Throughout Women's History Month, including International Women's Day, Women of Color Online will present the stories of award-winning women first featured in Women of Color magazine.

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Dr. Rekha Rao was named Asian American Engineer of the Year in 2012. Six years later, she received the Career Achievement in Government Award at the 2018 Women of Color in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Conference.

Rao has worked at Sandia since receiving her Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Washington in 1990. She has excelled in a field critical to addressing national interest problems, especially in energy production-related processes, environmental issues, polymer processing, and manufacturing.

As an R&D science and engineering principal chemical engineer at Sandia, she co-chairs the first Female Research Committee of the International Association of Computational Mechanics.

Dr. Rao is the principal developer of award-winning software used at Sandia and many universities and companies. She is also active in science education outreach to public schools in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she teaches hands-on science. She has authored and co-authored over 95 peer-reviewed scientific papers, conference proceedings, and reports. In addition, she has excelled in addressing critical national security problems, mentors early-career researchers and students, and is a devoted, loving mother.

"My sister always tells me I’m so lucky to love my job and love going to work every day," said Dr. Rao. "This began in graduate school, where I was intrigued with computational rheology—using computer programs to predict material response. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to type or code and had to learn both. I went from annoying my advisor to being his best student. Since joining Sandia National Laboratories, I’ve been able to determine my research direction and work on projects that drive my passion. That's why receiving this award for career achievement is especially gratifying," she said in her acceptance speech at the Women of Color Gala.