiate SWE career being the President her senior year.

Upon graduation, Jill got involved with the local professional section, SWE-ECI. Over the past seven years, Jill has been Vice President, President, K-12 Outreach Chair, and Secretary. She is always willing to fill in wherever needed.

Samantha Felhofer - Communications Secretary

Samantha Felhofer moved to Cedar Rapids in June of 2019 with her now fiance. She works at Modern Companies in Cedar Rapids. Samantha graduated from the Milwaukee School of Engineering with a Mechanical Engineering degree. Her motto in life is: think globally, act locally. She loves to be a helping hand and empower those around her. Samantha volunteered a lot in Milwaukee with local organizations, as well as led groups to Central American countries to build hygiene stations through an organization called Global Brigades. Once she found SWE-ECI she knew she had to join. Samantha recently bought a house and loves to craft. In her spare time she makes wooden signs with vinyl or make crafts in general.

Amy Kurr - College Outreach Chair

Amy is a Minneapolis / St. Paul Minnesota native with a passion for STEM and sports. She graduated from Iowa State University (ISU) in May of 2018 with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering and currently works as an Electromechanical Design Engineer at Schneider Electric. In her free-time, Amy competes in power-lifting and strongman, coaches for the non-profit Girls On The Run, and conducts research with ISU’s Recreation Services team and Kinesiology department regarding the atmosphere in the weightlifting areas on college campuses. Amy enjoys traveling, presenting engineering leadership sessions as a Tau Beta Pi Engineering Futures Facilitator, volunteering for the Society of Women Engineers, serving at church, and eating excessive amounts of ice cream.

Nicole Felderman - K-12 Outreach Chair

Nicole is an Associate Product Manager at CIVCO Medical Solutions in Coralville, IA. She has worked at CIVCO Medical Solutions for the past two years, and previously worked at Epic for almost two years. Nicole graduated from The University of Iowa in 2016. She was an active member in SWE at The University of Iowa for all four years, and the reason Nicole went to Iowa for Engineering is because she attended the SWE weekend that is hosted once each year. Aside from work, Nicole's favorite hobbies are golfing, taking her dog to the dog park or for walks outside, and going boating in the summer with her family.

Nicole loves coordinating events and working with K-12 kids. At CIVCO, she coordinated a SWENext Tour for high school students from LinnMar, where the students were able to tour the manufacturing, molding, and MIP areas of the plant. Giving back to kids is a strong passion of hers.

Smriti Tibrewal - Sr. Girl Scout Day Chair

Smriti is a Sr. Systems Engineer at Collins Aerospace. She has a MBA from University of California, Davis - Graduate School of Management and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Smriti currently serves as the K-12 Outreach Chair on the SWE-ECI core board and has been an active member and part of the core board for over three years. In her spare time she enjoys exploring new destinations, listening to music, and cooking.

Ashley Cassell - Jr. Girl Scout Day Chair

Ashley graduated from The University of Iowa with her Biomedical Engineering degree and has been with Collins Aerospace for four years. She started as an Industrial Engineer, then moved into the Operations Rotation Program, and currently works as a Production Manager. Ashley started on the SWE-ECI core board in FY18 as the K-12 Outreach Chair, then moved to Jr. Girl Scout Day chair in FY19, and in FY20 took a Special Event Coordinator role. She enjoys being involved in STEM outreach and seeing the younger generation get excited about math, science, and engineering. In her spare time, Ashley loves running, reading, and traveling.

Sravani Manne - Professional Development Chair

Sravani works at Collins Aerospace. This is her third year as Professional Development Chair. Previously, she served on the SWE-ECI nominating committee for two years and has attended numerous events with SWE-ECI over the past years.

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