A Creative and Innovative Problem Solver: Tabatabai Actively Involved in Recruitment and Mentoring [WIE from Around the World]

Shirin Tabatabai was not sure she wanted to be an engineer until a conversation with a high school teacher sparked an idea. Her calculus teacher suggested either becoming a math teacher (which was immediately not appealing to her) or pursuing a career in engineering. She asked what engineers do and he stated, "they use creative, innovative ideas to solve problems." That immediately stoked her curiosity and after studying the field in her early college career, she pursued her electrical engineering degree. With assistance from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), she also completed her master\´s in power engineering. She has been with the utility company for ten years.