Dr. Jeanne Atwell

Senior Director, Ball Aerospace

Dr. Atwell earned a B.S. degree in Mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, a M.S. degree from Oregon State University, and a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

In her 20+ years at Ball, Jeanne has filled roles including data scientist, systems engineer, technical manager, functional manager, and business area manager. She supported programs in all phases of the program lifecycle, from architecture studies to requirements development to post-delivery support, and was awarded Ball’s highest technical award for continuous achievement in Systems Engineering in 2015.

In recent roles, she led the development of technology, mission concepts, and a diversified customer base for Ball’s National Defense business unit and she was responsible for capture and execution of a transformational mission partner opportunity for Ball Aerospace.

Dr. Vanessa Rivera Quiñones

Data Science Consultant at Equilo and Instructor at the Sagrada Global Program

Born in Puerto Rico, Dr. Vanessa Rivera Quiñones is a freelance Data Science consultant at Equilo and an instructor at Sagrado Global Data Science & Analytics program. She is passionate about telling stories through numbers using mathematical models, science communication, and education. She received her bachelor's (B.S.) degree in Mathematics and a minor in Finance from the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras (2013). She completed her doctoral degree in Mathematics (2019) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Rivera Quiñones has participated in projects and in organizations at the intersection of her many interests such as Lathisms.org, Math SWAGGER, AMS Blog on Math Blogs, among others. At the next step of her career, she is interested in working on the ever-growing challenges of sustainability, healthcare, and education through a social justice lens.

Meg Winslow

Research Scientist at Graf Research

Meg Winslow graduated in December 2020 with a BS in Applied Discrete Mathematics and a minor in computer science. She joined Graf Research as a Research Scientist in January of 2021. While at Virginia Tech, I participated in undergraduate research through the SURE Program. I was also a peer mentor and grader for the math department.

Dr. Carla Cotwright-Williams

Technical Director at U.S. Department of Defense

Dr. Cotwright-Williams serves as a Technical Director within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). While at the Pentagon, she served as the first Chief of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) - the DoD’s new Center of Excellence for AI. Prior to working with the DoD, she began her public service in Academia - serving over 10 years in research and teaching. She has conducted research with both NASA and the U.S. Navy. In 2012, she was awarded the American Mathematical Society (AMS) Congressional Fellowship. During her time on Capitol Hill, she worked as a staffer on the majority staff of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. In addition to covering a number of policy areas, she worked on the congressional hearing examining emergency preparedness surrounding the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings.

Dr. Cotwright-Williams is also the chair of Policy and Advocacy and a member-at-large for the Executive Committee of the Association of Women in Mathematics (AWM).

Dr. Samantha Erwin

Research Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Dr. Erwin received a Master and PhD in Mathematics from Virginia Tech, with her thesis titled, “Mathematical Models of Immune Responses to Infectious Diseases”. During her time at Virginia Tech, she was Vice President of the Graduate Student Assembly, founded a student chapter for the Association for Women in Mathematics, and participated in SIAM and the SGTA.

Following her PhD, she held a postdoctoral position at North Carolina State University where she developed mathematical models of antibiotic resistant pathogens. She also organized a postdoctoral association for the College of Veterinary Medicine. She presented work at international conferences and become the membership chair of the Society for Mathematical Biology.

In 2019, she was hired as a Research Scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the Advanced Computing for Health Sciences Section. Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, her and her colleagues responded by providing improved situation awareness and insight into what is happening in different regions of the country for the Office of Science. Their work in the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory helped officials understand the spread of COVID-19 and the effects of intervention policy measures. Additionally, she is a fellow for the Committee on Science and Policy for the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics.