Speakers
Morning SPeaker: Lea Hurley
VIce President of Booz Allen Hamilton
Topic: “Finding your ambition and chasing it”
Lea Hurley is a leader in the Navy Marine Corps (NMC) account focused on serving Marine Corps clients from Europe to Asia. She leads the NMC Cyber Functional Management Team and serves as the Location General Manager (LGM) for NMC facilities in Washington DC, Arlington, VA, and Stafford VA.
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Lea has 18 years of combined experience in cybersecurity, 15 of those at Booz Allen. Prior to her current role, she drove strategic investment activities focused on integrating the firm’s resources to grow and transform the defense business. She also led internal cybersecurity talent development initiatives and the integration of all cybersecurity-related investments.
From 2015 – 2017, Lea was a business leader for NMC clients, representing more than $46M in annual revenue. Additionally, she led the implementation of the Navy/Marine Corps cyber growth platform strategy by identifying future demands and opportunities to provide next-generation cyber capabilities to her clients.
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From 2011-2015, Lea was based Booz Allen’s Honolulu office, focused on Pacific-based clients. She led the expansion of Booz Allen's presence in Okinawa, growing the team from six to 68 staff in an 18-month period. Lea also led efforts to establish a long-term presence in Okinawa by opening the first Booz Allen office in this location in 2015.
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From 2009 to 2011, Lea worked in Booz Allen’s Seoul office where she led the expansion into multiple new client organizations and served as the program manager for a portfolio of IT projects valued at $30M.
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Lea began her career with Booz Allen providing network management expertise to the United States Pacific Command in Hawaii. In this role, she was instrumental in in establishing policies and programs that codified information sharing relationships with the intelligence and operations communities as well as coalition partners to provide assessments of current and emerging threats and develop course of action recommendations for every evolving cyber landscape.
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Prior to joining Booz Allen, Lea served as a computer operator in the U.S. Air Force, assigned to Headquarters Pacific Air Forces.
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Lea has a B.S. in business management and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional. In 2015, she was recognized as one of 40 most accomplished professionals under the age of 40 in the state of Hawaii. Lea serves as an executive sponsor to the Asian Pacific American Forum and supports STEM Girls for Social Good and the Women’s Golf Networking committee.
Keynote SPeaker: Ajay Mehta
Topic: “Finding Your Leadership Signature to Thrive in a Complex and Changing World”
In this talk, Ajay Mehta will share his personal leadership journey of breaking through barriers (real and imagined) and finding a way to thrive in an increasingly complex and changing world. He will discuss the importance of authentic introspection to identify one’s true north and then finding the right channels to go after it in a purposeful manner. He will also talk about what it took to discover his own voice to better articulate his professional aspirations, finding and honing his leadership signature, and learning to trust his instincts. He will conclude with a few pointers that he hopes will inspire others to take a bet on themselves and most of all have a positive outlook, to have a rewarding and meaningful career.
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Ajay Mehta works in Shell’s technology organization where he serves as the General Manager for New Energies Research & Technology. He leads a global team of over one hundred scientists and engineers dedicated to developing innovative and competitive technologies to meet the demand for more and cleaner energy. Ajay has worked at Shell for his entire career of 23 years. He has assumed a wide range of technical and leadership roles in Deepwater R&D, Production Operations, CO2 Mitigation, Project Engineering and General Management. He is a subject matter expert in natural gas hydrates and has served as a Distinguished Lecturer for the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
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Ajay holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, India, a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Speaker: Jie Yu
Topic: “How to shape your personal branding”
Jie is currently with central group of Manufacturing Support & Excellence in Shell’s Global Downstream business. He has over 10 years of professional experience. Jie first joined Shell in 2007 after receiving his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering at University of Texas at Austin. He started as a Research Engineer & Product Manager in Shell focusing on technology and software product development. Later he worked as Project Lead in leading various engineering projects across Shell’s Downstream and Upstream businesses. Outside of his industrial experience, Jie worked as a junior professor of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University in Canada between 2011 and 2013, after then he was hired back to Shell.
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Jie has been a strong advocate of Diversity & Inclusion and has been always passionate to bring his energy and leadership skills to promote D&I within and outside Shell. He is currently serving as National President of Shell Asian Pacific Employee Network Group (SAPENG), which is one of Employee Resource Groups (ERG) in Shell to empower Shell’s Asian and Pacific Islander employees to fulfill their career aspirations by leveraging diversity. Meanwhile, Jie has been involved in various leadership initiatives in his line of business at Shell. Jie received ERG Leadership Award from Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) as nominated by Shell in 2018.
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He is married with a daughter. Outside of work he enjoys reading, photography, travelling with family, sports like soccer and badminton, and spending time on kid activities.
Speaker: Jesse Kuroski
Topic: “Making your internship more successful”
Jesse Kurowski joined Shell in February 2018. In her current role as an HR Consultant, Jesse supports the Upstream, Integrated Gas, and Projects & Technology businesses. Prior to joining Shell, Jesse worked in Marketing/Brand Management at Amazon, PepsiCo, and Johnson & Johnson. Jesse received her BBA from the University of Michigan, and MHRLR from Michigan State University.
