Most Promising Engineer, Ph.D. - Industry

You may not be aware, but there’s a revolution underway in microelectronics as Gallium-based semiconductors and circuitry replaces Silicon and other traditional materials – especially in high-powered and high-frequency applications.  Dr. Maribel Jacquez of Northrop Grumman is at the spearhead of this revolution.

As a Principal Engineer at Northrop Grumman’s Microelectronics Semiconductor Materials Department, she is a key member of technical team developing Gallium Nitride integrated circuits.  These materials provide higher power density and resilience to overload than all other currently available semiconductor technologies.

The materials and techniques Dr. Jaquez is developing are critical to giving our satellites capabilities that are not possible with conventional or commercial components.

Despite enormous technical complexities involved in generating these cutting-edge materials, Dr. Jacquez has managed to increase production by 50% while simultaneously maintaining the highest quality standards.

Maribel is also working on the development of advanced “windows” that are broadband, Infrared-transparent, and electromagnetic-interference- resistant.  These ultra-high-performance materials will have immediate applications as sensor and other aperture coverings on aerial and orbital vehicles.

Her efforts were recognized by Northrop Grumman when they named her a Women In Science and Engineering Cohort in 2019.

 The winner of a GMIS/HENAAC Graduate Student Leadership Award in 2015, Dr. Jacquez has come a long way from her years as an ESL kindergarten student in Coachella, California where she grew up.

While growing up, she didn’t even know what engineering was and lagged behind in reading skills. Through diligent work she managed to advance five years in reading level while just in the fifth grade.

Dr. Jacquez earned her B.S. cum laude in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering from UC Irvine and then went on to UC Berkeley where she was awarded both her M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering.

To fund her graduate studies, she obtained multiple fellowship awards including the Robert N. Noyce Memorial Fellowship in Microelectronics, A. Tasheira Fellowship, NSF Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship, and the Chang Li-Tien Fellowship.

She honors her roots as the first in her family to attend college by working with the Science and Engineering Community Outreach group and other organizations to help promote careers in STEM to young students, providing them with a successful role model in the process.

At UC Irvine, she served as Vice President of MAES during her junior year and supported the annual Science Extravaganza for three years. As Vice President she helped establish tutoring sessions to support the members of the organization, wrote funding proposals, established collaborations with industry, and supported fundraising events. In addition, she would return to her hometown and be a part of college panels to discuss her journey with high school students and parents.