Join your fellow SWE members and professionals at WE09, the society annual conference in Long Beach, CA on October 15-17. For more information and to register visit we09.swe.org
Be sure to attend the Region Meeting on 10/15 at 1pm!!!
by Dana Tabor
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln SWE recently collaborated with eight other student groups, SHPE, AlChE, BMES, NAHB, GCA, ITE, ASME, and IEEE, to put on a Casino Night for students in the college. On March 25th a classroom in Othmer Hall was turned into a temporary casino as about fifty students from the college gathered to play blackjack, poker, and roulette. Students played for tickets to enter in the raffle to win prizes like gift cards and even an iPod shuffle.
Fabulous prizes aside, Casino Night was an opportunity for students to meet people from other years and majors. For sophomore Computer Engineering student Alex Habrock the Casino Night was a way to do just that, “I was able to meet people from around the college who are not usually in my classes in a fun and relaxed setting.”
The event was also a testament to how successful teamwork amongst student groups can be; when everyone contributes a little the result is much more than the sum of its parts. The SWE officers hope that the collaboration experienced at Casino Night is just a taste of what is to come for future events.
Dana Tabor (Dana dot Tabor at huskers dot unl dot edu) also serves as secretary of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln section.
Did you receive a letter from SWE at your dorm/apartment/residence? The letter contains a code that you need to log into a certain website to vote for the Collegiate Senator. If you have not receive it yet, SWE has sent it to the address you specified on your SWE Member Directory. (The Member Directory is currently down, but will be back up on April 15, 2009 if you are not sure which address you chose).
The two candidates are as follows:
Kristina Wang
Kristina current serves as the FY09 President for the I051: University of Colorado, Boulder section. See her video below:
Andrea Ham
Andrea current serves as the FY09 President for the I052: Colorado School of Mines section. See her video below:
Choose wisely. Best of luck to both candidates!
by Islin Moy
Region Collegiate Newsletter Editor, Region i
A variety of national opportunities are available for any collegiate (or professional) in the Society of Women Engineers–to go wherever your interests lies. This does not matter if you are a member or president of your section.
National Committees
A good place to start is as a member of a national committee. All you need to do is email the committee chair that you are interested in seeing what the committee does, and if you are interested, see what your role can be. If you are going to a National Conference, there are committee meetings earlier in the week, but you can also schedule a brief (20 minute) meeting with the committee chair if you arrive later. To see last year’s WE08 National Conference schedule of committee meetings, please click on this link. The degree of involvement is completely up to you, as well as the hours each month you wish to dedicate. You can also have exposure to SWE leadership, and see if that may be a path you wish to take.
A list of committees, their descriptions, and chairs are available to view on the committees list of the Society of Women Engineers Leadership page. You can contact these SWE members any time of the year via email.
Regional Committees and Leadership
Another way is to bring the Region Conference to your school. As Region Conference Chair, you will be leading your own team to make the conference not only possible–but a memorable event that everyone will remember. Kristi Tanouye was this year’s Region Conference Chair, and the conference was hosted at Washington University in St. Louis.
You can also become Region Collegiate Representative, and the time commitment is approximately two to four hours a week (with significantly more time leading up to National and Regional conferences). Your duties would include:
If you are more into writing, you can become a Region Collegiate Newsletter Editor! The time commitment is approximately two to four hours a week (with significantly more time leading up to National and Regional conferences, same as with Region Collegiate Representative). Your duties would include:
The regional collegiate representative and newsletter editor positions are elected at the Region Conference, with applications available in December and due in January, depending on when the Region Conference is.
Regional and National Leadership
The Regional Collegiate Senator role is uniquely positioned. You will act a link between your region and national issues. You would:
This position is elected, and details for future years’ elections will become available.
