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