Supriya Jaiswal - 2016-17 SPIE Women in Optics Planner
CEO, Astrileux Corp. (Semiconductor Engineering Company), USA
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Nationality: United Kingdom
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By studying physics, I felt that I was choosing something sufficiently hard to evolve my potential and help me understand worldwide challenges over the next twenty years.
As the CEO of a next-generation semiconductor engineering company, it’s very exciting to be working on the leading edge. Working in an industry where all the science has not yet been discovered and where small changes have dynamic impact is really a fun place to be. You can see and quantify the value of your contributions.
As you forge ahead to undertake new ventures and different approaches, you find that adversity and risk exist, and many things are out of your control. The success of a technical project is as much dependent on the execution environment as on the goals of the project itself. The same can apply in a career.
When first starting out I wish someone had advised me to network as widely as possible, even as a graduate student, and attend many conferences to really understand what exciting opportunities exist inside and outside my field.
For women considering careers in STEM, relocation flexibility is the key to finding the best career development opportunities. It is also worthwhile to have a personal policy of supporting the career development of other women in STEM, as ultimately that will come back to help you.