Join me in supporting women in engineering.

Although my giving page is no longer active, you can still donate. If you would like to provide any additional support, please do so here.

My name is Nicole Yarris and I am a senior at The Ohio State University from Lewis Center, Ohio. I am majoring in welding engineering, pursuing my dream since the eighth grade of becoming an engineer. The past two summers, I have had the opportunity to intern for GE Aviation’s joining and heat treatment team. After graduation, I will participate in GE Aviation’s Edison Engineering Development Program. I will work full-time for two years while pursuing a master’s degree in material science engineering. This program will help me accelerate my knowledge as an engineer and as a professional.

I am also very involved on campus outside of class. I am the current Panhellenic president, delegating over 17 chapters after serving as the organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion director. Along with that, I am involved with my sorority chapter, Kappa Delta, where we philanthropically support Prevent Child Abuse America. My passions for engineering also reach my extracurriculars where I am a member of the Society of Women in Engineering and the American Welding Society. I have also been a teaching assistant for Ohio State’s Department of Engineering Education for three years. In my free time, I help run a Bible study called Greekside of the Navigators, and I love to travel and hike.

Being a woman in a highly male-dominated field has its challenges but it also has high rewards. I have loved learning how to weld — it truly is a craft! I also enjoy learning the material science aspects behind welding and the ways to improve infrastructures. I have looked up to women in engineering throughout my life, but there has not been much representation: Only about 16% of engineers in the United States are women. I hope to be one of those women that young girls can look up to as they pursue their careers in male-dominated fields. This is why I have chosen to fundraise for young women in engineering.

I am so excited to advocate and fundraise on behalf of Ohio State’s College of Engineering professional development fund for women in engineering students. This fund will financially support women pursuing an engineering degree at Ohio State, based on need. This will give more women the ability to pursue engineering with less financial burdens while hopefully increasing the retention rate. These students will be part of the change to increase diversity in STEM fields while changing the world for the better. Thank you for your consideration to donate to this fund and for making a difference in someone’s life.