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

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio – Kara Combs, a doctoral student at the Air Force Institute of Technology and an associate computer engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory, has been selected to receive the Women of Color in STEM Conference’s Student Leadership Award – Graduate Level.

This award recognizes a graduate student with creative verve, an accomplished academic record, inspiring grades, and a proven desire to help others succeed. Combs will receive the award at the Women of Color STEM DTX Conference Awards Ceremony on Oct. 5 in Detroit.

Kara Combs, a doctoral student at the Air Force Institute of Technology and an associate computer engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory, has been selected to receive the Women of Color in STEM Conference’s Student Leadership Award – Graduate Level. (Contributed photo)

In the selection notification letter, Tyrone Taborn, CEO and publisher of “Career Communications Group’s Women of Color” magazine, wrote, “Combs’ numerous achievements stood out among her peers.” Across all the awards presented at the conference, there were hundreds of nominees deemed to be the “largest and strongest [group] we have seen yet.”

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 stands out as truly exceptional and is poised to make significant contributions within the STEM field.”

Combs is pursuing her doctorate in operations research part-time while holding a full-time engineering position at AFRL. Despite her dual responsibilities, she maintains high academic performance while actively representing AFIT in various local and national organizations.

She was recently re-elected for a second term as secretary for AFIT’s chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the oldest engineering honor society in the U.S. Additionally, she is the sole officer with student status for 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 returned in April following a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kara Combs, right, poses with summer interns Arya Gadre, left, and Isaiah Christopherson, center, atop the Air Force Research Laboratory’s radar towers in 2023. Combs, a doctoral student at the Air Force Institute of Technology and an associate computer engineer at AFRL, has been selected to receive the Women of Color in STEM Conference’s Student Leadership Award – Graduate Level. (Contributed photo)

At the national level, Combs is in her second year as the co-lead editor for OR/MS Tomorrow, the student-led magazine of INFORMS. During her tenure with the bi-annual publication, she has managed a diverse team of 15-20 students worldwide, awarded more than $2,000 in prize money for student engagement competitions, and expanded the team by over 25%.

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

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