Name: EP 138: Un Cafecito With a Woman in STEM: Melanie Weber by Diverse: a SWE podcast in interviews
Duration: 27 min 5 s
Description: Welcome to “Un Cafecito with a Woman in STEM”, a sub-series of SWE’s Diverse podcast. In this Diverse episode, Marissa Doyen, Hispanic Heritage Month Lead within SWE's Latinos Affinity Group, speaks with Melanie Weber, a structural and mechanical design engineer at the Boeing Company working on the CST-100 Starliner Spacecraft.

interviews

Welcome to “Un Cafecito with a Woman in STEM”, a sub-series of SWE’s Diverse podcast. In this Diverse episode, Marissa Doyen, Hispanic Heritage Month Lead within SWE's Latinos Affinity Group, speaks with Melanie Weber, a structural and mechanical design engineer at the Boeing Company working on the CST-100 Starliner Spacecraft.

EP 138: Un Cafecito With a Woman in STEM: Melanie Weber

Melissa Marshall, TED speaker and founder of Present Your Science, shares actionable advice to help scientists and engineers share their work to non-technical audiences in this episode of Diverse.

Hear practical tips for improving your presentation skills, plus two key communication pitfalls to avoid. Marshall offers additional insights on the role of visual aids in slides, building confidence, and how AI is impacting the future of communication in STEM.

Ep 272: Communicating to Non-Technical Audiences With TED Speaker Melissa Marshall

Sharon Hong, vice president of ecosystem solutions and video sales engineering at Motorola Solutions, explores how engineers can unlock fear, overcome imposter syndrome, and unleash their full potential in this episode of Diverse.

In conversation with FY25 SWE President Karen Roth, Hong discusses her inspiring STEM journey and leadership roles in the security and safety sectors. She also provides a preview of her upcoming WE24 keynote address.

Ep 273: Unleashing Your Potential With Sharon Hong of Motorola Solutions

Jennifer McAndrew from Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life explores the critical issue of voter turnout among STEM students with Dr. Roberta Rincon, director of research and impact at SWE. 

McAndrew dives into findings from the recent "Democracy Counts 2022" report from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, explores why collegians in STEM majors may be harder to mobilize than those in other fields and identifies strategies that can boost civic participation. 

Recorded on National Voter Registration Day, this conversation offers insights into increasing collegiate voting in the lead-up to the U.S. elections.

Ep 280: Engaging Youth STEM Voters With Jennifer McAndrew of Tufts University

From escaping Vietnam as a refugee to becoming vice president of global front-end procurement at Micron Technology, Thy Tran has lived a story defined by resilience and purpose. 

In this episode, FY26 SWE President Inaas Darrat sits down with Thy to discuss her extraordinary path to earning 13 patents, leading global teams, and embracing new challenges in business and leadership.

Hear Thy’s reflections on giving back, balancing engineering with art and entrepreneurship, and embracing your story.

Don’t miss Thy’s upcoming keynote at WE25, the world’s largest conference for women and allies in engineering, which takes place Oct. 23-25 in New Orleans: we25.swe.org 

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The Society of Women Engineers is a powerful, global force uniting 50,000 members of all genders spanning 85 countries. We are the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. To join and access all the exclusive benefits to elevate your professional journey, visit membership.swe.org.

Ep 337: Dreaming Big and Giving Back With Thy Tran of Micron Technology

This episode is sponsored by Nucor.

When Johanna Threm, vice president and general manager at Nucor, started her career, she envisioned designing buildings and bridges as a civil engineer. 

In conversation with SWE Executive Director and CEO Karen Horting, Johanna shares how she transitioned to the steel industry, the lessons she’s learned from taking bold career risks, and the importance of “lifting as you climb” to create opportunities for others.

Recorded live at WE25, hear how Nucor offers diverse career paths in rural and urban communities, how Johanna’s family embraced a cross-country move during the pandemic, and why seeing women in every role — from crane operators to metallurgists — signals a powerful shift in the steel industry.

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The Society of Women Engineers is a powerful, global force uniting 50,000 members of all genders spanning 85 countries. We are the world’s largest advocate and catalyst for change for women in engineering and technology. To join and access all the exclusive benefits to elevate your professional journey, visit membership.swe.org. 

