{"677339":{"#nid":"677339","#data":{"type":"news","title":"GTRI\u0027s Megan Birch Named Finalist for Women In Technology \u0027Woman of Year\u0027 Award","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECongratulations to GTRI researcher Megan Birch on achieving another milestone as an early-career researcher!\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMegan has been named a 2024 Finalist for Women in Technology\u2019s (WIT) \u201cWoman of the Year \u2013 Young Professional\u201d Award.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWIT will announce the winners of its 2024 Women of the Year Awards in S.T.E.A.M at their annual gala, to be held at the Georgia Aquarium on Oct. 24.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I am honored to be recognized as a finalist for Women in Technology\u0027s \u0027Woman of the Year \u2013 Young Professional\u0027 award,\u0022 said Megan enthusiastically.\u0026nbsp;\u0022As a woman in technology, I am proud to represent the growing diversity in our field and hope to inspire others to pursue their passions in STEAM. Thank you to WIT for this incredible honor, and to GTRI for supporting my journey.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMegan is a Research Scientist in EOSL. Since joining GTRI in late 2019, Megan has been very accomplished. She has received multiple honors, including two GTRI Star Awards and the GTRI 2024 Distinguished Researcher Award. \u0026nbsp;Her project, \u003Cem\u003EMoving Object Detection in Airglow Layers (MODAL)\u003C\/em\u003E, earned an FY2021 Hives Starter Award.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Being part of the GTRI community has given me countless opportunities to lead exciting projects in optical sensor systems, space situational awareness, and atmospheric measurements, all while growing alongside talented colleagues who share a passion for innovation,\u0022 said Megan.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe holds dual Bachelor\u2019s degrees in Physics and Astrophysics from the University of Minnesota and recently earned her Master\u2019s degree in Physics with a concentration in Astronomy from Georgia State University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWomen in Technology (WIT) is a\u0026nbsp;nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the underrepresentation and challenges women and girls face in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math). WIT empowers women and girls to excel from the classroom to the boardroom by providing education, exposure, and experience.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGTRI researcher Megan Birch (EOSL)\u0026nbsp; has been named a 2024 Finalist for Women in Technology\u2019s (WIT) \u201cWoman of the Year \u2013 Young Professional\u201d Award.\u0026nbsp;WIT will announce the winners of its 2024 Women of the Year Awards in S.T.E.A.M at their annual gala, to be held at the Georgia Aquarium on Oct. 24.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Congratulations to GTRI researcher Megan Birch on achieving another milestone as an early-career researcher!"}],"uid":"35875","created_gmt":"2024-10-07 11:58:52","changed_gmt":"2024-10-07 12:02:17","author":"cweems8","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-10-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-10-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675228":{"id":"675228","type":"image","title":"megan birch.png","body":null,"created":"1728302500","gmt_created":"2024-10-07 12:01:40","changed":"1728302500","gmt_changed":"2024-10-07 12:01:40","alt":"Megan Birch","file":{"fid":"258830","name":"megan birch.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/07\/megan%20birch.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/07\/megan%20birch.png","mime":"image\/png","size":233783,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/10\/07\/megan%20birch.png?itok=Td5nyoGM"}}},"media_ids":["675228"],"groups":[{"id":"1276","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI)"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["christopher.weems@gtri.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}