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This is the PittSWE newsletter from January 2013.
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University of Pittsburgh – Society of Women Engineers – January 2013 - 1
PITT SWE Volume 2, Issue 1 January 2013
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1 Diversity Dinnerview
1 Upcoming Events
2 That Could Never Happen to Me!
2 Regional News
2 Housing Advice from Your SWE Officers
3 Society News
3 Engineering Innovation of the Month
3 SWE Riddle
Diversity Dinnerview Professional Development
Written By: Sandy Liu
This year’s Diversity Dinnerview was hosted by the Society
of Women Engineers (SWE), the National Society of Black
Engineers (NSBE), and the Society of Hispanic Professional
Engineers (SHPE). On January 23rd, 41 company
representatives joined 84 students – mostly from SWE,
NSBE, and SHPE –at the University Club for a night of
networking.
The purpose of the event was to encourage students to
practice their interviewing skills and to practice speaking to
employers in a more relaxed setting. In addition to mock
interviews and casual networking over dinner, the event also
included presentations from BASF, EATON, and Ansaldo
STS. BASF spoke about interview preparation, Ansaldo STS
discussed interview etiquette, and EATON talked about how
to follow up after an interview. New to this year’s event was
a panel Q/A; questions were submitted by students prior to
Edited by: Julia Wasas
Continues on page 2
Upcoming Events February
February 2 – Middle School Engineering Day
February 7 – Academic Rush
February 9 – Habitat for Humanity Service Day
February 18 – Resume Workshop and Bettis Company Visit
February 19 – Pitt Career Fair
February 23 – Carnegie Science Center Volunteer E-Week
February 26 – Research Workshop
Students listening to the opening presentation of the Diversity
Dinnerview
University of Pittsburgh – Society of Women Engineers – January 2013 - 2
the event and representatives from each of the sponsoring
companies – BASF, EATON, and Ansaldo – responded
with helpful input regarding various aspects of interviewing
and job searching.
Feedback from the event showed that the event was
extremely successful! 97% of students felt that the event was
beneficial for their professional development and also
responded that they felt more comfortable speaking to
company representatives following the event. Of the
students searching for a co-op, 100% felt that the event
helped them at the co-op fair the following day. Half of the
students in attendance were freshmen and sophomores, and
they greatly benefited from the interview practice. Many of
the juniors and seniors also had the opportunity to hear
about internship and full time opportunities from the
company representatives in attendance. One of the students
responded in a follow-up survey that the Diversity
Dinnerview was “a very well put together, professional, and
helpful event!”
All company representatives who responded to a follow-up
survey felt that the event was successful and would like to
attend the event again. One of the representatives thought
that “the interview was a really good chance for the students
to gain experience. The best part was the five minutes at the
end to give feedback. It is rare that anyone has that
opportunity to receive ‘real-time’ feedback in that setting.”
Another representative responded that the “event was very
well organized and provided the students and employers with
a great opportunity to mingle. This is my 2nd event at Pitt
and I am VERY impressed with the professionalism that the
students display.”
Thank you to our sponsors for making this event possible:
That Could Never Happen to Me! Awareness
Written By: Christina O’Donnell
On January 17th, Pitt SWE hosted a harassment workshop
entitled “That Could Never Happen to Me!” which was led
by two faculty members from the Swanson School of
Engineering. Human Resources representatives and a
university counselor were present to discuss their
experiences with harassment in the workplace. During this
workshop, students broke out into groups to discuss
multiple scenarios to determine whether or not it was
considered harassment. Each group shared their discussion
with the attendees. The HR representatives and counselor
also shared their thoughts about each scenario. Thirty
students were in attendance at this event.
Regional News Region G
Written By: Julia Wasas
Do you love SWE? Want to get more involved? You can do
more than just get involved with our section. Region G is
currently accepting applications for positions on the regional
level. You do not need to be the President to run for this
type of position either! As long as you have a passion for
SWE and have some experience, like held an officer position
then you should look in to applying. Go to the region G
blog website and select Elections. Good Luck!
Housing Advice from Your SWE Officers Upperclassmen Tips
Written By: Lisa Volpatti
To welcome back our members after the holiday break, we
held a Housing Panel to encourage our members to start
thinking about the housing process early. There are pros and
cons to living on or off campus. For instance, students who
remain on campus enjoy the benefits of additional security
and location and do not have to worry about furniture or
landlords. On the other hand, students who move off
campus typically live in houses or apartments that are less
University of Pittsburgh – Society of Women Engineers – January 2013 - 3
expensive than dorms, they have more freedom, and they do
not have to deal with the lottery system. We discussed
upperclass residence halls such as those in the quad
(Brackenridge, Bruce, and McCormick) and those on the hill
(Pennsylvania and Panther) in addition to Lothrop Hall
which consists of single dorms. On campus apartment style
accommodations include Bouquet Gardens, Ruskin Hall,
Centre Plaza Apartments, and Oakwood Apartments. If
students receive a bad lottery number and want to live on
campus, we recommended applying for a Living Learning
Community, such as the Upper-Class Engineering or
University Honors College Communities.
We also provided inside advice on what to look for when
house hunting for an off-campus apartment. We started by
encouraging our members to start looking now and to look
at several apartments and houses rather than just settling for
the first one. When visiting a house, we recommended
inquiring about heat and air conditioning, utilities, occupant
limit, terms of lease, safety deposits, and laundry facilities.
Questions to ask yourself include: Are the rooms reasonable
clean? Are the appliances in good condition? Is there enough
lighting/outlets? Will my furniture fit? Is there sufficient
closet space? And is there enough security? Following this
advice, we had an open conversation during which
underclass members asked specific questions to our officer
housing panel. We wish everyone the best of luck finding
their new dorm, suite, house, or apartment for next year!
Society News Society of Women Engineers
Written By: Julia Wasas
Are you looking for an internship? Co-op? Full-time
position? Well are you a SWE member? When looking for a
job of any kind students do what they can; they update their
resume, apply online, go to career fairs, and other typical
things, but when a company has thousands of applicants it’s
hard to know if they even ever see your online profile. Well,
I cannot defend any system but SWE’s. Every SWE member
can make a profile on the career center on their website, but
most importantly, companies check this website. I personally
have had companies contact me because of my profile on
this site. So use your membership to your advantage and set
up a profile. You can do this by going to www.swe.org and
selecting career center at the top of the page.
Engineering Innovation of the Month Prototype
Written By: Julia Wasas
Researchers at Stanford University have built a prototype for
a miniature device that can be navigated through a person’s
body to take samples, deliver drugs, and perform other tasks.
The device is controlled by radio waves and powered by
magnetohydrodynamic propulsion. For this to work the
patient needs to lay on a magnetic table.
This device is not currently in practice but has great
potential. The size, about the size of Abraham Lincoln’s
head on a penny, allows for the device to be very versatile
and could be revolutionary for the medical world.
S W E R I D D L E
Pitt SWE would like to challenge you to a riddle! The
first University of Pittsburgh student to email
PittSWE@gmail.com with the correct answer will
receive a $10 dollar gift certificate as a reward.
There are three boxes. One has apples, one has oranges
and the other has apples and oranges. The boxes are
labeled wrong so that no label is correct. Sue opens just
one box, and without looking in the box, takes out one
piece of fruit. She looks at the fruit and immediately
labels all the boxes correctly. Which box did she open
and how did she know?
To stay updated on news and events visit our website www.pitt.edu/~pittswe.
Pitt SWE Officers President – Lisa Volpatti Vice President – Julia Wasas Secretary – Sandy Liu Treasurer – Christina O’Donnell
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