Dr. Ireena Erteza–"Seeing" in the Dark

Updated: Dec 18, 2021

Dr. Erteza in front of a SAR image of the Pentagon

Meet Dr. Ireena Erteza

Distinguished Research and Development Electrical Engineer

Sandia National Laboratories

Her Work: Making SAR images using microwaves instead of light

Dr. Erteza was awarded 2017 Asian American Engineer of the Year She is a first generation American whose family comes from what is now Bangladesh.

Regular photographs taken from airplanes can give us a lot of information about Earth—its land, forests, oceans and more. But regular photos need light. Ireena Erteza is an engineer who works on SAR, Synthetic Aperture Radar. SAR is a way to take images at night or on cloudy days. SAR images show a lot of details, even if they are made from very high in the sky. That is because SAR makes images using microwaves instead of light.

SAR can be used to see how land changes when we pump water from underground. It can be used to map ice hazards or to see how farmers are using the land. The military can use SAR to help make decisions about how to protect us. Ireena and other engineers have even shot microwaves at the moon to help NASA search for ice there.

Ireena loves her work. She is always making new discoveries. She develops new SAR tools too. One challenge has been trying to make SAR easier and faster. That is hard to do. Humans cannot see the microwaves SAR uses. Ireena uses high level computer skills to help her turn microwave data into images we can use.

“Once you learn to make the standard example, imagine how you can make it different, better. The key is to create.”

A different kind of challenge Ireena has faced is dealing with assumptions about what a research engineer looks like. Some people are shocked when they meet Dr. Erteza. They know that Dr. Erteza is a distinguished engineer. Dr. Erteza leads research projects and speaks at conferences. But they never imagined that Dr. Erteza is woman. That she is person of color. It gets tiring having to face stereotypes.

Ireena belongs to organizations like #iamanengineer

Ireena wants everyone to know that engineers do not all look alike. She also wants everyone, especially girls, to know that becoming an engineer is not just hard work. It’s really fun and exciting! You get to be creative. You get to invent. You can use your STEM skills while working with others to help society.

And you can start now. Besides working on your school studies, start making things. Make art or crafts or videos. Just find something you are interested in and start. The Internet is full of amazing skills to learn. “Once you learn to make the standard example, imagine how you can make it different, better. The key is to create.”

Photo Credits

Dr. Erteza profile photo: permission by Sandia Laboratories

SAR diagram: permission by Sandia Laboratories

Diversity Illustration: This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

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By Diane Taylor

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