swe conference edition 2015

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fall 2015 & conference edition

part ifall 2015 newsletter

part iiwe15 national conference

october 22-24, 2015

nashville, tn

Drexel Societyof


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part i

fall editionoverview of fall term events & presidents letter

Letter from the president

After getting involved in Drexel SWE my fresh-man year, I cant believe Im finally a senior.SWE has made such a positive impact in mylife. I hope that many other SWE members canexperience how SWE can help them obtaintheir personal and professional goals. Over thepast four years, Ive worked with over 55Drexel SWE officers and met even more mem-

bers. Im so proud of everything that the officer

team accomplished this year. We hosted thelargest region E conference in in February2015, won outstanding gold section for thethird year in a row at WE15, and plannedcountless events on campus.

With excitement I welcome Danielle Schroederas the new section president. I have greatconfidence in her leadership as well as that of

the other members of the officer team. I lookforward to seeing the awesome events andideas they come up with in 2016!

Inside this issue...Letter from the President

Membership Committee

Professional Development

Networking

Outreach

Wellness

SWEet Summit

Conference Attendees

Experience Blurbs

Career Fair

SWEFL & CLI

Women Defining the FutureAwards & Recognition

Celebrate SWE

Sponsors & Thank You

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Connect with uS!

Drexel Society of

Women Engineers

[email protected]

@drexelsw

drexelswe

Sam Schneider, President

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fall 2015membership committee

Fall term was a great success for membership!

We started the term with our first GeneralBody Meeting, hosting over 80 members, newand old. We shared dinner, learned aboutSWE, and played a word guessing game. AtGBM 2, members had the chance to suggestideas to SWE and to tell us what were doingright so far. Sophomore electrical engineeringstudent, Amy Shapiro, recommended that wetry harder to learn each others names because,

well, thats important! At GBM 3, we personal-ized name tags and played a successful namegame. Amy explained, As hokey as namegames can be, I appreciated the chance to learn

names sans awkward introductions. At

Boardgames with Orgs, SWE members cametogether with other student organizations likeASME to socialize, network, and play classicgames. Jacque, the membership directorinstructed a relaxing and powerful yoga flow indrexel park at sunset. The attendees reallyenjoyed the flow and said it had a great balanceof postures. Seventeen of us gathered to share adinner at Han Dynasty to celebrate last termsactive members and our national SWE mem-

bers. Be an active member and sign up fornational membership and reap every benefitSWE has to offer!

professional development committee

Yoga during sunset with SWE officers! Han Dynasty membership dinner

This Fall term the PD team hosted one of thebest attended events. Mr. Raj Subramanyamfrom CSL Behring spoke on achieving successin a corporate career and how to optimize onesonline presence in order to gain an advantagetowards the career building path. The presen-tations were delivered with high interactionfrom the audience resulting in a valuable learn-ing experience that provided the essential

foundation for college students. Mr. Raj pro-

vided attendees with accessibility to onlineresources as well to help with continued educa-tion on these topics. Professional Developmentalso hosted an event with Ms. Peggy Burns,

who spoke about transportation technologiesand opportunities available for engineers, of

which students may not already be largelyexposed. These events provided a new perspec-tive on engineering and business opportunities

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Moreover, the term was dedicated to planning

more exciting events for the upcoming winterterm, and as always any ideas from our mem-

bers are always welcome!

Students listen attentively to Mr. Raj Subramanyam about success in a corporate career

networking committee

With the start of the school year, means thestart of Drexel SWEs Freshman MentorshipProgram. Twenty -two freshman engineeringand technical science girls were paired withreturning female engineering students. Thegoal is to provide each girl with a mentor earlyon in her college career, who will guide her onthe right path in becoming a strong and confi-

dent engineer. We have had two successfulMentor-Mentee events- a Game Night andCraft Night. In October, our mentors andmentees enjoyed an entertaining Game Night,

where we played apples to apples, taboo, andseveral rounds of mafia. This was accompanied

by a delicious dinner consisting of Chipotlecatering.

Mentor & Mentee craft night! SWE members show off theirfabulous crafts

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fall 2015networking committee (contd)In November, they showed their creativitythrough our Craft Night, where they paintedand decorated frames. There was also pizzaand salad for dinner. We would like to thank allthe mentors and mentees who were able toattend these events and make them successful.

