Meet Zeba Naqvi
Zeba Naqvi earned her PhD in Optical Science and Engineering at the University of North Carolina. She is currently a Technical Support Engineer at Ansys, Inc. In her free time she can be found playing the ukulele, baking or hiking.
When did your love of STEM begin?
My earliest memory is at 3 years old, squinting at the street light trying to catch the scattering through my eyelashes, with my hand. I made several attempts at different speeds but failed. Then tried to touch and feel it gently as if petting that yellow light. It was the intangibility and the remarkable speed of light that baffled me. I never felt any major difference between Art and Science and did consider pursuing a career in Art, but my Physics teacher changed my mind. I still like the abstract and real/tangible equally.
What is the best part about working in the field of STEM?
I am glad about choosing STEM over art, because with the latter, at most I could have expressed only ideas which might lay dormant on a canvas for eternity. Ideas are essential but implementation and execution is where life happens. That's the realm of STEM for me. It is packed with the joys of understanding laws of nature and harnessing that understanding to advance the lifestyle of mankind - a power unique to STEM.
What advice would you give young women interested in a career in STEM?
You don't see much advice for young 'men' interested in STEM. That's because of a bias that STEM comes naturally to men unlike women. My advice is to first identify the sources of this bias in your life - it could be family, relatives and other acquaintances. Do not feel obligated to please them. Use their pessimistic opinions about your abilities as a fuel to fire your passion for science and engineering. Don't drain your creative juices in the struggle against negative environment. Secondly, become a part of a group of like minded people. You will go twice as far if only you have the right company. Lastly, do not assume that once you've entered STEM officially, the bias will stop. It exists at every level. You need to be headstrong consistently to keep going.