RMS Elections
Candidate slate and voting information for RMS Executive Council elections.
VOTING FOR FY25 IS OPEN UNTIL MAY 10
Voting for FY25 Executive Council will close on May 10 at midnight. To vote in the SWE RMS election, you must be a member of SWE, assigned to the Rocky Mountain Section community group, and in good standing. You may verify you member status and assigned community group by logging in at swe.org and viewing your profile to check the Paid Through Date and Community Group. To change your assigned community group, email membership@swe.org.
Expand each accordion by clicking the + sign on right to review the FY25 SWE RMS Executive Council slate, cast your vote using the Voting Form for the FY25 elections, and review SWE’s campaign policy.
Review the FY25 SWE RMS Executive Council slate. You may also view a pdf of the slate.
President (1 candidate)
Kaitlin Chapman
Kaitlin Chapman is currently a Sr Test Engineer at Medtronic, a medical technology company. Her role involves leading the strategy and execution of verification testing of clinical software on navigation and robotic systems that are used to complete brain and spine surgeries.
Kaitlin graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering with a minor in Biomedical Engineering. Kaitlin has earned a Design for Reliability and Manufacturability (DRM) black belt certification from Medtronic and recently obtained her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Louisiana State University Shreveport while working full-time.
Kaitlin is actively involved with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Kaitlin became a SWE member her freshman year of college and held many leadership positions during her collegiate career at the University of Colorado Boulder. Shortly after graduating, she jumped into professional leadership roles in the Rocky Mountain Section (RMS). Kaitlin currently serves as the Vice President of the SWE Rocky Mountain Section and has held multiple roles on the Executive Council over the years, including Vice President of Professional Enrichment and Secretary. In addition to her SWE section leadership roles, Kaitlin is actively involved in promoting diversity and inclusion at Medtronic. One of the ways she has accomplished this is by forming and leading an employee resource group (ERG), called SWEnet Colorado ,that is dedicated to creating a community for female technical talent at the Medtronic Colorado campuses.
Outside of her work and SWE leadership roles, Kaitlin is actively involved in her community through volunteer roles at her church where she helps create a community through which people can connect and strengthen their faith. In her free time, Kaitlin enjoys spending time with her dog, Brinkley, going on hikes, and trying new recipes.
Vice President (1 candidate)
Heather Munoz
Heather Munoz is an Engineering Director at Sundt Renewables, where she leads the engineering team of her company for photovoltaic solar projects. After a few years in structural design, she shifted to project management and has worked in solar for over ten years. Heather appreciates the way her position blends team management with engineering details as she and her team build renewable energy resources in the inter-mountain region.
Heather’s involvement with SWE began in 2011 as her office’s representative at the SWE annual conference in Chicago. (She is excited to return to Chicago this year for WE24!) Heather has previously served RMS as VP of Professional Development, VP of Membership, Section Representative, Local Social Chair, and as the WE Local Denver 2019 Local Host Committee Volunteer Liaison.
Heather has a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering from the University of Michigan. Heather has enjoyed experiencing SWE as a professional member and is excited to continue supporting the RMS membership. She enjoys spending time in the mountains with her husband and two young kids.
Vice President of Collegiate Engagement (1 candidate)
Geya Kairamkonda
Geya found her SWE community back in freshman year of college at CU Boulder. She remembers feeling overwhelmed with classes and not sure if engineering was the right path for her, especially since she didn’t see many like her. Some of her sophomore friends encouraged her to join SWE and it truly changed her life. She found a community where she felt like she belonged, where she could grow professionally and personally.
Throughout college, she held several officer positions, including Historian, Director of Events and Vice President. As Director of Events, she organized ‘Totally Tuesdays’ which were weekly meetups. Events she hosted included harassment roundtables with students and university counselors, lathe and mill workshops for women by women, company talks and resumes reviews, as well as social gatherings around holidays As Vice President, she successfully planned and executed two main networking events (Networking Night and Evening with Industry) with SWE members and local companies. Students were able to engage with industry partners and interview for positions.
