FROSTBURG, Md. (WDVM) — Kaoutar Sahmoudi is a fifth-year materials engineering major at Frostburg State University. She was recently highlighted in the ongoing online series from Oceaneering Aerospace and Defense Technologies, “Women in Technology.”
“I’m a first-generation college student as well as a woman in a male-dominated field,” she said. “It was really competitive. I struggled (at first), even though math was my strongest subject in middle and high school.”
Sahmoudi is an immigrant and woman of color in a STEM field. She spoke on her experience finding her way in this field.
“I had to be reminded of what my goals were, and that once I solidified, okay, this is really what I want, I’m not going to let this little hurdle steer me away from what I always wanted to do,” she said.
Sahmoudi served as the President of the university’s National Society of Black Engineers from 2019 to 2020. She started her internship at Oceaneering during the summer of 2020 and will be continuing this winter.
“A lot of people around me, like my parents, they didn’t really understand what’s going on with me or understand what I was actually going through because I’m first generation. I didn’t have anybody around me who went through similar things, so I really just… I pay gratitude to myself that I actually pushed through everything,” she said.
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