Molly Skinner
University of South Florida, PhD in Chemical Engineering
2021 GradSWE Award Winner
Skinner began her SWE involvement her freshman year of college. She joined the Big and Little program as a mentee and her mentor was the president of her section. She encouraged Skinner to run for midterm elections and Skinner was elected to the EXPO Chair position, heading the K-12 outreach event as a freshman. Next, Skinner was elected as the Events Chair, where she facilitated the event planning and programming for members. She participated on the boards of inaugural fundraising events: the 5K Fun Run and Sampling Science: The Science behind Craft Beer. These events raise over $3,000 a year for the section.
The following year, she was charged with revamping the Big and Little program. She paired over 50 members together based on their majors and career interests. This program still exists today and has evolved to include professionals. Many of the women who have participated in this program have gone on to become leaders in the section, including her mentee. The final officer position she held as an undergraduate was Treasurer. She was the financial liaison between the SWE section and student government. She ensured that funds were allocated to promote SWE’s mission.
She was later accepted into USF’s Chemical Engineering Ph.D. program. She wanted to remain involved in SWE, looking for any opportunity to contribute. She was called to participate at the historically regional level on the Regional Nominating Committee. She vetted potential SWE leaders to ensure that the best people for the positions were selected. In addition to participating in the Collegiate Competition at WELocal 2019 Tampa, she served as a Local Host Committee Member as the Social Liaison. Her specific task was organizing the Friday night social for the more than 300 attendees, but assisted everywhere she could. One contribution made was after the conference, by giving the coordinators from HQ an insight into how the Collegiate Competition ran for competitors to improve the process for later WELocals. In 2020, she was once again called to participate in the local nominating committee for the Tampa Bay Area section. She reached out to members to run for positions and ensured that the election process ran smoothly.
In her graduate career, Skinner held positions in both the historically regional and Society levels, but felt that she was still needed at the collegiate level. There was a lack of involvement from USF’s graduate students in SWE, but there are so many opportunities for them. Skinner has been a National Finalist at WE17 and WE18 for the Poster and Rapid-Fire Competitions, respectively. She received first place for the Collegiate Competition at WELocal Tampa and the Ada I. Pressmen Memorial Scholarship through SWE. These are just some of the opportunities USF’s graduate students were missing out on, so she co-founded the GradSWE Community at USF. She not only encourages other graduate students to partake in these opportunities but also creates programming specifically for graduate students. This included giving her workshop entitled “TA Survival Guide” and creating the “Ph.D. and Beyond Panel Series,” which brings in women who have gone into different careers after obtaining their Ph.D. The hope is to include more workshops and panels to promote graduate student success, such as grant writing, publishing assistance, and diversity and inclusion.
Skinner began research at 16 analyzing the structure of polyhydroxyfullerenes. As an undergraduate, she investigated using natural polysaccharides to counteract formation of amyloid beta fibers. She presented this research at the 2017 USF Undergraduate Research Colloquium and as a national finalist at WE17 in the graduate poster competition. Hers was one of thirty projects to receive the USF Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award. In 2018, she conducted research at the National University of Singapore through the NSF funded International Research Experience for Students. She investigated how the presence of osmolytes change structure of viruses to create more effective vaccinations. She presented this work at WE18 in the graduate level Rapid Fire Competition and at WELocal Tampa Collegiate Competition, where she received first place
In 2020, Skinner received the highest honor a student can receive at her university, the Golden Bull Award. She obtained this award because she embraces the spirit of USF through her leadership experience, technical achievements, research, service to the community, and global experience.
Skinner is an active member and leader in multiple engineering societies. The first being Engineering Alumni Society (EAS) at USF. She currently serves on the fundraising committee for Bullarney, the yearly event to raise funds for student scholarships, education programs, and conference grants. She facilitates auction items by working closely with the businesses within the community. Through this work, Skinner was selected as EAS’s 2020 Student of the Year. She is active with in the American Institute for Chemical Engineers (AIChE) at both the local level and national level. At the local level, she participates in monthly speaker dinner engagements and was awarded the 2019 Central Florida AIChE Student Scholarship. At the national level, she gave a talk at the 2019 AIChE Annual Meeting in the Education Division entitled “TA Survival Guide: Navigating Your First Week of Classes”.
Finally, Skinner is the current Vice President of the Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Association (ChEGSA). She serves on the recruitment committee for the department’s graduate programs. This involves attending conferences and events to recruit new graduate students. Once the students are accepted, she helps with their official visit by giving tours of the campus, answering any questions they may have, and offering information about the program and extracurriculars, like GradSWE or ChEGSA. After the students decide to join the program, she makes herself available to them for anything they need.
Skinner served as a Teaching Assistant (TA) for seven semesters, her main assignment being Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Laboratory Series. She prepared students for their careers by teaching how to communicate findings to different audiences with different medias. With her background in theatre, she was able to provide feedback on oral presentations, including how to project, stand, and move. Students will be giving presentations throughout their careers and this feedback allows them to come across as confident and competent engineers.
In April 2016, Skinner lost her younger brother to a rare form of childhood leukemia. Her family established the nonprofit SkinnerStrong Foundation. Their mission is to support research, treatment, and care of those affected by childhood leukemia. They hold fundraisers each year, including an annual golf tournament and have raised over $120,000 since their founding.
Skinner strives to embody SWE’s mission to empower women, which lead to her fostering her section’s relationship with the local PACE Center for Girls. This semester, the section is planning a day to talk about career paths in engineering to encourage these girls to pursue STEM education and careers. Skinner is heading up a feminine hygiene product and food drive for these girls and their families.