After graduation, she moved to Washington state where she was involved with SWE Pacific Northwest (PNW). She was the Director of Outreach where she coordinated outreach events with local Girl Scouts troops, as well as schools around the area. It was important to her to engage with under-resourced communities, and she made it a point to work with community colleges.
She’s running for this position because she wants to invest in the future generation of engineers. With her prior involvement in SWE and specifically outreach, she believes she can bring a fresh yet familiar approach to SWE RMS. If given this opportunity, she would invest time in big-name colleges like CU and CSU, but also community colleges as well as trade schools to promote women in STEM. She would meet with collegiate delegates to understand their needs and collaborate with them to understand which events would be most beneficial. Some of her current thoughts include hosting adversity panels, company tours, welding workshops for women, mentorship programs, and mental health advocacy seminars. Her leadership style is based in collaboration, open communication, and kindness. She is excited for this opportunity and hopes to be your VP of Collegiate Engagement.
Vice President of Membership (1 candidate)
Shannon McAvoy
Shannon is currently the Technical Sales Manager for ReNu Technologies and is responsible for the technical evaluations for air-cooled heat exchanger (fin-fan) cleanings and customer engagement. This includes KPI reporting, data analysis/ reconciliation, and economic value.
Previously Shannon worked in the downstream oil and gas industry. Shannon spent six years as a Process Engineer and Process Safety Engineer. She spent an additional four years as a Hydrogen Catalyst Technical Engineer supporting customers with technical catalyst evaluations, account management, and onsite support.
Shannon has a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines. Outside of work, Shannon volunteers on the FAST (Fearful, Anxious, and Shy Team) with the Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies and SWE as a mentor for the CU Boulder Chapter and SWENext Co-Chair.
Vice President of Outreach (1 candidate)
Sara Ellis
Sara has been involved in SWE RMS for 15 years. She served as Essay Contest Chair from 2013-2020, during which time the program was recognized with Region i and WE Local outreach awards. Sara enjoys supporting a variety of RMS outreach activities, including volunteering as a Collegiate Scholarships Judge, Essay Contest Judge, and GESTEM Guide, along with participating in RMS professional and social events.
Sara has spent her career working in the analytical instrumentation industry, most recently in the role of Vice President at Timberline Instruments. She has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical and Biological Engineering from CU Boulder. In her free time, Sara enjoys hiking, knitting, and exploring the outdoors with her husband and two young daughters.
Vice President of Professional Development (1 candidate)
Madalene Fetsch
Madalene Fetsch currently serves on the SWE Finance Committee and the Section Support Sub-team, where she runs presentations on filing taxes, running fundraisers and other topics that assist new Section Treasurers. In previous years, she has served as the Treasurer (5 years), First Vice President (3 years) and President (1 year) for SWE RMS beginning in 2009. She was also the co-chair for the Social at WE Local Denver 2019, creating an event that brought local women makers to WE Local to teach attendees to create a variety of art and craft projects to take home, screen-printing their own shirts, and play Colorado trivia games – all on a budget. More recently she has served on the Education Committee and the Professional Development Grant (PDG) Committee at the Society level, and also speaks on workplace issues at both annual and local SWE conferences.
Madalene’s time with SWE started in her freshman year at CU-Boulder in Chemical Engineering, where she helped with events such as letter writing campaigns to new students and ice cream socials to talk to high school girls about engineering. After completing her Bachelor’s, Madalene joined the collegiate section at Washington University in St. Louis as a graduate student in Biomedical Engineering and helped produce the 2003 Region i SWE Conference. Most recently, she chaired the President’s Celebration for SWE FY21 President Heather Doty, handling shifting dates and updating venue and catering contracts as the world changed over the two years of planning.