Speaker:Bing Li
Topic: “How to build your executive presence”
Dr. Binghui (Bing) Li is an Operations Lead at Shell Oil Company with a B.S. and M.S. from China University of Petroleum (CUP) and a Ph.D. from Tulane University. Prior to Shell, he worked at SABIC Americas, Inc. for 4 years and taught in CUP for 6 years. His 27 years career spans university teaching, refinery and chemical plant operations support, process techno-economic evaluations, research and development.
Dr. Li is actively involved in mentoring, volunteering, employee networks and non-profit organizations. He has helped SASE in national, regional and school chapter levels for the past 6 years. He is also a campus recruiter and interviewer. He is a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) and a district speech contest champion. Having passions in developing people, he regularly conducts trainings and seminars and facilitates workshops to help others to improve communication and leadership skills. His hobbies include running marathons, yoga, weight training, and travelling.
Speaker: Minhtuan Nguyen
Topic: “Networking tips that work for young professionals”
Howdy!
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My name Minhtuan Nguyen or Tuan for short. I graduated from Texas A&M University. Class of 2014, majoring in Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Petroleum Engineering. While there, my friends and I had the opportunity to start the SASE-Texas A&M Chapter, it was the first academic/professional organization for Asian Americans on campus. I have been with Shell for 4 years, my currently role is Support Engineer for the Deer Park Asset Rejuvenation Program. In my free time, I like to tend to my chickens, aquascape, garden and train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Speaker: Phat Le
Topic: “Networking tips that work for young professionals”
Phat Le is currently an Asset Integrity Engineer for Shell Pipeline. He's responsible for Shell's pipelines in the San Joaquin Valley, California, and the Gulf of Mexico. He started with Shell in August 2018 after a successful internship with the same group in summer 2017. Phat's been involved with SASE since his freshmen year of college and he was at one point the President of the SASE chapter at the University of Houston. For the past two years, he's volunteered to be one of SASE South Regional Coordinators to help emerging student-leaders from SASE grow and succeed! In his free time, he likes to follow football and soccer or trying out new restaurants around Houston.
Speaker: Aimee Chun
Topic: “How to project confidence and stand out from your peers”
Aimee Chun is a UX Design Technologist for BHGE’s global Digital Customer Experience team. As one of the first members of the Digital Technology UX Center of Excellence, she works closely with users to develop solutions and improve the overall value and experience of our platforms. Aimee interned at GE Oil & Gas in 2015, and joined the company in 2016. She is a graduate of the GE Digital Technology Leadership Program (DTLP). Aimee earned a BS in Business Administration from Georgia Tech (2015), with a concentration in Information Technology. She has been a part of SASE for 6+ years, beginning her involvement with the Georgia Tech Chapter. She works part-time as the South Regional Manager and SASEtank Competition Co-Director. She lives in Houston with her adopted kitty.
Speaker: WENDY WINKLER
Topic: “How to project confidence and stand out from your peers”
Wendy is a Senior Finance Manager with a record of distinguished global performances in Australia, Europe, and Asia. She is responsible for the Drilling business, which provides overhaul repair, field service engineering, and spare parts in the O&G industry. Wendy began her dynamic career at GE Transportation, later joining GE Oil & Gas in 2014. She has extensive financial and accounting experience within a matrix organization, deploying and integrating ERP systems and driving business transformations. Wendy graduated from Graceland University 2006 with a triple major in International Business, Business Administration, and Accounting.
Speaker: NEAL GOSWAMI
Topic: “How to project confidence and stand out from your peers”
Neal is a Lead Application Engineer for GE Power’s Aeroderivative business. His responsibilities include helping the Sales Team provide optimal solutions satisfying customer’s power needs, managing technical contracts before award, and mentoring global engineers. He is also the functional owner of new tools and processes development to improve the team’s internal productivity. Neal’s professional career began in India as a Production Engineer. He also worked with family-owned businesses in Atlanta, GA, where he was responsible for projects from start to finish. He later joined GE in 2009. Neal earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from SP University (2004). He also earned an MBA from the University of Houston-Victoria (2016), with a major in Strategic Management.
Speaker: Benjamin tsang
Topic: “How to project confidence and stand out from your peers”
Ben Tsang is a recent graduate of Lockheed Martin's prestigious Operations Leadership Development Program (OLDP). He currently works as an F-35 Project Engineer in Fort Worth, Texas. He is also currently the Fort Worth Site VP for PAAN (Professional Asian American Network) which is an Employee Resource Group at Lockheed Martin. Originally from New York City, he holds a dual degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering and Mathematical Sciences from Binghamton University. Through his short tenure at Lockheed Martin, he has been at the Lockheed Martin sites across three of the four business areas. Outside of work, he volunteers heavily for SASE. He has served as a Regional Marketing Representative for two terms and helped plan 4 SASE National Conferences! He has tremendously challenged himself and stepped out of his comfort zone to take on roles of increasing responsibility. From starting out as General volunteer in 2014, he most recently served as the 2017 National Conference Chair. In his free time, he enjoys being a chef, taking photos, volunteering, traveling and exploring nature.