Dr. Nirupama “Pam” Bhattacharya is the recipient of the Most Promising Engineer in Industry Award, given to individuals whose work is too impressive to go unnoticed.

She currently serves as a principal data scientist at MITRE, where she has gained eight years of professional experience, earning a reputation for being an innovator and leader.

At MITRE, she plays a pivotal role in problem-solving, leading projects, and showcasing technical skills and innovative thinking.

Despite the challenges that often accompany a career in STEM, Dr. Bhattacharya has navigated her path with grace and determination, inspiring many, particularly women and underrepresented minorities in STEM.

Dr. Bhattacharya expressed her appreciation for the many wonderful opportunities she has had to impact STEM during her acceptance speech at the BEYA Gala, held on the final day of the 38th annual BEYA STEM Conference.

The conference returned to Baltimore after more than a decade in Washington D.C.

She thanked her family for their support and expressed appreciation for her education, career, and well-being. She also expressed gratitude for the possibilities for STEM to have a continued positive impact in the world, saying, “Like all of you, I’m encouraged by the possibilities for STEM to have a continued positive impact in the world.”

Dr. Bhattacharya is passionate about leveraging data and models to help decision-makers make better, quicker, and more confident decisions.

Whether they are making a challenging diagnosis, managing the next pandemic, or responding to a climate emergency, she is hopeful that the work that she and her colleagues are doing to make data and models more explainable and interpretable can result in increased acceptance and trust in technologies.

These technologies have the potential to help people gain a broader and deeper understanding of the world around them and accomplish more than they could before.