Dallas SWE is pleased to present a new series – Stories of Women in STEM – to feature stories of some of our talented members that highlight their STEM field, background, and advice for pursuing STEM. We hope this blog provides inspiration and an opportunity for girls to learn more from real engineers and the exciting possibilities in a career in STEM. Enjoy our Stories!
Please enjoy this feature with Amber Scheurer, Product Marketing Engineer at Texas Instruments.
Dallas SWE: Tell us about yourself! Please include your background, your journey, and why you decided to pursue a STEM field?
Amber: I grew up on the “space coast” of Florida, about 30 miles from Kennedy Space Center where I could see countless shuttle and rocket launches throughout my childhood. Myself and many of my friends had parents that worked in the aerospace and defense industry as engineers so it seemed like a typical career path to me.
Even though I didn’t really know what I was in for, I studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando. As a collegiate member of SWE there, my horizons were expanded significantly when I attended the regional and national conferences and saw how many different types of companies hired engineers for so many diverse roles.
While at UCF I did undergraduate research on semiconductor materials which lead to an internship and full time job at Texas Instruments as a Process Engineer in one of our semiconductor manufacturing sites. After 3 years in that role, I did a rotation program where I did four 6-month rotations in other groups, and eventually moved to a Product Marketing Engineer role.
Dallas SWE: Tell us about a typical day in your life. What do you do, and what is the best part?
Amber: As a Product Marketing Engineer, I help to grow the revenue for my product line. It is a mix of growing and maintaining existing customers, determining how to find new customers, creating content for TI.com to educate potential customers about my products, AND helping define, launch, and promote new products. It is a great mix of technical and business skills.
One of the best parts of my role is that I am “in the room” and part of the discussion when my team is setting the future roadmap and strategy for our business. I also love that I get to use my communication skills, both internally with our technical teams, as well as externally to customers and on TI.com.
Dallas SWE: Did you have any role models that helped you learn about or pursue your STEM field?
Amber: My mom, a software engineer, was a great role model in the sense that she never made it seem unusual to be a female engineer. It seemed like a totally normal career path for me growing up. Both of my parents instilled confidence in me that I was just as capable as anyone else and would be able to accomplish anything I set my mind to.
Dallas SWE: What advice do you have for girls interested in STEM? What are some of the ways to learn more? What helped you when you were young?
Amber: The best advice I would give to girls interested in STEM would be to find your people that truly support you and understand your goals. When I was younger, that was my family. My parents taught me to be inquisitive and explore and think critically. Once I went to college, the friends I made in SWE truly made a huge impact on my life. Finding other women with similar goals, who could understand what I was going through and support each other, was critical to my perseverance. No matter the stage of life, you have to find the people that will build you up, celebrate your accomplishments, and help you get through challenging times.
Another piece of advice I would give is to own what you are good at or what you are interested in. I left school feeling like certain roles were more prestigious or important than others, when in reality, it takes so many different people in so many different types of roles (both engineering and others) to make products and services come to life. Once I accepted what I was good at and what I enjoyed, rather than what made sense on paper (or what I thought other people wanted me to do), I was able to contribute much more to my company and enjoy the process!