Islin (islinmoy at gmail dot com) also serves as FY09 COR MEGA Issues Task Force Chair.
by Islin Moy
FY09 Regional Collegiate Newsletter Editor, region i
Congratulations to this year’s new collegiate leadership for Region i! The FY10 RCR is Katrina “Kati” Keilholz with the FY10 RCNE being Emily Miller! Both are from the University of Missouri. Region i is happy to have you represent us in the upcoming fiscal year! They were voted in during the Collegiate Business Meeting on February 7, 2009 at the Region i Regional Conference at Washington University at St. Louis.
University of Missouri will also be the host for next year’s Region i Conference! Great prep work and keep it up!
by Dana Tabor
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
An edible car! Courtesy of Carole Wilbeck
This year at Women Interested in Engineering (WIIE) Day, a UNL recruitment event, almost 50 local high school girls got the opportunity to experience hands-on engineering on the UNL campus. The morning began with a welcome and tours of the engineering facility provided by UNL Student Ambassadors and Diplomats. Next the girls participated in hands-on engineering activities led by professional and student SWE members. In one activity the girls used linear relations to predict the success of a BarbieTM bungee jump, in another they explored properties of packaging materials and built egg containers designed to survive a 24 foot drop, and finally they explored the chemistry behind and made their own lip gloss. During lunch a professional SWE member spoke about the challenges and rewards of engineering. After lunch the girls broke into teams to create edible cars and test them on a rigorous downhill course.
The event is held annually and is one way the UNL SWE encourages women in engineering. In the words of WIIE Chair Shannon Killion, “WIIE is a great opportunity for high school females to come to campus and learn more about the opportunities a career in engineering can offer them.” With the success of this year’s WIIE event we hope to see an increase in the enrolment of female engineers at UNL in the years to come.
Dana Tabor (Dana dot Tabor at huskers dot unl dot edu) also serves as secretary of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln section. Carole Wilbeck (cwilbeck2 at unl dot edu) is a communications specialist at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Courtesy of Barb Hall
by Katie Rodhouse
Missouri University of Science and Technology
The Missouri University of Science and Technology chapter of the Society of Women Engineers recently hosted their bi-annual Lock-In for potential female students. The two day event from September 26 to 27 is open to all high school juniors and seniors as well as transfer students. Thirty-three young women from across the nation attended the Fall 2008 Lock-In.
During the Lock-In, the group got the chance to tour different departments on campus and to participate in several activities. The female students made ice cream with the Chemical Engineering department, toured the Materials lab and foundry, and built popsicle towers with the Civil Engineering department. The potential students were also given the opportunity to eat lunch with current female campus leaders and professors. The Missouri S&T ROTC organized a team-building program with the attendees and the SWE volunteers.
The young women also participated in an engineering competition called The Cinderella Shoe Project. Groups of five created shoes completely out of card stock and proceeded to model them for a panel of SWE judges. The winning shoe was determined based on creativity and sustainability.
Throughout the event, the visiting students had the opportunity to experience engineering, learn about the Missouri S&T campus, and meet SWE members. This year’s Lock-In was the 14th Lock-In put on by SWE. “The Lock-In was a great success! We had the most girls we’ve ever had visit Missouri S&T,” said Jill Hecht, Vice President of the Missouri S&T SWE chapter. Approximately 54% of all Lock-In attendees decide to enroll at Missouri S&T.
Katie Rodhouse (knrkvf at mst dot edu) also serves as secretary of the Missouri University of Science and Technology section of SWE. Barb Hall serves as treasurer for the section.
by Christina Watanuki
Colorado State University
Standing amongst the crowd of thousands of supporters adorned in pink were members of Colorado State University’s Society of Women Engineers (SWE). As a firm believer in breast cancer research and being impacted directly by women who survived as well as lost the battle to cancer, I have participated in the Komen Race for the Cure for many years. The SWE motto “SWE can do it” sparked an idea that will hopefully continue to grow in future years.
I thought to myself, where does the cure come from and how can SWE enhance the possibility of it becoming a reality? Chemical engineers, biomedical engineers, math, science, women, financial support, and research were some ways that came to my mind. Being a female automatically puts a person at much greater risk for breast cancer, being an engineer greatly enhances a person’s ability to develop the methods for a cure. What better place to find female engineers then in my SWE section? I then decided to start a team with fellow SWE members and began seeking out more team members and financial supporters.
