October Member of the Month: Haley Barnes

Haley Barnes is a proud new member of the Dallas Society of Women Engineers professional section and serves as the Fundraising Chair. Barnes is a Mean Green alumna from the University of North Texas, earning her B.S. degree in Material Science and Engineering in 2018. During her time at the University of North Texas, Barnes was a Chemical Engineering & Metallic Materials Processing Co-op for Bell Helicopter Textron two years. She is now earning her M.S of Medical Sciences at the University of North Texas Health Science Center with the intention of applying to a PharmD/Ph.D. program upon graduation. Barnes intends to work on drug delivery research and design after her education.

Barnes joined SWE in 2013 where she was an active member of the University of North Texas collegiate section. During her time with UNTSWE, Barnes served as the section’s Webmaster and Vice president and a Society Region C Future Leader. Her efforts earned Barnes a Region C Governor’s Choice Award. One of her favorite UNTSWE moments was the FY16 Region C conference where Barnes was a selected workshop speaker and an awardee for Most Impactful Recruiting Event.

In addition to her commitments to the Dallas SWE, Barnes serves on the leadership team for the Graduate SWE community as Learning Content Coordinator. She is grateful for both the GradSWE and DSWE communities for giving her a home during her medical-heavy studies.

Barnes is the happy partner of a programmer and SWE supporter, Scott McKeefer. She enjoys assisting non-profits in their social media and marketing efforts. Her favorite activity is traveling and is doing her best to make plans to attend the FY20 WE Europe conference in London, UK.

“When I made the decision to emphasize clinical training over my technical engineering training, I really faltered on if I could still call myself an engineer. I questioned if I was of worth to the Society I had called home for the last 5 years. Dallas SWE provided me a welcoming section that supported my “break” from engineering. Meeting other biomedical engineers in the section gave me peace that there will be a place for me in the engineering industry when I’m done with my clinical training. Without Dallas SWE’s support and continuous efforts to let me know my unique path is validated, I don’t know if I would be compelled to be as active in the Society as I am now. I am grateful every day that this section truly upholds SWE’s mission to empower their membership as engineers and leaders.”

Haley Barnes