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AFIT PhD student wins Women of Color in STEM Student Leadership Award

Kara Combs, a doctoral student at the Air Force Institute of Technology and a computer engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory, was selected for the Women of Color in STEM Conference Student Leadership Award. University degree.

The award recognizes a graduate student with creative drive, outstanding academic achievement, inspiring grades, and a demonstrated desire to help others succeed. Combs will receive the award at the Women of Color STEM DTX Conference awards ceremony on October 5, 2024, in Detroit.

In the selection notification letter, Tyrone Taborn, CEO and publisher of Women of Color from the Career Communications Group The magazine wrote, “Combs’ numerous accomplishments stood out among those of her peers.” Across all of the awards presented at the conference, there were hundreds of nominees, considered the “largest and strongest (group) we have seen to date.”

Dr. Adedeji Badiru, dean emeritus of AFIT’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management, nominated Combs for the award. In his nomination letter, Badiru stated, “Combs is truly exceptional and will make significant contributions to the STEM field.”

Combs is pursuing a PhD in Operations Research part-time while holding a full-time engineering position at AFRL. Despite her dual workload, she continues to excel academically and actively represents AFIT in various local and national organizations.

She was recently re-elected to a second term as secretary of the AFIT chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the oldest engineering honor society in the United States. In addition, she is the only student-status officer of the local Cincinnati-Dayton chapter of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences. She helped coordinate the chapter’s Spring Research Symposium, which resumed in April after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the national level, Combs is in her second year as co-managing editor of OR/MS Tomorrow, INFORMS’ student-run magazine. During her tenure at the biennial publication, she has led a diverse team of 15 to 20 students worldwide, awarded more than $2,000 in prize money for student participation contests, and grown the team by over 25%.

In early 2024, Combs was named an INFORMS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Ambassador for her advocacy of a K-12 outreach project that introduced operations research to children from underrepresented backgrounds. Combs worked with her INFORMS department leaders in Cincinnati-Dayton, Ohio, on the proposal, which was selected by the highly competitive INFORMS DEI Ambassador program, which had a selection rate of less than 45 percent for proposals submitted for 2024.

“Kara’s passion, intellect and leadership potential are truly extraordinary and I am confident she will continue to inspire others and create positive change wherever her journey may take her,” said Badiru.

By Bronte

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