2026 Dallas SWE High School Scholarship Recipients
Dallas SWE is excited to award scholarships to each of these two extraordinary high school seniors from the Dallas area – Zhouchang Chen and Tejasvi Manoj. Applicants were evaluated based on academics, school and community involvement, and plans to become engineers. Thanks to the Dallas SWE Scholarship Committee for taking the time to review a wonderful group of applicants! Congratulations to this year’s recipients: we wish you all the best!
Zhouchang Chen – The Hockaday School
Zhouchang Chen will attend Rice University, where she plans to study mechanical engineering with a biomedical focus. After learning about genetics in her AP Biology class, Zhouchang was inspired to participate in UT’s High School Research Academy, where she learned to genetically modify bacteria for biomedical applications. This experience led her to Stanford’s iGEM Bioengineering Research Program, where she helped develop a proposal for a low-cost, accessible blood test to screen for ALS. She has also worked as a student researcher at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory and the Marine Biological Laboratory, conducting field research on marmot reproductive behavior and marine organism dissections. At school, courses in neuroscience, anatomy, engineering design, and AP Physics C fueled her interdisciplinary interest in biology and technology. Zhouchang hopes to continue exploring the connections between the human body and technology throughout her engineering career.
Tejasvi Manoj – Lebanon Trail High School
When Tejasvi Manoj’s grandfather almost fell victim to a cyber scam, she created Shield Seniors, an application that uses AI to give older adults digital independence with dignity. She has spoken at TedXPlano about cybersecurity for older adults and was featured on the Kelly Clarkson Show for her work educating seniors at retirement homes. She was named the 2025 TIME Kid of the Year and has been featured on CBS, CNN, NBC Daily, FOX, and the Dallas Morning News. Tejasvi will attend UT Austin, where she plans to study computer science and neuroscience with the goal of designing AI systems that improve patient outcomes and expand access to care. She hopes to grow Shield Seniors into an international initiative advancing digital safety for older adults.
2026 Dallas SWE Annie Colaço Scholarship Recipients – Collegiate Leaders
The Dallas Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is delighted to announce the recipients of the Annie Colaço Scholarship for local college students. The scholarship is named in honor of Annie Colaço (1899–1991), the grandmother of SWE lifetime member Nandika D’Souza. Annie Colaço epitomized selfless service and lifelong learning, which is reflected in the SWE mission.
Dallas SWE is excited to recognize these outstanding SWE collegiate leaders and encourages each recipient to continue to be a SWE member upon graduation. The Society of Women Engineers, founded in 1950, is a not-for-profit educational and service organization. SWE is the driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women. SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and be recognized for their life-changing contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders.
Prabhjot Kaur Rehlan – University of North Texas
Prabhjot Kaur is a Biomedical Engineering student at the University of North Texas, minoring in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics. As the FY26 President for UNT SWE, she managed a seven-officer executive team to spearhead empowerment and professional development initiatives for women in STEM, including coordinating a trip for UNT students to attend the national WE25 conference. Through her leadership, the organization hosted the Annual EmpowerHer Symposium and held general body meetings featuring industry mentors from companies like TI, Peterbilt, Stanley Black & Decker, and Abbott. Prabhjot is participating in Abbott’s Regulatory Affairs Co-Op program for Fall 2026, and plans to stay active with Dallas SWE by joining the finance committee, with the ultimate goal of stepping into future officer roles.
Sanvi Mathur – University of North Texas
Sanvi Mathur is a Biomedical Engineering student at the University of North Texas pursuing minors in Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Business Management. Throughout her undergraduate career, she has balanced a rigorous engineering curriculum with leadership roles as Treasurer and later Vice President of the UNT Society of Women Engineers (SWE) while simultaneously serving as Treasurer of the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE). Through these roles, she expanded professional development opportunities, strengthened industry partnerships, increased student engagement, and grew fundraising efforts by organizing events with companies including Peterbilt, Abbott, Austin Industries, and Secretariat, leading SWEet Week and general body meetings, and coordinating networking, cultural, collaborative, community service, and company tour events. Sanvi has also been an active Dallas SWE volunteer, contributing to Design Your World and the 2026 Professional Development Day, furthering her passion for STEM outreach and mentoring future engineers. Beyond her academic and leadership commitments, she enjoys competitive dance and photography, hobbies that have strengthened her creativity, discipline, and teamwork. These experiences continue to shape her perspective as she pursues a career in the medical device industry, developing innovative technologies that improve accessibility and quality of life for individuals with special needs while continuing to advocate for women in STEM and give back to her community through leadership, mentorship, and service.
Sarah Edwards – University of Texas at Dallas
Sarah has fundamentally transformed the Society of Women Engineers at Collin College, where student engagement had declined after the pandemic. Under her leadership, attendance grew by 110% as she introduced hands-on workshops, industry networking events, and a cool robotic arm project open to all engineering majors. Currently, Sarah resides as the Industry Chair and SWEMatch Chair of Society of Women Engineers at UTD while studying computer science. She plans to spend her career expanding the engineering pipeline for underrepresented groups, remaining a lifelong advocate for SWE.