Manhattan College Recognizes the Success of its Alumnae at Women in STEM Event

Mary Haley

Asst. Social Media Editor

Manhattan College celebrated the achievements of its alumnae, provided networking for current students and encouraged prospective students at a women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) event on Jan. 28.

science programs are known as male dominated fields for college students, and I don’t really think [male dominated] is a word we want to use in 2023,” Boivin said. “Not only do we have very successful women that come out of Manhattan College for STEM, but they’re also some of the leaders in their fields.”

“It’s been a roller coaster to get diagnosed. It really has,” Coglianese said. “You think it’s like in the movies, you think everything [getting diagnosed] happens fast, but it is not like that at all. It took forever for me to find out I have cancer and it kind of sucks having to live through that.”

Cho, a senior chemical engineering major, recalls Coglianese had been complaining about pain in her face and jaw for nearly two years leading up to the diagnosis.

“Rebecca had been complaining about jaw and facial pain for almost two years,” he wrote. “She also has TMJ (a facial disorder characterized by jaw displacement) that was believed to be the cause of her pain. Around September she began complaining about a swollen lump that was assumed to be a swollen muscle and was told to just massage it out. Since it had not gone away with physical therapy, I had asked to look inside her mouth since the ‘lump’ was directly beneath her tongue. There was a very obvious asymmetry in her lower left pallet, so I decided to put a piece of ice on the lump. She could not feel a temperature change, which was extremely concerning.”

Cho has created a GoFundMe page for Coglianese to help raise awareness of the situation

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Students and faculty from the School of Engineering and the Kakos School of Science presented panels on past and present research endeavors as well as upcoming research opportunities for students.

This was the first women in STEM event hosted by the college, and one that will hopefully become a tradition considering the success and awareness that resulted from the event.

Panels highlighted the accomplishments of STEM alumnae, students and faculty to interest prospective students and to represent female accomplishments in “male dominated fields”.

Benjamin Boivin, director of undergraduate admissions, spoke with The Quadrangle on why he organized this event and what it means for the college moving forward.

“A lot of engineering and

Walaa Abdallah, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemical engineering, spoke on what this event meant to her as a woman in STEM, an alumna of MC and a current faculty member in the college’s School of Engineering.

“I myself have a daughter, and I don’t want her to think that STEM is just for males…I don’t want her to think that any of these fields are not for her,” Abdallah said. “If we at least did one thing it was to show everyone that women can not only study in STEM fields, but [they can] also excel in their fields.”

Students and faculty prepared topics to cover before the event in order to best present their STEM studies and what their plans are for the future. As an alumna who returned to

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Women’s BBall Wins Against St. Peter’s on pg.