SWE Winter 2015 Newsletter

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Drexeluniversity Societyofwomenengineers

Winter 2015 edition

Letter from the presidentHello SWE members, alumni, and supporters, My name is Samantha Schneider, and I am thrilled to serve as your 2015 Drexel SWE Presi-dent. I became involved with the SWE my fresh-man year when I was seeking a professional organization to join. Little did I know what an impact on my collegiate career and future my involvement would have. Through my roles as a chair, secretary, vice president, and now, presi-dent, I have been able to grow as an engineer and as an individual. SWE has exposed me to countless opportunities, including developing skills such as management and public speaking, opening the doors to scholarships, traveling to conferences where I attended workshops that were engaging and fun, and creating so many

connections to other female engineers at all stages of their careers, both at Drexel and around the world. I hope that SWE provides for you the same oppor-tunities and that you are able to develop profes-sionally and personally through this fantastic organi-zation. Through our many events, I hope that you

find what you are looking for in our organization and challenge yourself to achieve your goal. Please share your goals with myself and other officers, so that we can continue to provide resources and events that support the goals of our members. Per the suggestion of one of our members, we implemented weekly office hours, where you can meet an officer to share ideas or learn more about our organization. Spring term, our Vice President, Danielle, will be available to answer your questions from 12-1pm on Fridays in Main 407. Through your suggestions and feedback, I hope that 2015 can be a huge success!

To learn more about myself and SWE, check out the Her Campus article here:http://www.hercampus.com/school/drexel/saman-tha-schneider-pre-sident-drexels-society-women-engineers

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Inside this issue...Letter from the President General Body Meeting SWEet TuesdayGame NightStudy Session Intramural Sports & CyclingSSweDC: Professional EventExelon & DuPont Sessions3D Laser Scanning PresentationIntroduce a Girl to EngineeringGalentine’s DayAlumni SpotlightMiscellaneous: FemmeHacks

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Look out for our next newsletter !

Membership Committee:GEneral Body Meeting

SWE hosted two general body meetings winter term which were a great success. In the first meeting, members were introduced to the new and returning officers on the executive board. Members were also informed about the differ-ent sections of SWE and events hosted for the term by each section. It was a great opportunity for members to learn how they can get involved. In the second meeting, members were further informed about upcoming events, and also ten-tative events for spring term. The meeting also went over the Region E Conference, raising interest for members who may not have attend-ed the conference this year.

Sweet Tuesdays were continued in winter term from previous terms. This term, there were two Sweet Tuesdays, which were held at the Star-bucks in Lebow Hall. At each one, a group of about ten members, mostly freshman, talked and got to know each other in a relaxed environ-ment. Different topics were discussed, includ-ing classes, majors, possible SWE events, and adjusting to college. These events were a great success, as they gave SWE members from different engineering majors the chance to con-nect and bond as part of SWE.

SWE also hosted a Game Night this term with the Drexel chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This event included var-ious board games, video games, and pizza and soda as refreshments. This event had a great turnout from both SWE and ASME, and was a great opportunity for both groups to get to know each other. Everyone had fun playing a variety of games, and it was a great stress reliever from midterms.

Winter term is normally a dormant time on campus, as most people are hiding from the uninviting winter weather while focusing on classwork. However, members of Society of Women Engineers still came out to these and other events and had a good time this term, making Winter term a success for SWE and its members. Future events are sure to be great too, thanks to our members.

Every finals week of every quarter we rent out a big room and have catered healthy snacks and coffee for free for our SWE members who would like a quiet room to study for finals along with snacks and coffee to keep them going!

Wellness Committee:Study sessions

Game night

General Body Meeting

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Sweet tuesday

Finals Study Session Snacks

Inside this issue...Letter from the President General Body Meeting SWEet TuesdayGame NightStudy Session Intramural Sports & CyclingSSweDC: Professional EventExelon & DuPont Sessions3D Laser Scanning PresentationIntroduce a Girl to EngineeringGalentine’s DayAlumni SpotlightMiscellaneous: FemmeHacks

1222233334456

We had a floor hockey team winter quarter and we won intramural team of the week one week because of our great sportsmanship and how much fun we were having! We had a full team of 15 people. Most of the girls who played had never played a sport before. These brave girls learned how to play floor hockey for the first time, had fun doing it, and were great competi-tors. We play a different intramural sport every quarter!

Our wellness chair, Elisabeth Wagner, is a cycling instructor at the Drexel gym and orga-nized a private cycling session for SWE mem-bers. It was most of the girls first time every trying cycling/spinning. It wasn't too challeng-ing and we definitely made sure the girls went at their own comfortable pace. The girls loved it so much that they wanted more private sessions!

