ACEP Researchers Host AISES Regional Event

Last week, ACEP’s Baxter Bond and Alana Vilagi hosted the American Indian Science and Engineering Society Regional Conference at UAF.

The event welcomed professional and student AISES members from Region 1, which includes Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Montana.

AISES is a national nonprofit organization focused on increasing the representation of Indigenous peoples in science, technology, engineering and math fields. Bond is the president of the UAF AISES chapter, and Alana Vilagi is the Fairbanks chapter secretary.

The two-day experience featured talks from university researchers and AISES alumni. The keynote speaker was Lorena Hegdal, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.’s right of way director and the first Alaska Native woman to receive a degree in civil engineering from UAF, in 1977. ACEP’s Daisy Huang presented an overview of microgrids and energy in Alaska.

 

Baxter Bond drums and sings with the Iñu-Yupiaq Dance Group during the AISES conference welcome. Photo by Bill Schnabel.