If you are a freshman or transfer student andwould like to be a mentee for the 2015-2016SWE Freshman Mentorship Program, please

visit the Mentorship page on the Drexel SWEWebsite.

outreach committeeThe Outreach committee hosted two eventsthis past Fall term to promote STEM for

middle school aged girls. The first event,Programming in Python, was hosted by SWE

volunteers; it introduced six girls from diverseacademic backgrounds to simple programming

basics, including: data types, loops, strings,and if statements. The second event, the

STEMtacular Fair, was held later in the term.Ten girls, which included many participants

from the first event, learned about science andmath through different demos, which included:making the best aluminum boat, crosslinking

borax and glue, and creating bristle bots out oftoothbrush heads and motors to name a few.

Various pictures from outreach events from Programming in Python and STEMtacular Fair

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Welness committeeDuring the fall term, Wellness kept busy withcontinuing old events and also trying newevents. We continued the Saved Me dogshelter visits! We take a group of girls to a dogshelter for an hour or two hours and help walkthe dogs, play with the dogs, and take care ofthem in whatever way is needed. This helpsgirls get their minds off of school for a little andalso involve them in community service. Wealso continued our Finals SWEek Massagesevent. This event brings three professionalmasseuses to Drexel and allows for women

engineers to get a free massage before theyhave to start studying for finals! A new event

was hosted by Drexel called Meditation inChallenging Times. We encouraged our SWEmembers to attend this lecture by Amy Edel-stein. She trained at the Dalai Lamas monas-tery in India and teaches that mindfulnesspractices are foundational inner strengthtraining techniques. A new idea the WellnessCommittee tried was getting a group of mem-

bers to go to a Drexel Group Exercise Class thatwas out of the ordinary. Lexi, Wellness Direc-tor, was a first-timer going to these classes andencouraged ten first-timer girls to join her in

going to these exercise classes. The group of 20tried Cardio Dance which was a zumba withcurrent music and also a Power Yoga which

was a strengthening and more cardio intensiveyoga. Let us know of any mentally and/orphysically healthy events you would like us toorganize for you!

fall 2015

Group photo after an empowering power yoga class

Cardio Dance class!

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Drexel sweet summit

fall 2015

Drexel University hosted the Region E SWEet

Collegiate Leadership Summit, which was anenriching, valuable, and fun experience! TheSWEet Summit is an event where collegiatesections learn various professional develop-ment and leadership skills. It is a fantasticnetworking opportunity! Attendees fromDrexel University, Rowan University, WidenerUniversity, and Temple University were pres-ent and got to network with one another andlearn more about how their individual colle-

giate sections work. Tips and tricks wereshared with one another in order to improvesection organization. One of the objectives ofSWEet summits is to increase engagement ofcollegiate sections & leaders. Claire Dvorak, aCollegiate Leadership Coach, shared many

valuable lessons and engaged us with interest-ing activities including personality tests. We

hope this event benefitted all attendees and we

are looking forward to the next SWEetSummit!

part ii

we15 national conferenceoctober 22-24, 2015nashville, tn


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National conferenceconference attendees

Sam Schneider Danielle Schroeder Jasmin Patel Bhavika Gali

Shravani Birewar Maissoun Ksara Angeline Aguinaldo Madison Kierod

Jacque Tawney Meera Varshneya Lexi Kapusta

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National conferenceExperience blurbs

My first national SWE conference was so memorable. First of all, Ilove all SWE girls. Bonding with my section and branching out tomeet girls from all over the country was amazing. Nashville wasamazing! I really enjoyed the collegiate luncheon, although as avegan, Id appreciate more substantial food (like beans or tofu -something with protein). But that was my only complaint all week-end! The workshops were interesting and informative, particularlythe ones focusing on mediation, women in NASA, and struggles ofwomen of color in STEM. These workshops opened my eyes to newperspectives I would have never seen on my own. I am so thankful

for that.The career fair influenced me to consider grad school. I really didntthink that would be my path, but now I see that there are so manyfactors making me want to go! This revelation made me cry because Iwas feeling so lost, but this is an option that would bring me a lot ofjoy and fulfilment, possibly for free. Im not sure where my mind willbe in a year, but I know Ill be at the next SWE conference findingconnections, opportunities, friends, answers, inspiration, and mean-ingful knowledge.

