The Society of Women Engineers recognized NC State graduate Meredith Biechele in September with a Rising Technical Contributor award for her achievements and impact on the engineering community and the society. 

Kelsey Carlson, John Deere SWE Awards Committee co-chair, said Biechele was an ideal candidate for the award.

“The majority of the [Rising Technical Contributor award criteria] is all about technical achievements in their career, and the other part is on their leadership and opportunities that they’ve had for leadership,” Carlson said. “It doesn’t have to be necessarily technical; it could be any other STEM-related events. It could be things in the community. It could be any other involvement and things like that.”

Since 2018, Biechele has worked as a research and development engineer for John Deere in Cary, North Carolina. In this position, she built one of the first fully-electric riding lawn mowers and serves as a senior drone pilot for the Turf and Compact Division.

“Something in my gut just tells me that I love solving problems and different challenges, so that’s what really drew me to engineering,” Biechele said. “As I got into it, I really learned to love the really tactical and hands-on approach to it. I just thought that was so fulfilling and rewarding to be able to look at something and be like ‘I did that’ or ‘I made that.’”

Founded in 1950, SWE is a service organization that gives women engineers a voice and a distinguished place in the industry. SWE offers unique opportunities for members to network and advance their professional lives.

“SWE Awards provide a platform to elevate and highlight career, academic and service achievements of engineers and technologists that advance the mission of SWE through inspiring others,” said Alexis McKittrick, president of SWE. 

Biechele is a graduate of NC State’s Honors program and recently received a certificate of Materials and System Design from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She plans to return there to finish her graduate degree. 

Biechele is a member of the NC State Young Alumni Advisory Board, where she is involved in recruiting and mentoring young engineers and current students. 

“Learning what you don’t like is just as important as learning what you do like, so cast a wide net and be open to almost anything,” Biechele said. “If you get accepted for an internship that might not necessarily be your specialty, go for it because it is all very temporary.”

The SWE Conference will be held October 26-28 in Los Angeles. Look for more information about Biechele and this award in the WE23 Issue of the SWE Magazine, which will be released later this year.