Ep 342: Women Shaping the Steel Industry: A Conversation With Johanna Threm of Nucor

Visionary and pioneering Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson performed for us recently and talked about Bach, Chopin and his rare condition called synesthesia which means he associates colours with pitch.

"I have this thing from when I was like five or six… I have perfect pitch or absolute hearing so when I would you know think about F minor that would be blue for me, I mean A major would be yellow, B major is purple."
VÍKINGUR ÓLAFSSON

If you missed our Vikingur Olafsson pre-concert talk watch here and to hear more from great pianists see our International Piano Series - https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/festivals-series/classical-season/international-piano-series

Vikingur Olafsson

Inspired by the forthcoming Soundstate festival, Harriet Fitch Little is joined by Southbank Centre's Music Director, Gillian Moore; Susanna Eastburn, CEO of Sound & Music; and Dai Fujikura, composer of contemporary classical music. 

They discuss the trouble with genres, how writing music will never be the same and why they don't use the word 'classical'.

Think Aloud: Modern music – composing, curating and cl***ical

In this episode, Harriet Fitch Little is joined by paralympian, TV presenter and children’s author Ade Adepitan, and children’s book critic Imogen Russell Williams to talk about the lack of diversity in children’s literature.

“I suddenly started to get a perception that certain people did certain things, that main protagonists, that strong characters, that hero characters were all white, middle class.”
ADE ADEPITAN

They discussed why children’s literature is so behind, why we can’t eliminate the past and who should be dealing with this - the authors, the publishers or the parents?

Also, children's author and illustrator Nadine Kaadan answered the burning question: how do you create a character for children?

To see all the events at Imagine Children's Festival and to buy tickets, go to https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/festivals-series/imagine-childrens-festival

Think Aloud: Children's books – why literature for the future is stuck in the past

Every morning as we scroll through the day’s news headlines, a question lurks. How can I trust what’s online as I listen to political debates and controversies – and how might the news that I read online influence my vote? These questions are more important than ever as the next presidential election nears. In this SWE Diverse episode, Chicago-based journalist and SWE Magazine contributor Sandra Guy speaks with Theresa Payton, CEO and co-founder of cybercrime-fighting firm Fortalice Solutions.

Episode 81: Theresa Payton on Fighting Cybercrime During Elections

Malala Yousafzai's activist work championing the educational rights of girls led to her being shot by a Taliban gunman in 2012, when she was just 15 – but she refused to be silenced.

She came to the Southbank Centre to launch her memoir I Am Malala on Sunday 20 October 2013, appearing in conversation with former Southbank Centre Artistic Director Jude Kelly. The following year, Yousafzai became the youngest ever Nobel laureate. 

In our recording of that talk, hear Yousafzai speak about sibling rivalry, her love for the landscape of her home in Pakistan's Swat Valley, and, of course, her belief in the power of education.

'We need to change the ideology. We need to tell people what the real power is. You are not powerful if you have a gun, because through guns you can only kill. You are powerful when you have a book, when you have a pen, because through pens you can save lives. And that's the change that we want to bring in our society.'

Malala Yousafzai In Conversation with Jude Kelly

In 2019, Jean Paul Gaultier brought his Fashion Freak Show – called a 'fabulous fiesta of fabric and flesh' by The Guardian – to the Southbank Centre. 

But before his extravaganza exploded onto the stage at Royal Festival Hall, the designer himself appeared here in conversation with TV presenter Anita Rani, reflecting on his decades in fashion.

Born in a Paris suburb in 1952, Gaultier started his career at Pierre Cardin at the age of just 18. He has gone on to rise to the top of the fashion world with his own label, ruffling industry feathers and dressing huge stars – including Madonna in the now-infamous bustier – along the way. 

Hear him discuss his childhood inspirations, his love of British eccentricity and his vision for the future of the fashion industry in our podcast.

Jean Paul Gaultier in conversation

Welcome to Diverse, a podcast by the Society of Women Engineers. SWE gives women engineers a unique place and voice within the engineering community. On Diverse, we highlight incredible thought leaders and personalities in the STEM community and discover who they are at home, at work and in between.

EP 138: Un Cafecito With a Woman in STEM: Melanie Weber

Diverse: a SWE podcast

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