The National SWE Conference exceeded my expectations. Frombeing in Nashville for the first time to meeting the CEO of Kellogs tobuying my first cowboy boots and scoring a potential full time job,the weekend was jam packed. At the career fair there had to havebeen over 500 companies and thankfully my current company,Turner Construction, was there and extended a full time job offer tome to work for them in Nashville instead of Philadelphia. I loveddowntown Nashville, the live country music, cowboy boots, barbequefood, and the southern hospitality. Getting pep talks from manywomen CEOs inspired me to one day maybe become an Executivemember of a company myself! Bonding with girls from my Drexelsection was memorable. However, we made many friends thereincluding collegiates and professionals from across the country.Experiencing thousands of women together for a national engineer-ing conference was one of my favorite experiences in my life so far.

Jacque Tawney

Lexi Kapusta

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National conferenceExperience blurbs

The one session that stood out a lot to me was the "milkand methane" lightning talk.. This was particularlyinteresting to me for a number of reasons...1) The woman who spoke worked for caterpillar, andtheir technology that breaks down cow poop into fuel is alarge-scale version of the same thing a farmer in costarica used during a trip I took to Costa Rica my freshmanyear. It was awesome to see this applied in totally differ-ent situations and parts of the world.2) Methane/meat industry pollution is something I am

particularly interested in and was inspired to continue tolook into this not just as a personal concern but as anengineering dilemma that i could possibly help solve.3) My 1st co-op worked with a similar technology to thecow-poop-to-fuel-machine... Except the machine Iworked on used woodchips and produced oil. Again, verycool to see that what I am doing now can and will berelevant in my future.

I had a wonderful time at the SWE National Conference inNashville, TN. As my first national conference attendance, Iwas amazed to see so many female engineers and learn abouttheir experiences as a collegiate member. I had a great timeattending workshops and luncheons, volunteering, andbrowsing through the career fair. My favorite workshop wasthe Im Perfect, Why Isnt Everyone Else Around Me. As aperson who tends to look at these details, this was a veryenlightening talk. I learned the importance of accepting thatall situations in life cannot be perfect and inducing these

unnecessary stresses to make them perfect is not healthy orrequired. Previously, I used to pick at ways that my friendsperformed tasks such as washing the dishes or decorating animage. Now when I look at this from a clearer perspective, Ihave realized the beauty in others approaches. Additionally, Ireally enjoyed the career fair. Never had I seen such a grandfair with numerous companies and schools. It really helpedme network and practice speaking with potential employers.Overall, I had a great experience and look forward to attend-ing these in the future as an alumna.

Madison Kierod

Meera Varshneya

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National conferenceCareer fairThe annual WE Career Fair is one of the largestin the world, drawing together more than 300+employers, recruiters, and program directors tohire the next generation of engineers. Thisyear, names such as Northrop Grumman, IBM,Intel, and ExxonMobil for two days of intensiverecruitment, though the process began longanyone arrived at Nashville, TN. Months beforethe conference, Drexel SWE attendees pre-pared with resume critiques and companyresearch, utilizing the online SWE career portaland resume upload tool. By doing so, their

resumes directly reached employers, driving afew to set up on-site interviews with Drexelattendees at the conference. Many otherattendees secured interviews for both full-timeand co-op positions while at the career fair,resulting in two job offers within the group!Aside from employment, the WE Career Fairbenefits attendees by immersing them in pro-fessional networking. In seeing the thousandsof other competent candidates at the Fair,

attendees are motivated to define their employ-ee excellence and compete for highly valuable

positions. Three Drexel attendees experiencedthis first-hand in receiving invitations to attendcorporate dinners, while others learned how toexpertly navigate conversations with recruiters

before beginning the Drexel co-op A-round.The WE Career Fair is an annual highlight atthe SWE National Conference and one thatremains a productive, rewarding experience forDrexel SWE each year.

As a first time attendee to a SWE National Conference, I was fascinated by howmany companies were there to support women in engineering and providefantastic opportunities for both collegiates and professionals. I was really

excited to network with some companies and was also offered on site inter-views. The career fair was one of my favorite parts about WE15, and it allowed

me to narrow down the spectrum of companies I am interested in. The freeswag was also pretty SWEet!

