Surface World May 2020 Surface World May 2020 | Page 26

INDUSTRY NEWS
Women in STEM: Shining the light
on Danijela Milosevic-Popovich
It’s no secret that the
world of STEM has been
a men’s club for decades,
with only 28% of women
making up the workforce
as opposed to 72% of men.
To show that this gap is
slowly (but surely) closing
in, we’ve shone the spotlight
on Danijela Milosevic-
Popovich, a Research and
Development Manager
at SIFCO Applied Surface
Concepts (ASC).
Danijela graduated from the University at
Buffalo with a Bachelor of Science and
Master of Engineering in Chemical
Engineering. She then continued to earn her
Master of Engineering Management from
Ohio University. Before becoming part of the
team at SIFCO ASC in 2005, she worked in
the semiconductor and rubber industries.
From talking about how to remove the glass
ceiling for women in engineering, to
changing the future of electroplating, we
found out what inspires Danijela, and how
she strives to create a better future for herself
and other females in STEM.
Science and math - the
foundations of STEM
Danijela knew she wanted to work in a STEM
field since she was young - her passion for
science and math started in grade school.
She loved the challenge of figuring out
equations, learning theories, and knew from
very early on that having a background in
science would provide her with a strong
foundation no matter what career path
she followed.
Her father - her biggest cheerleader and
inspiration - always motivated her to advance
her education and strive for independence.
Growing up in the Balkans, it wasn’t
common for girls to go to college and while
his support of her continued studying was
considered a taboo, he never let the criticism
distract her.
Danijela realizes just how much her
childhood and education shaped her career.
Science and math help Danijela to think
more critically. She approaches every
problem knowing that there is a logical
process to follow. She also questions any
critical factors associated with resolution.
She said:
“I believe a strong STEM background helps
train the brain to think more critically.
Intuition and critical thinking together create
the perfect storm of problem solving and
I believe math and science are key building
blocks to perfect this process.”
Education - the passport
for the future
With a bachelor’s degree and two masters
degrees under her belt, Danijela knows just
how important education and qualifications
are for anybody, whether male or female,
wanting to work in STEM. While there’s still
a long way to go before we close the gap
of women working in these fields, the number
of women awarded STEM degrees every
year has increased by over 50,000 in the
past decade.
Danijela embarked on her last masters
degree when she was pregnant with her first
daughter and continued to study and work
full time. Driven by her passion to expand
her horizons and learn as much as she
could, she persevered.
This story echoes a similar message that
Audrey Gelman, CEO of The Wing told
when she became the first visibly pregnant
woman to grace the cover of Inc. Magazine.
Gelman wanted to show that women can,
“take greater professional risks whilst also
not shelving their dreams of becoming a
mother and starting a family.” Afterall, if men
can have it all, why can’t women?
Changing the
electroplating landscape
When asked about her day-to-day role at
SIFCO ASC, Danijela lights up as she talks
about all the areas she’s involved in.
“Every day brings something new to the
table. My role encompasses so much more
than the traditional R&D activities - it’s
multifaceted, and keeps me on my toes.
My department and I are the repository for
technical know-how, which ultimately leads
to growing the knowledge base capabilities
of our existing product lines and the
development of new applications, plating
solutions, and technology.”
Through this research and knowledge base,
Danijela and her team are slowly changing
the perception that brush plating is a dirty,
uncontrollable and manual process.
Advancements such as programmable
power packs and process automation have
not only revolutionised the way electroplating
is done but has given repair engineers even
more control.
“As we’ve developed various plating
applications, we’ve been able to introduce
more controls to the processing phases.
As a result, we’ve refined the plating process
parameters to provide repeatable and
controllable deposit characteristics for
a process that is traditionally manually
performed by an operator.
“This level of control has propelled us to
further develop semi and fully automated
plating applications and equipment
along with going away from traditional
brush plating by developing encapsulated
plating technologies.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 26
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MAY 2020
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