Since returning to Colorado after graduate school, Madalene has worked as head of Quality Control for a local toxicology lab, and for the last 13 years, has grown in a career in Software Quality Assurance. She currently is Manager of Software Quality Assurance (QA) at Specialized Bicycle Components, where she works on mobile apps that encourage people to bike more and to do so safely. In her free time, she is a founding member and treasurer of the artist workshop The Phoenix Asylum.
Madalene looks forward to the opportunity to return to the RMS Executive Council, and to lead Professional Development programs. She’s active in the RMS book club, enjoys the opportunity to reconnect at social gatherings and would like to encourage more lightning talks and casual opportunities to learn about local STEM companies.
Secretary (1 candidate)
Mindy Knuth
Mindy Knuth is a Project Manager in the Nuclear Services and Technology (NST) Business Unit at Merrick & Company. She has over 17 years of experience designing, engineering, fabricating, and testing custom integrated mechanical systems in the nuclear, mining, and aerospace industries. These systems include air-handling units, process gas filtration systems, mercury abatement systems, containment gloveboxes, pressure vessels, thermal catalytic oxidizers/reducers, piping skids, chillers and more. She is detail oriented and understands the challenges of engineering systems in accordance with various industry codes and standards under an ASME NQA-1 Quality Assurance program.
Mindy attended the University of Colorado in Boulder as an Evans Scholar. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Economics. She is currently licensed as a Professional Engineer in Colorado, New Mexico, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Mindy joined the SWE five years ago and recently served as the SWE RMS FY24 Secretary. She has attended several national conferences and has been actively participating in Senior Professional Collective Wisdom Groups since 2020.
When Mindy is not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband, 7-year-old daughter, and two dogs. She enjoys summer days on the beach and is often found at Lake McConaughey in Nebraska. She enjoys boating, golfing, watching sports, and traveling.
Treasurer (1 candidate)
Ashley Pietz
Ashley Pietz is a Systems Engineering Senior Manager at BAE Systems, Inc Space and Mission Systems. She has over 18 years of experience in the Aerospace industry in management, systems and materials engineering. Ashley joined SWE in college and is an active leader within the Society holding many leadership roles at the Local, Regional and Society level. Much of her leadership has focused on mentoring, network building across industries and leadership development of women engineers from college through retirement. Ashley has served as the RMS Treasurer and VP of Membership since joining the section in 2021.
Policy on Campaigning and Endorsement of Candidates
As a professional society, SWE must maintain a high standard of behavior during our elections and protect our members from being inundated with messages about candidates. This policy is applicable to all SWE election activities including the petition process.
- The primary source for information about Society ballot level candidates is the statements and ballot information provided via official Society channels. Other official Society channels may be approved by the SWE Board of Directors in order to increase the members knowledge of the candidates.
- Use of SWE’s electronic resources are not permitted to promote individual candidates or to solicit signatures for a petition nomination. This includes SWE newsletters, SWE distribution lists, and SWE groups on social media. Personal email and personal social media venues are permitted provided that SWE is not included as part of the social media venue title or name.
- Announcements made in the course of SWE business meetings, including conference calls, newsletters, or face-to-face meetings, should only include information on the elections themselves and details on where additional candidate information can be found (i.e. slate, ballot received by members, etc.).
- Encouraging voting for a specific candidate or discussing individual candidates’ platforms is not permitted in the following situations:
- Messages in the course of SWE business
- Messages sent from SWE email addresses, including official HQ-designated email addresses or those that include SWE as part of the email address
- Messages that include use of the SWE logo, SWE titles in the signature or SWE signature blocks
- Messages sent to distribution lists created from section, committee, or other SWE group rosters or distribution lists
- Images utilized during SWE elections should be professional portrait photos (or similar) of the candidate. Group photos are not permitted.
- SWE print or electronic advertisements are not permitted.
Alleged violations will be referred to the Society Ethics Committee for investigation and action. Actions can range from a warning and retraction for first time offenders, up to dismissal from SWE, depending on the severity of the violation.
Recipients of a violation of this policy are not responsible for the actions of the violator but should contact the Ethics Committee with concerns.
June 11, 2021
