Shorma Bianca Bailey is an Illinois alumna (MS, Environmental Engineering) and graduate of Howard University (BS, Chemical Engineering). As a doctoral candidate in the Department of Agricultural & Biological Engineering, she has designed and invented a low-cost method to address the removal of contaminants in water bodies to mitigate agricultural eutrophication. Bailey received a proof of concept grant from the Accelerating Women And underRepresented Entrepreneurs (AWARE) Program to create a prototype for patent-pending status and apply for seed funding. In 2011, Bailey was named a “White House Champion of Change for Women and Girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)” for her community service with Girls Incorporated and water filtration project in Kenya with Engineers Without Borders. She has worked at Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), ConocoPhillips Oil & Gas, Saint Gobain R&D Center, and CertainTEED Manufacturing Plant and has conducted research in agriculture and water treatment in Nepal and South Africa. Bailey recently published a chapter in “Safe Water, Sanitation, and Early Childhood Malnutrition in East Africa: An African Feminist Analysis of the Lives of Women in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda” with Dr. Assata Zerai. She plays saxophone, performs with the UIUC Hip Hop Collective, and aspires to continue producing beautiful music and more efficient technology that can solve the world’s water challenges for now and the future, especially problems related to agricultural pollution.
