Staff

Professor Susan Larson
Dr. Susan Larson, an assistant dean and a faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is the director of the Women in Engineering program at Illinois. Dr. Larson earned undergraduate degrees in physics and German at Washington University in St. Louis. She received her MS and PhD in environmental engineering science at the California Institute of Technology before joining Illinois as a faculty member. She has received campus and national teaching awards. Within the College of Engineering, she has been recognized with the Everitt Award for Teaching Excellence and the Stanley H. Pierce Award. She has received an award for Outstanding Teaching in Environmental Engineering and Science from the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors and McGraw Hill. Her research focuses on the behavior of air pollutants and has been recognized with a Presidential Young Investigator Award and a UIUC Junior Xerox Award.

Minosca Alcantara
Ms. Alcantara holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Ureña, 1988, and a MS in Construction Management from George Washington University, Washington, D.C., 1991. She is a highly experienced civil engineering consultant with expertise in project and construction management. Ms. Alcantara is a Board Member of the Unit #4 Champaign Board of Education; a Former Commissioner of the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, a Former Member of the Massachusetts Governor’s Advisory Committee on Women’s Issues and the Massachusetts Governor’s Advisory Committee on Latino’s Issues, and a former Board of Director member of the Massachusetts Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce, and the Women Transportation Seminar. Ms. Alcantara was the recipient of the 2001 WTS Diversity Leadership Award.

Kris Pulling
Kris Pulling is currently the secretary for the Women in Engineering program at Illinois. She graduated from California State University, Hayward with a BS in Philosophy and a minor in English and comes to the University with a deep background working with diverse communities. She enjoys working with youth, instilling in them confidence in themselves, and inspiring them to pursue their goals and dreams. It is her belief that desire and determination play a huge part in what you achieve. If you want it and work at it, anything is possible.

Meet Our Student Staff

Melissa Pelz
Hi! I'm Melissa and I'm a senior in industrial engineering. I'm originally from Washington, Illinois, which is located outside Peoria. I chose industrial engineering because I love math and working with people. I have since found it to be a great decision because I absolutely love all the topics being covered in my classes from production and facilities planning to solving linear optimization problems. I'm not "all work and no play," however; I also enjoy traveling. I studied abroad in Italy a few summers ago and hope to someday find a career which would allow me to travel the world and possibly work in another country. I am also working towards a business minor because I feel engineers should be well-rounded when going to work in industry. In my free time I love to volunteer, throw a football around on the quad, and go to men's basketball games....Go Illini!!

Peggy Spinato
Hi! I'm Peggy Spinato and I am a senior in general engineering from Western Springs, Illinois. I went into general engineering because I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do and it offered a good amount of flexibility. I'm really glad I'm in GE now. My secondary field of concentration is a business minor. I'm planning on working in the consulting field after graduation and I think GE has really prepared me for the future. Plus, there is a lot of pride in the department, which has helped me stay motivated and enthusiastic about courses. Outside of the College of Engineering, I'm a member of a social sorority and I compete with the Flippin'; Illini club gymnastics team. It's been great to continue doing something I enjoyed in high school and traveling with the team is a lot of fun--we went to San Francisco for our national meet this year!

Brandi Zars
I am a junior in LAS, majoring in mathematics with a minor in secondary education. I hope to work as a middle school/high school math teacher upon graduation. I am from Elmhurst, Illinois--a western suburb of Chicago. I love learning, particularly math, and I love being able to share that with others through teaching. I also love to read and go shopping during my free time.