WiE Staff
WiE administration
 Contact Information
Office: Dudley Hall
Email: holloway@purdue.edu
Holloway has been the director of the Women in Engineering Program since 2001. As senior assistant dean for student access and success, she is responsible for the college's recruitment and scholarship strategy, broadening participation in our undergraduate programs and all aspects of undergraduate student success. Her research areas include: admissions practices, sophomores in engineering and gender issues in engineering and leadership. She received the 2012 IBM Faculty Advisor Award, the 2012 national Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, the 2013 Purdue University Helen B. Schleman Gold Medallion Award, the 2014 Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN) Distinguished Service Award, and the 2015 ASEE William E. Wickenden Award for the best paper published in the Journal of Engineering Education during 2014. She was elected fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) in 2017, and fellow of the Society of Women Engineers in 2022. Under her leadership, the Purdue Women in Engineering Program received the 2013 WEPAN Women in Engineering Program Award and the 2014 ABET Claire L. Felbinger Award for Diversity.
Holloway was a member of the board of directors of ASEE from 2019-2022, serving as vice president of professional interest councils in 2020-2021. Holloway has also been president of the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (2006-07) and served on WEPAN's Board of Directors from 2005-2008. She currently serves as the advisor to Purdue SWE.
Prior to joining Purdue, Holloway was a research and development engineering group leader at Cummins, Inc., where she was a recognized corporate engine lubrication system expert with specialties in piston cooling nozzle and lubrication pump performance. She earned BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering and a PhD in engineering education, all from Purdue University.
She is an advocate for research-informed approaches to engineering education equity, policy, as well as student recruitment and retention efforts. She is a strong supporter of underrepresented populations in engineering, including women, minorities and first-generation college students.
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 Contact Information
Office: Dudley Hall, Room 2507
Email: zurnbirk@purdue.edu
Suzanne Zurn-Birkhimer has spent her career diligently working towards broadening the participation of women and underrepresented groups in STEM fields. She is the associate director of WiE where she leads retention efforts and conducts research around female student success. She manages the undergraduate and graduate mentoring programs that reach over 1,000 students annually, instructs Women in Engineering courses and oversees the WiE/WISP tutoring center and WiE residential community. She also holds a courtesy associate professor appointment in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) where she teaches introductory atmospheric science courses. Zurn-Birkhimer's research focuses around understanding the barriers and pathways to success for typically marginalized groups in STEM. She is developing an online training program for students with underdeveloped spatial skills. She is also working to understand the intricacies of female undergraduate student's successful navigation to their degrees. Finally, Zurn-Birkhimer studies the career pathways of indigenous women to better inform practices and policies in the workforce. In 2019, she was appointed to the advisory board of the international organization Diversity in Organizations, Communities, and Nations Research Network. She is also serving as the Program Chair-Elect (2024-2026) for the Women in Engineering Division of the American Society of Engineering Education, after formerly serving as a Director-At-Large (2023) for the division. She has held several positions across academia including deputy director of Purdue's NSF-ADVANCE initiative to increase the number of female faculty in the STEM fields and associate professor and co-chair of Mathematics at Saint Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Indiana, where she implemented a curriculum revision and developed a Mathematics-Engineering dual degree program. Zurn-Birkhimer earned her BS in Mathematics from the University of Minnesota and an MS and PhD in atmospheric science from Purdue University. She was awarded the 2012 Outstanding Alumni Award from EAPS and the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Purdue University College of Science. |
 Contact Information
Office: Dudley Hall, Room 2508
Phone: (765) 496-7442
Email: wredeb@purdue.edu
Wrede joined WiE in 2021. She is responsible for developing and implementing WiE's K-10 outreach programming, serving over 5,000 students annually. She manages the partnerships of engineering faculty and staff, community partners and local schools to encourage young women as they explore engineering and STEM. She supervises and instructs engineering outreach leadership team members. Her leadership team assists with outreach programming including, Imagination, Innovation, Discovery, Design (I2D2), Innovation to Reality (I2R), ACCESS Engineering, For Your Imagination (FYI) and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED) and several other community events. Wrede serves as an advisor for EPICS, a service-learning design program in the College of Engineering, and is a member of the Purdue Engineering Staff Leadership Academy 4.0. She brings her passion for educational and social equity, diverse programming and STEM education to WiE to encourage and inspire future engineers.
Wrede's background includes a BS in education, MS in higher education and is completing a doctorate in education. She has experience as a K12 teacher, instructional coach and certified educational advocate. She serves as the director of Academic Curriculum Development in Indiana for the Heritage STEAM Coalition. She provides professional development and training to fellow educators in student engagement, STEM integration and engineering messaging. |
 Contact Information
Office: Engineering and Technology Building, Suite 101G
Email: bstrubel@purdue.edu
Johnson joined WiE in Indianapolis in 2024. In this role, she develops and facilitates programming designed to support and empower women engineering students at the Indianapolis campus. She oversees the Mentee and Mentors program in Indianapolis, fostering a supportive network that helps engineering students navigate academic and professional paths. She previously served on WiE student leadership teams for the WE Link recruiting program and Graduate WiE Network. Beata is also a lecturer for the EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) program in Indianapolis. She holds a BS in chemical engineering and an MS in mechanical engineering and is completing her PhD in engineering education. Her academic journey and professional experiences reflect her commitment to cultivating inclusive and student-centered learning environments.
