Q&A with UCI Society of Women Engineers President Julia McWilliams

Julia McWilliams is a mechanical engineering senior who was the president of the UC Irvine Society of Women Engineers (SWE) which won Best Mentorship Award of the UCI engineering clubs last year. She is project manager for Anteater Baja Racing and was a standards engineering intern at Southern California Edison. After she graduates, she will be a mechanical engineer at Eaton, a multinational power management company.

How did you get interested in engineering?

I really like the problem-solving aspect of it. I really like crossword puzzles and jigsaw puzzles. My dad was a chemical engineer and I always looked up to him. He always knew what he was doing and was an inspiration to people. I also enjoyed my math and science classes. Halfway through middle school, I decided I wanted to become an engineer.

How did you get interested in Society of Women Engineers?

I took Engineering Design and Development in high school. Out of 35 people in the class, there were only three girls so I felt out of place and it wasn’t great. I really wanted to find a group of women who support each other in engineering. I grew to love the organization. I was on board the first year and had a lot of ideas so then ran for president.

SWE won Best Mentorship Award of the UCI engineering clubs when you were president from 2024-2025. Tell me what you did as president.

I wanted to branch out from our general meetings and provide smaller group opportunities for people. Our outreach committee reached out to K-12 students. We also started hosting weekly study sessions. I think having the smaller groups encouraged people to come. It was less intimidating and easier for people to make friends.

I also wanted to incorporate a technical aspect into SWE, so we now have a technical chair. We started an industry week in January. Every day, we had a different event with a company sponsor that was a professional development opportunity like a site tour with J&J, and with Northrop Grumman we had a panel of four women talking about imposter syndrome.  

Are men welcome to SWE events?

Even though SWE is focused on empowering women in engineering, our events are hosted for all undergraduate engineers and the goal is to help them succeed at UCI and their career. I wish more men felt comfortable coming out to our meetings. They can be an ally and benefit from our meetings, but some of my male friends have said, “Oh I’m scared to come to a meeting because I would feel very out of place.”

How has SWE helped you as an individual?

It’s helped me gain confidence that I can be an engineer and that I belong here. There was a time as a freshman when I thought of changing my major because I was struggling in my classes, but everyone in SWE is so kind and uplifting, and you’re surrounded by people who are so accomplished. It's really motivating me to explore more opportunities.

Why were you interested in Anteater Baja Racing?

It was unique in that we do off-road racing. I liked the idea of designing where you must weigh between durability, light weight and speed. It’s learning about designing components in a car that can take a lot of high impact loads. It was such an interesting concept to design for.

Any insights into leadership?

I feel the biggest thing in leadership is communication. A lot of times issues arise because people misinterpreted what was said. It’s important that people feel seen and understood. Opening that communication and checking in with people is important.

What did you do as a standards engineering intern at SoCal Edison?

I worked with my team to keep the internal design manuals for utility workers up to date. I have a lot of experience with CAD, so I updated a lot of engineering drawings. I made the drawings for a pilot project for installing EV chargers onto utility boxes.

Any message for women students in engineering?

We can often be perfectionists. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and fail because sometimes you need to embrace not knowing what’s going to happen and potentially failing. Engineering is all about coming up with ideas, failing, and then iterating and coming up with new ideas.

- Natalie Tso