Professional Development held two events during the term to prepare members for upcoming co-ops: SSweDC and the B-round Preparatory Session. Students in SWE Discuss-ing Co-op (SSweDC), hosted on February 26th, welcomed all students for a casual discussion on what to expect in their upcoming co-op experi-ences, whether they be local or international, research or industry-based. Getting the job is one thing, but where do you sit for lunch on the first day? Should you take classes over co-op? How to maintain professional communica-tions? Questions like these were among those answered by Drexel SWE members as they shared their own experiences with event attend-ees. Another event in the College to Career Readiness Program series that was hosted on February 3rd with SCDC is the B-Round Prepa-ratory Session. SCDC advisors conducted mock interviews for students and provided construc-tive feedback for their interviews. Additionally, SWE officers conducted resume reviews and provided interview tips. The event also provided

the opportunity for professional headshots for use in career-related accounts such as LinkedIn. Events like these proved very useful to all attendees so look out for them in the future and don’t miss the opportunity to attend!Attendees enjoy their dinner and provided refreshments while listening to SWE officers provide co-op advice at the SSweDC event.

Professional Development hosted a few infor-mation sessions and presentations with compa-nies, which served as good networking opportu-nities. Three presentations that were the main focus of this term included the Exelon Informa-tion Session, the DuPont Information Session, and the 3D Laser Scanning Presentation. For the Exelon Information Session, two female professionals came in and discussed the Exelon goals and environment, the work/life balance, and the criteria for the ideal company setting. Along similar lines was the DuPont Information Session where employees of varying back-grounds spoke to the attendees about the com-pany and answered all co-op related questions asked. Their session was intended to encourage more students to apply for co-ops, and subse-quently allowed attendees to submit resumes and talk personally to employees who could help in the hiring process.

Exelon & dupont information sessions,and 3-D laser scanning presentation

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Intramurals & Cycling classes

professional development:Sswedc

SWE members discuss co-op

The 3D Laser Scanning Presentation featured a speaker who described the major project con-sisting of scanning the Lincoln Memorial and using advanced technology for this purpose. All the events catered to the career interests of our students and provided exposure to paying job opportunities, so be sure to come out to these events in the future.Speakers from Exelon discuss their roles within their company and provide great advice for entry-level engineers.

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day welcomes over 100 girls from middle school through high school into the fields of engineering. Many disciplines in STEM are represented with a range of interesting hands-on activities from lighting an LED to building a bridge from Kinex. This year, Drexel SWE headed 3 sessions on building the optimal parachute out of every-day household items. Students worked in teams to come up with creative solutions for parachute design using variations of paper (newspaper, paper towels, tissue paper) and attaching their creations to washers with string. They delved into the experimental engineering design process by testing out the different materials, shapes, and area of the materials. Building up on existing solutions, they modified features to create new designs. They demonstrated the effectiveness of their new parachute designs by dropping them over

the side of the stairs in the 3rd floor Bossone atrium and compared the time it took to reach the bottom with and without the parachute. After each trial, students discussed new strate-gies for improvement with the help of Drexel SWE volunteers. All participants improved their time after each iteration of the experi-ment, indicating measureable success. Overall, the event was enjoyable for both volunteers and students, and a wonderful learning oppor-tunity for all!

During Galentine’s day, mentors and mentees gathered to share pizza, cookies, and drinks while crafting valentines, all provided by SWE! We had music playing and everyone surround-ing tables filled with stickers, colored paper, fun scissors, glue, markers, and glitter pens. Some people made Valetine’s for their room-mates, for their best friends, or for their cuties, all varying from big frilly hearts to tiny cards full of stickers. The pizza was yummy, the cookies were soft, and all of the attendees had a great time. Someone even yelled out, “Wow! This is really fun!” Everyone seemed to forget how great crafts can be. We all came together as gals (and one guy) to celebrate mentorship and SWE and love for all of our buddies (and food!).

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Members learn more about Exelon & DuPont

outreach committee:introuce a girl to engineering day

Networking committee:galentine’s Day

Celebrating Galentine’s day with fun with crafts!