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 Contact Information
Office: Dudley Hall, Room 2512
Phone: (765) 494-6608
Email: denoc@purdue.edu
Deno has served as a member of the WiE staff since 1984. She works with WiE's WE Link recruitment program, the Mentees & Mentors Program for undergraduate students and the Graduate Women in Engineering program. She assists in the hiring and supervision of student leadership teams for these programs and coordinates the employment and payroll processes for over 100 students who serve on a variety of WiE's leadership teams. In addition, Deno handles the tracking and reporting of expenses for WiE.
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 Contact Information
Office: Dudley Hall, Room 2516
Phone: (765) 494-3889
Email: djmikels@purdue.edu
Mikels joined the WiE staff in 2005. She supports the WiE directors and serves as the liaison to other university program offices, engineering faculty and staff, alumni and corporate partners. She manages internal and external office communications and public relations. She supervises the operations leadership team and assists the WE Link recruitment program. She administers WiE's stewardship initiatives and assists with annual scholarship awards for current students. She is responsible for internal and external aspects of recruitment initiatives and event planning of Exploring Engineering at Purdue visits for high school juniors and seniors. She also assists with outreach programming for Introduce a Girl to Engineering, Engineering FYI: For Your Imagination and K-5 programs.
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WiE graduate assistants
 Contact Information
Office: Dudley Hall, Room 2515
Email: jpereira@purdue.edu
Pereira officially joined the WiE team as graduate assistant for outreach activities in May 2021. However, she has been involved with WiE since 2018. She participated in many different programs and outreach activities, Innovation to Reality, Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day and leadership team for Graduate Women in Engineering Network. In 2020 and 2022, she received the Emily M. Wadsworth Graduate Mentoring Award from WiE. For the 2020-21 academic year, she received the Women's Association Teri Dres Scholarship from the International Association of Foundation Drilling. Pereira also received the 2021-22 and 2022-23 Ada I. Pressman Memorial Scholarship from the Society of Women Engineers. She earned her BS in journalism and BS in civil engineering from Brazilian universities. She concluded her CE studies with a year abroad in the Netherlands with a special project in Spain. Pereira received her MS in civil engineering from Purdue University, where she continues toward her PhD. Her research focuses on the seismic stability of lunar lava tubes, where she evaluates the possible use of those natural rock tunnels as future astronaut shelters. |
 Contact Information
Office: Psychological Science Building, Room 2192
Email: zhan3822@purdue.edu
Zhang joined the WiE team in August 2022 as a graduate research assistant. She has been part of a research project that delves into the factors influencing retention rates among second-year engineering students from diverse engineering backgrounds. Zhang assisted in literature reviews, data analyses, visualizations and manuscript preparation. Zhang earned dual BS degrees in psychological sciences and French Languages and Literatures from Colgate University. After graduation, she worked as a lab manager at Purdue University and assisted in multiple research projects and practical initiatives, including the campus-wide Steps to Leaps Initiatives. Currently, she is working on her MS in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Purdue University. Zhang's research focuses on promoting well-being and fosterimg inclusive environments. Specifically, she applies a developmental perspective in understanding the phases of positive relationships and advises on the various forms of social support that individuals can provide. |
 Contact Information
Office: Dudley Hall, Room 2509
Email: ekzuraws@purdue.edu
Zurawski joined the WiE team as a graduate assistant in August 2024, but her involvement with WiE started in 2020. As a freshman, she participated in the Mentees & Mentors Program (M&M) and volunteered with WE Link. She was awarded the WiE Program Scholarship in recognition of her first-year contributions to the program. In 2021, she joined the M&M Leadership Team (LT) and remained in this position through graduating from her BS program. Following her final year with the M&M LT, she was awarded the Emily M. Wadsworth Undergraduate Mentoring Award from WiE. Zurawski earned her BS in biomedical engineering and the certificate in collaborative leadership from Purdue University in May 2024. She is continuing her studies at Purdue as she works toward her MS in biomedical engineering. She has also completed two engineering internships with Coloplast Interventional Urology and GE HealthCare, both of which focused on quality and regulatory practices in the medical device industry. |
 Contact Information
Office: Dudley Hall, Room 2515
Email: sprasan@purdue.edu
Jape joined the WiE team as a graduate assistant for outreach events in June 2024. A dedicated advocate for women in STEM, her passion for engineering was ignited during her high school years when she participated in WiE events. This early involvement fueled her commitment to encourage other women to enter the field. She actively volunteered at IGED (Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day) and engaged with organizations like the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Women in Hi Tech. Jape holds both a BS and MS in electrical and computer engineering from Purdue Indianapolis. She has professional experience as an Advanced Radar Software Engineer at Aptiv. Currently, she is pursuing her PhD in ECE at Purdue University, where her research focuses on real-time deployment of large machine learning models and enhancing resilience in autonomous transportation systems. |
 Contact Information
Office: Engineering and Technology Building 109 - Indianapolis
Email: nmanthri@purdue.edu
Manthripragada joined WiE as a graduate assistant in August 2024. In this role, she will contribute toward introducing and developing the K-12 outreach program at Purdue University in Indianapolis. Her previous experience teaching undergraduate students will be an asset, allowing her to effectively support K-12 initiatives and collaborate across Purdue's campuses. Manthripragada holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from JNTUH, India, and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Osmania University, India. She is currently pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering at Purdue University in Indianapolis, specializing in combustion and propulsion. Her research focuses on the impact of gas dynamics and ignition properties on pressure gain combustion in wave rotor turbine engines. |
