Los Alamos staff honored at Women in Technology Celebration
Harshini Mukundan in front of the optical biosensor that her team has been developing to detect tuberculosis and other diseases.
Achievement award
Tuberculosis researcher Harshini Mukundan recently won an achievement award at New Mexico Technology Council’s 8th Annual Women in Technology (WIT) Celebration, while six Los Alamos staff members representing a range of disciplines were honored as finalists.
Out of a field of 50-plus nominees, 15 finalists and 6 achievement award winners were chosen. Previous WIT award winners evaluated nominees on volunteerism and community service, mentoring other women, exemplifying an entrepreneurial spirit, and/or blazing a trail in a technology profession.
Finalists from Los Alamos National Laboratory included the following:
- materials scientist Amy Clarke (Metallurgy, MST-6)
- research statistician Christine Anderson-Cook (Statistical Sciences, CCS-6)
- chemist Dana Dattelbaum (Explosive Science and Shock Physics, M-DO)
- chemist Jennifer Hollingsworth (Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, MPA-CINT)
- software business development executive Kathleen McDonald (Richard P. Feynman Center for Innovation, FCI-DO)
- chemist Harshini Mukundan (Physical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy, C-PCS)
Mukundan has been researching tuberculosis and other diseases since she came to the Laboratory in 2006, and has focused on techniques for the early diagnosis of active tuberculosis infection in humans and cattle using a waveguide based optical biosensor and novel assay methods. She has published extensively on tuberculosis and other infectious diseases. Mukundan is active in scientific and community outreach activities and mentoring, including the Lab’s student and postdoctoral fellow programs, the Lab’s Frontiers in Science series, and Café Scientifique for high school students.
The New Mexico Technology Council and community partners, including Los Alamos National Laboratory, hold the event in Albuquerque “to recognize women leading the way in our industries and encourage more young women to take the next steps on a path toward careers in technology and the sciences.” Nominees do not have to be members of the council.
As part of the New Mexico Technology Council, the Women in Technology peer group participates in the annual WIT Celebration, holds networking and education gatherings, and mentors students and younger professionals.