Early Saturday morning of October 5, 2008 seven students wearing CSU SWE t-shirts stood shoulder to shoulder with strangers of all stages and areas of life coming together for one amazing cause. The start of the race was marked with the National Anthem, tears streaming down faces, survivor t-shirts worn by those who have fought and are fighting, and family members wearing signs of remembrance for those who lost. The gun went off and hand-in-hand we began our fight. At this time in our lives, many students are not able to develop a cure but SWE can do it through financial and emotional support while spreading words of encouragement that there are female engineers dedicated to fighting for those who no longer can.
Financial support came from student members of SWE at CSU, professional SWE advisors, career liaisons in the engineering department, family members, friends and even the company we ordered our t-shirts from. It is the hope of CSU’s section of SWE that Racing for the Cure will become an ongoing tradition not only for CSU but for every section of SWE in Colorado. Next year more planning and preparation will go into this event, including organizing a state wide team of SWE members, both students and professionals. It is important in the eyes of our SWE section that volunteering and outreach opportunities go not only to benefit our students and those in our community but the nation and world at large. Participating in the fight for a breast cancer cure is one small way that SWE members at Colorado State University hope to make a difference.
Christina Watanuki (watanuki at engr dot colostate dot edu) also serves as secretary for the Colorado State University section.
Tables from above before the event. Courtesy of Brandy Laudig
by Fallon Donohue
submitted by Brandy Laudig
Colorado School of Mines
On the evening of September 8th, approximately 360 Colorado School of Mines SWE members, CSM faculty, and company representatives from across the nation shuffled their way into Friedhoff Hall for the largest “Evening With Industry” (EWI) ever held.
As the 16th annual Evening With Industry, it has become a tradition for our section to host a networking dinner the night before the Career Fair providing our student members with the opportunity to connect with company representatives before the busy day of the Career Fair. Many students made connections with representatives from over 50 companies as talk of possible internship and job opportunities enveloped the networking hour.
We were lucky to welcome Kristy Schloss, the President of Schloss Engineered Equipment, Inc., as our keynote speaker for the evening. She gave an incredible and inspiring speech that touched on her personal experiences, and situations encountered by women she had mentored, that demonstrated to our members that their struggles, while significant, were not uncommon. With the networking hour, dinner, and the speech all done, not to mention countless hours of preparation from our executive board, the night came to a successful close.
A company representative mentioned to me after the program, “That was a great dinner, a wonderful speech, and you can count on us coming back next year; we had a great time tonight.”Finishing on time, our guests left satisfied, but were even more content knowing that they could make it home in time to see the kick-off for the Bronco-Raiders Monday Night Football game (or maybe finish their homework).
Fallon Donohue (fdonohou at mines dot edu) is the current FY09 vice president for the Colorado School of Mines section and has previously served as the event treasurer. Brandy Laudig (brandy dot laudig at gmail dot com) also serves as the photographer and webmaster for the section.
Courtesy of Brandy Laudig
by Andrea Ham
submitted by Brandy Laudig
Colorado School of Mines
The SWE Kick-off BBQ on August 26th, was a huge success. Our faculty advisor, Candy Sulzbach estimated “we had about 500 there and it looked like everyone really enjoyed it!” Xcel energy brought awesome representatives and sponsored loads of yummy food for the attendees that filled Stratton Commons. Everyone had a chance to meet the new officers, get a “taste” of SWE, and practice networking with company reps. This is our biggest SWE-awareness event and the freshman turnout was spectacular. Only one week into school and this year is already shaping up to be full of participation across the board. Look forward to more fantastic SWE events as we LEAP into SWE 08 – 09!
Andrea Ham (aham at mines dot edu) serves as the current FY09 president of the Colorado School of Mines section and has previous served as the treasurer. Brandy Laudig (brandy dot laudig at gmail dot com) also serves as the webmaster and photographer for the section.
