Kalie Knecht
Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
PhD expected 2024
Kalie Knecht has been a member of SWE since 2014 and is currently serving as one of the GradSWE Mentoring Coordinators! Kalie blossomed in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville SWE Section (UTK SWE), serving in a variety of roles including Outreach Chair, Vice President of Membership, and President.
As Outreach Chair in FY17, she planned UTK SWE’s large scale outreach event, Tomorrow’s Engineers Today (TET), where over 100 middle and high school girls were brought to campus for science experiments, lab tours, and learning about what it means to be an engineer. In FY18, Kalie was UTK SWE’s President-Elect and VP of Membership. That year she managed SWEeties, the UTK SWE mentoring program which pairs incoming women in engineering with upperclassmen SWE members. In this role she automated their pair tracking system and created a live leader board, making information about how much each pair had met and how many goals they’d achieved more accessible.
As UTK SWE President in FY18, Kalie oversaw the 260 member section and managed a team of 7 officers and 10 chairs. She also created a new position: Alumni Chair, to improve the relationship with UTK SWE alumni. During her presidency, the section won a SWE Mission Award (Gold) and SWE Best Practice in Mentoring, both awarded at WE18 in Minneapolis. Within their university, the organization won the Corporate Partnership Council’s Program of the Year Award for SWEeties and the Community Outreach Award for TET. They were also awarded the University’s Division of Student Life Best Large Organization Award.
Before joining the GradSWE Team, Kalie has Society leadership experience as a FY19 SWE Future Leader (SWEFL) and member of the FY19 Curriculum Committee.
Kalie’s research topic is: Radiation detection for applications in nuclear safeguards, security, and nonproliferation.
During undergrad, Kalie visited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the organization that monitors international nuclear facilities to ensure countries are meeting obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, ensuring that nuclear material is used in a responsible way. Inspired by their mission, she wants to develop instruments that can be used by organizations like the IAEA to ensure that we can live in a world that is safe from nuclear threats. Kalie finds the physics of radiation interactions with matter fascinating and would like to explore projects relevant to radiation detection, as these devices can be used to assess the types of materials at nuclear facilities.
After graduation, Kalie wants to work at a national laboratory and continue to work in radiation detection. She is also interested in spending some time working at the IAEA in Vienna!
Outside of school, Kalie likes to play tabletop games with friends (her favorite is Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate). She also enjoys all things outdoors, which is one reason she is glad that she moved to the Bay Area!
Fun Fact: Kalie operated a nuclear research reactor in the Czech Republic!
Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
PhD expected 2024
Kalie Knecht has been a member of SWE since 2014 and is currently serving as one of the GradSWE Mentoring Coordinators! Kalie blossomed in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville SWE Section (UTK SWE), serving in a variety of roles including Outreach Chair, Vice President of Membership, and President.
As Outreach Chair in FY17, she planned UTK SWE’s large scale outreach event, Tomorrow’s Engineers Today (TET), where over 100 middle and high school girls were brought to campus for science experiments, lab tours, and learning about what it means to be an engineer. In FY18, Kalie was UTK SWE’s President-Elect and VP of Membership. That year she managed SWEeties, the UTK SWE mentoring program which pairs incoming women in engineering with upperclassmen SWE members. In this role she automated their pair tracking system and created a live leader board, making information about how much each pair had met and how many goals they’d achieved more accessible.
As UTK SWE President in FY18, Kalie oversaw the 260 member section and managed a team of 7 officers and 10 chairs. She also created a new position: Alumni Chair, to improve the relationship with UTK SWE alumni. During her presidency, the section won a SWE Mission Award (Gold) and SWE Best Practice in Mentoring, both awarded at WE18 in Minneapolis. Within their university, the organization won the Corporate Partnership Council’s Program of the Year Award for SWEeties and the Community Outreach Award for TET. They were also awarded the University’s Division of Student Life Best Large Organization Award.
Before joining the GradSWE Team, Kalie has Society leadership experience as a FY19 SWE Future Leader (SWEFL) and member of the FY19 Curriculum Committee.
Kalie’s research topic is: Radiation detection for applications in nuclear safeguards, security, and nonproliferation.
During undergrad, Kalie visited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the organization that monitors international nuclear facilities to ensure countries are meeting obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, ensuring that nuclear material is used in a responsible way. Inspired by their mission, she wants to develop instruments that can be used by organizations like the IAEA to ensure that we can live in a world that is safe from nuclear threats. Kalie finds the physics of radiation interactions with matter fascinating and would like to explore projects relevant to radiation detection, as these devices can be used to assess the types of materials at nuclear facilities.
After graduation, Kalie wants to work at a national laboratory and continue to work in radiation detection. She is also interested in spending some time working at the IAEA in Vienna!
Outside of school, Kalie likes to play tabletop games with friends (her favorite is Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate). She also enjoys all things outdoors, which is one reason she is glad that she moved to the Bay Area!
Fun Fact: Kalie operated a nuclear research reactor in the Czech Republic!