Find her on social media here: @threatre_ChemE @SkinnerStrong24 @skinnerstrong_foundation
University of South Florida, PhD in Chemical Engineering
2021 GradSWE Award Winner
Skinner began her SWE involvement her freshman year of college. She joined the Big and Little program as a mentee and her mentor was the president of her section. She encouraged Skinner to run for midterm elections and Skinner was elected to the EXPO Chair position, heading the K-12 outreach event as a freshman. Next, Skinner was elected as the Events Chair, where she facilitated the event planning and programming for members. She participated on the boards of inaugural fundraising events: the 5K Fun Run and Sampling Science: The Science behind Craft Beer. These events raise over $3,000 a year for the section.
The following year, she was charged with revamping the Big and Little program. She paired over 50 members together based on their majors and career interests. This program still exists today and has evolved to include professionals. Many of the women who have participated in this program have gone on to become leaders in the section, including her mentee. The final officer position she held as an undergraduate was Treasurer. She was the financial liaison between the SWE section and student government. She ensured that funds were allocated to promote SWE’s mission.
She was later accepted into USF’s Chemical Engineering Ph.D. program. She wanted to remain involved in SWE, looking for any opportunity to contribute. She was called to participate at the historically regional level on the Regional Nominating Committee. She vetted potential SWE leaders to ensure that the best people for the positions were selected. In addition to participating in the Collegiate Competition at WELocal 2019 Tampa, she served as a Local Host Committee Member as the Social Liaison. Her specific task was organizing the Friday night social for the more than 300 attendees, but assisted everywhere she could. One contribution made was after the conference, by giving the coordinators from HQ an insight into how the Collegiate Competition ran for competitors to improve the process for later WELocals. In 2020, she was once again called to participate in the local nominating committee for the Tampa Bay Area section. She reached out to members to run for positions and ensured that the election process ran smoothly.
In her graduate career, Skinner held positions in both the historically regional and Society levels, but felt that she was still needed at the collegiate level. There was a lack of involvement from USF’s graduate students in SWE, but there are so many opportunities for them. Skinner has been a National Finalist at WE17 and WE18 for the Poster and Rapid-Fire Competitions, respectively. She received first place for the Collegiate Competition at WELocal Tampa and the Ada I. Pressmen Memorial Scholarship through SWE. These are just some of the opportunities USF’s graduate students were missing out on, so she co-founded the GradSWE Community at USF. She not only encourages other graduate students to partake in these opportunities but also creates programming specifically for graduate students. This included giving her workshop entitled “TA Survival Guide” and creating the “Ph.D. and Beyond Panel Series,” which brings in women who have gone into different careers after obtaining their Ph.D. The hope is to include more workshops and panels to promote graduate student success, such as grant writing, publishing assistance, and diversity and inclusion.
Skinner began research at 16 analyzing the structure of polyhydroxyfullerenes. As an undergraduate, she investigated using natural polysaccharides to counteract formation of amyloid beta fibers. She presented this research at the 2017 USF Undergraduate Research Colloquium and as a national finalist at WE17 in the graduate poster competition. Hers was one of thirty projects to receive the USF Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award. In 2018, she conducted research at the National University of Singapore through the NSF funded International Research Experience for Students. She investigated how the presence of osmolytes change structure of viruses to create more effective vaccinations. She presented this work at WE18 in the graduate level Rapid Fire Competition and at WELocal Tampa Collegiate Competition, where she received first place
In 2020, Skinner received the highest honor a student can receive at her university, the Golden Bull Award. She obtained this award because she embraces the spirit of USF through her leadership experience, technical achievements, research, service to the community, and global experience.
Skinner is an active member and leader in multiple engineering societies. The first being Engineering Alumni Society (EAS) at USF. She currently serves on the fundraising committee for Bullarney, the yearly event to raise funds for student scholarships, education programs, and conference grants. She facilitates auction items by working closely with the businesses within the community. Through this work, Skinner was selected as EAS’s 2020 Student of the Year. She is active with in the American Institute for Chemical Engineers (AIChE) at both the local level and national level. At the local level, she participates in monthly speaker dinner engagements and was awarded the 2019 Central Florida AIChE Student Scholarship. At the national level, she gave a talk at the 2019 AIChE Annual Meeting in the Education Division entitled “TA Survival Guide: Navigating Your First Week of Classes”.
Finally, Skinner is the current Vice President of the Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Association (ChEGSA). She serves on the recruitment committee for the department’s graduate programs. This involves attending conferences and events to recruit new graduate students. Once the students are accepted, she helps with their official visit by giving tours of the campus, answering any questions they may have, and offering information about the program and extracurriculars, like GradSWE or ChEGSA. After the students decide to join the program, she makes herself available to them for anything they need.
Skinner served as a Teaching Assistant (TA) for seven semesters, her main assignment being Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Laboratory Series. She prepared students for their careers by teaching how to communicate findings to different audiences with different medias. With her background in theatre, she was able to provide feedback on oral presentations, including how to project, stand, and move. Students will be giving presentations throughout their careers and this feedback allows them to come across as confident and competent engineers.
In April 2016, Skinner lost her younger brother to a rare form of childhood leukemia. Her family established the nonprofit SkinnerStrong Foundation. Their mission is to support research, treatment, and care of those affected by childhood leukemia. They hold fundraisers each year, including an annual golf tournament and have raised over $120,000 since their founding.
Skinner strives to embody SWE’s mission to empower women, which lead to her fostering her section’s relationship with the local PACE Center for Girls. This semester, the section is planning a day to talk about career paths in engineering to encourage these girls to pursue STEM education and careers. Skinner is heading up a feminine hygiene product and food drive for these girls and their families.
Find her on social media here: @threatre_ChemE @SkinnerStrong24 @skinnerstrong_foundation