Name: Colleen GuyreDegree/Graduation Year: BS in Chemical Engineering 2013Current Career Role and Duties: I am currently a Process Design Engineer at UOP, a Honeywell Company. I design high capacity separations technologies (primarily multiple downcomer (MDTM) trays) for the Oil & Gas and Petrochemical industries. I work in an office and have not yet had to travel, howev-er, once I am more experienced and fully trained in customer interaction, I will be visit-ing customer sites all over the world a couple times a year. I create simulations in a software similar to HYSYS and use the resulting vapor and liquid flow rates to design the distillation columns. What I do is similar to what you will do in your senior design project if you are a Chemical Engineering major, but with less hand calculation! I am required to write technical reports on most of my designs. This can be chal-lenging for engineers, but it is a critical skill (one that I learned I was deficient in once I entered the workplace). One of the reasons I am succeeding is because I was appointed a mentor that I could ask questions of, no matter how basic, at any time without feeling silly. I asked him to critique my reports for the whole first year. I am constantly learning and growing in

my career and I hope I continue to learn and grow throughout the rest of it.

As a former Drexel SWE Member, how did your involvement shape your career path or help you during your time at Drexel?I regret that I was not the most active member during my time at Drexel until my junior and senior years, but even when I wasn’t very involved I knew I had a sisterhood to support me and that support system was invaluable for my mental health and well-being. I don’t know if SWE shaped my career, but it did shape my life. The camaraderie and enthusiasm present at every SWE event is so important. I am still involved as a professional member in the West-ern New York (WNY) chapter. This group of women, and all SWE members, have a desire to help each other like no group I have ever been a part of before. This is what helped me during my time at Drexel and continues to help me in my personal and professional life.

What advice do you have for current members?I strongly encourage all current members to attend as many conferences as possible, intro-duce yourself to as many strangers as possible, and always be prepared to advocate for yourself. You have to know why you would bring value to any situation, not just job opportunities. Prac-tice public speaking in formal and casual settings, learn to connect with people. As engi-neers, this is not always our strong suit, but it is a critical business skill. I have found no better opportunity to do this than SWE events. Always give yourself some time to branch out alone at these events and make new friends. Get out of your comfort zone and away from the group for a little while. I know the trips can be expensive but, trust me, the experience is invaluable, espe-cially when you start searching for jobs. These conferences ensure you already have a network of peers and mentors to help you.

Contact: If you would like to connect on Linke-dIn please mention that you are a Drexel SWE member, and your purpose for connecting.

Alumni Spotlight

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On February 27th 2015, the Drexel Society of Women Engineers helped organize the first all-women student hackathon in Philadelphia with Andrea Baric, a freshman software engi-neer at Drexel University. The hackathon took place at the ExCITe Center with roughly 30 participants from Drexel, Penn, and Temple University. The hackathon included a panel of tech women including Comcast developer Christina Kirby, software engineer from Thomas Reuters Yen Duong, Drexel professor Gabriela Marcu, as well as the data services manager at the City of Philadelphia Stacey Mosley. Mentors were present to help students develop their ideas and provide insight on the ambitious projects.

SWE members volunteered throughout the event and helped set up tables, food, as well as clean up and registration. Additionally, SWE members Anna Lu, Karishma Changlani, Neha Thomas, and Maissoun Ksara participated in the hackathon and won second place! They created a goal-sharing application which they named SWEApp2015 which aimed to help Drexel’s Society of Women Engineers organize tasks and its schedule. The application enabled SWE members to post their goals and get matched with other members or mentors with similar goals in order to help them reach that goal through collaboration.

Participants enjoyed free swag from sponsors Exelon, Epic, Sig, Zonoff, DuckDuckGo, The Drexel Close School of Entrepreneurship, Monetate, Vanguard, TrackMaven, and OSIsoft. FemmeHacks was a very successful and fun event!

miscellaneous:FemmeHacks Hackathon

Hacking away! (courtesy photo)

Neha Thomas, Maissoun Ksara, Karishma Changlani, and Anna Lu with their prizes

Participants and judges watch hacker presentations

A Special Thank you to all of our sponsors!Drexel University Society of Women Engineers would like to thank the following

organziations for their support over the last academic term!

Your contributions help us inspire women in engineering!

Executive boardSamantha Schneider

Danielle SchroederAngeline Aguinaldo

Madison KeirodMeera Vershneya

Neha ThomasMaureen Burnside

Bhavika GaliAlexandria Kapusta

Maissoun KsaraJasmin Patel

Shravani BirewarSoumya IyerLenora Dieyi

Rania MinaRidhima Phukan

Karishma ChanglaniSamantha Cassel

Jacque TawneyElisabeth Wegner

PresidentVice PresidentSecretaryTreasurerNetworking DirectorOutreach DirectorMembership DirectorProfessional Development DirectorWellness DirectorPublic Relations DirectorConference DirectorProfessional Development ChairProfessional Development ChairTreasurer ChairTreasurer ChairSocial Media ChairWebsite ChairHistorian ChairNetworking ChairWellness Chair

Documents

SWE Winter 2015 Newsletter