USC junior wins Society of Women Engineers’ community award

An Upper St. Clair High School junior is one of two SWENext Northrop Grumman Community Award Recipients from the Pittsburgh area. Kriti Shah was formally recognized during the Society of Women in Engineers conference, hosted by the Pittsburgh chapter, in February.

Students were asked to propose a solution to improve Pittsburgh’s infrastructure that helps both people and the environment. Kriti’s solution was to melt snow on roads and bridges by using solar panels.

View a brief video about Kriti’s idea

According to its website, “The SWENext Northrop Grumman Community Award hopes to encourage students to envision solutions to problems within their communities using science, technology, engineering or math (STEM), and show them they have the capacity to pursue STEM careers.”

The program was open to high school students throughout the Pittsburgh region. Participants were required to submit a video or essay describing the problem and their proposed solution.

As an award recipient, Kriti had the opportunity to help at the SWENext Design Lab Pittsburgh, a hands-on engineering experience designed to encourage girls to choose a career in engineering. In addition, she was honored at a banquet where she received a 3-D printed trophy, a $100 Amazon gift card and other items from the Northrop Grumman Corporation.

SWENext is an opportunity for students, age 18 and younger, to become part of the Society of Women Engineers. Joining is free. Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, strike, and logistics and modernization to government and commercial customers worldwide.

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