Where do you see yourself 5 years or 10 years from now? This is a general question we are all asked when making future career choice decisions. Recent PhD grad in Nuclear Science and Engineering Erica Salazar will talk about how this question can both help and hinder our plans for achieving our career goals. Erica will discuss how both her educational and professional career path has taken many turns but still driving towards her passion since childhood -- making an impact in the energy industry.

The MIT Women's League and MIT Innovation HQ are proud to welcome Erica to hear about her work in research and making the shift to working in industry in Kendall Square. This half hour talk will be followed by a Q&A.

COVIDpass ID holders can access this building. If you do not have access and require a Tim Ticket, please reach out to wleague@mit.edu.

About Erica

Erica Salazar has devoted much of her career to the development of innovative superconducting magnet technologies for fusion energy applications. She is currently a Magnet Systems Lead at Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) where she works on developing R&D programs for superconducting magnet technology. Prior to CFS, Erica received her PhD from MIT’s Nuclear Science and Engineering department and performed her thesis research at the Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Her thesis research work focused on the quench dynamics and quench detection of high temperature superconducting cables for the SPARC project. Before embarking on her doctorate program, Erica worked at General Atomics for five years as a mechanical engineer and process manager on the ITER Central Solenoid superconducting magnet manufacturing project.

About WISDM

The Women in Innovation and STEM Database at MIT (WISDM) promotes the visibility of women in our academic community, increases gender diversity in innovation and entrepreneurship, and makes it easier to find talented and diverse speakers for various events. WISDM supports women and gender non-conforming MIT community members and upholds the Institute’s efforts to foster community, equity, and inclusion.