The career fair was amazing! I spoke to a lot of representatives that were inter-ested in me and I am following through with them for possible co-op positions.I also learned a lot about companies that I never heard of, and companies that I

never considered to be an engineering opportunities.

Maissoun Ksara

Madison Kierod

WE15 Career Fair (photo courtesey of SWE)

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National conferenceSWEFL & Collegiate leadership institute

The SWE Future Leaders (SWEFL) program

started in 2006 to improve the pipeline ofcollegiate leaders. Individuals are nominatedfor participation in the SWEFL program and,

when selected, attend the annual CollegiateLeadership Institute (CLI). At CLI, SWEFLsreceive training on both SWE and leadershiptopics, such as business etiquette, personal

brand, and communication. SWEFLs also havethe opportunity to network with collegiate andprofessional members from across the country.

Maissoun Ksara, Public Relations Director ofDrexel SWE, was 1 of the 22 girls selected fromacross the country for this honor of SWEFLFY16. Danielle Schroeder, Vice President ofDrexel SWE and also the FY16 Region E RCCEalso had the opportunity to attend CLI.

The Collegiate Leadership Institute at WE15 in

Nashville was such an enriching experience, asit included talks and interactive workshops by

various speakers on topics like how to commu-nicate effectively and finding our leadership

brands. During the three days at CLI, one ofthe most prominent speakers was EricaDhawan. Erica is the Founder & CEO of Coten-tial, a global consultancy that accelerates theconnectedness of employees teams, customersand clients. She spoke on global stages ranging

from the World Economic Forum at Davos tocompanies such as FedEx, PepsiCo, andMcGraw Hill Financial. She is also the co-au-thor of Get Big Things Done: The Power ofConnectional Intelligence. Overall, CLI is agreat opportunity to improve your leadershipskills!

FY16 SWEFLs Group Photo!

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National conferenceWomen defining the future luncheon

On Saturday, attendees attended the WomenDefining the Future Collegiate LeadershipLuncheon, sponsored by Northrop Grumman.

At each table, a Northrop Grumman engineersits and networks with the collegiate attend-ees. Collegiate attendees are randomlydispersed throughout the tables, allowing themto meet students from other colleges and share

best practices from their sections. During thelunch, several Northrop Grumman engineers

were on a panel, offer advice regarding theircareer pathway and answering questions fromattendees. Many attendees asked various ques-tions about transitioning into a professionalsetting.

Awards & recognitions

For the third year in a row, Drexel SWE washonored to be presented the Oustanding Colle-giate Section - Gold Award! The Drexel SWEsecion worked really hard this year to continue

hosting professional development, networking,outreach, and membership events whichstrengthened the section and our skills. We arelooking forward to another year of more hard

work and fantastic outcomes! Furthermore,Danielle Schroeder, Vice President of DrexelSWE, along with Lenora Dieyi, member ofDrexel SWE, were recipients of SWE scholar-ships. We are very proud of them and enou-courage more members to apply to SWE schol-

arships!

Northrop Gumman representatives (photo courtesey of NDSU SWE)

Outstanding Collegiate Section - Gold Award at We15

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National conferenceCelebrate SWE! & closing keynote

On Saturday night, conference attendeesdonned their best, some wearing ball gowns,most sticking to semi formal attire. Overdinner, attendees celebrated SWE achieve-ments including winners of collegiate competi-tions, professional section awards, collegiatesection awards, the hosting section for next

years conference, society updates, and a clos-ing keynote. The closing keynote was given byMaria Fernanda Mejia, a recognized globalleader who was named one of the 50 most

powerful women in Mexico. Mrs. Mejia shared

her perspective and experiences on her profes-sional career path to become a global leader.

Drexel SWE attendees bit their nails, hopingthat their hardwork and dedication wouldresult in winning one of the prestigious colle-giate awards. Their efforts were not fornought as the section was recognized as a GoldLevel- Outstanding section for the third year ina row. Samantha Schneider, accepted theaward from President Colleen Layman on

behalf of the Drexel section.

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A special thank you to our sponsors!

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 Director

Public Relations DirectorConference DirectorProfessional Development ChairProfessional Development ChairTreasurer ChairTreasurer ChairSocial Media ChairWebsite ChairHistorian ChairNetworking ChairWellness Chair

swe conference edition 2015

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