TAFT — Bernadette Rabago Melancon, Dow Improvement Engineer working at St. Charles Operations, was recently honored by the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Corporation (HENAAC) as the top winner in the Most Promising Engineer category.

The prestigious national award recognizes a promising career and early technical contributions in a professional engineer or scientist with less than eight years of experience.

Melancon, a six-year Dow employee who lives in St. Charles Parish, beat out hundreds of engineer nominated from major companies who represented the best and brightest throughout the United States.

She recently returned from Anaheim, California, where she was honored at the HENAAC Awards Show. She will also be featured in TECHNiCA Magazine.

Melancon graduated from Arizona State University and completed internships with Celanese Chemical and Dial Corporation.

She then joined Union Carbide (Dow) as a production engineer in 1999.

Melancon attributed her success in part to the &#8220broad network of support” she receives from her family and husband and in part to her work experience. &#8220I have had the privilege to work for excellent leaders who have showed an interest in developing my career and giving me opportunities to achieve,” she said.

&#8220The results that Bernadette has delivered during her career here at St. Charles Operations demonstrate what can happen when diverse talents, perspectives and experiences are leveraged in an inclusive environment,” said Nawzer Parakh, St. Charles Operations Site Leader. &#8220I’m sure I speak on behalf our site and all of Dow in saying we’re are very proud of her accomplishments and are happy to have her working right here in St. Charles Parish.”

HENAAC strives to highlight the Hispanic achievements in engineering, science, technology and math; motivate and educate more students to pursue careers in these fields; and to increase the role the Hispanic community plays in maintaining America’s status as the world’s leader in technology. Winners are selected by the HENAAC Selection Committee, an independent group of representatives from industry, government, military and academia. For more information on the winners and the conference, visit www.henaac.org.

St. Charles Operations is owned by Union Carbide Corporation, which is a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company.