Lilian Casias Featured For Her Achievements

May 9, 2019 - CHTM

UNM graduate and CHTM student, Lilian Casias, has been featured in UNM Newsroom and KRQE for her achievements. Lilian Casias, a DACA recipeint and now U.S. naturalized citizen, started working with Dr. Sanjay Krishna (now at Ohio State University) at CHTM in 2013. After a long and arduous journey, she has finally graduated from UNM with a Doctorate Degree in Electrical Engineering. Her story has been highlighted in UNM News and on KRQE to recognize her achievement as a Hispanic woman in STEM.

In 2008, Casias graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering while also actively participating in organizations such as Eta Kappa Nu (Electrical Engineering Honor Society), Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honor Society), Phi Eta Sigma (National Honor Society) and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). However, due to the status of her citizenship, she was forced to turn down a position within the Department of Engineering working under one of her professors, giving up on her dream of working for one of the United States' National Labs. After President Obama implemented the Deferred ACtion for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), she was able to get her education back on track. She called one of her former professors with news that she was finally able to work in the field and returned to UNM to continue her education journey. After receiving a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, Casias decided to continue her education and aim for a Doctorate Degree.

To read more about her inspiring story, you can find it here. Her KRQE feature can be found here.

*Parts of this story have been excerpted from the UNM News article.