FY22 Past Events
Professional Development Day
An annual SWE Pittsburgh event!
March 14, 2022
FY22 event sponsored by:
|
|
Connecting Across the Globe
Pittsburgh/Chennai SWEsters Round Table Event
March 16, 2022
On Saturday, March 16, members of SWE Pittsburgh met members of SWE Chennai India for a fun and successful round-table discussion. This is a part of an ongoing “SWEsters” relationship we have with SWE Chennai.
The meeting started with the overview of SWEsters formation in January 2021 and continued with the presentation and discussion of data comparing ‘women in engineering’ in India versus the US. This dynamic discussion was followed by breakout room chats. After each person introduced themselves including how they got into engineering in each breakout room, participants discussed questions related to women entering and continuing their career as engineers; the support they receive and the challenges they face.
The meeting was filled with exuberant discussions and the hour and half was not nearly enough. While there are cultural differences between the two countries thousands of miles apart and on opposite sides of the globe, the meeting brought to light that similar challenges are faced by women engineers on both sides. We concluded that we are glad to be engineers and have the support of SWE!
Moving forward, we decided to plan a once-a-year SWEsters joint meeting
The meeting started with the overview of SWEsters formation in January 2021 and continued with the presentation and discussion of data comparing ‘women in engineering’ in India versus the US. This dynamic discussion was followed by breakout room chats. After each person introduced themselves including how they got into engineering in each breakout room, participants discussed questions related to women entering and continuing their career as engineers; the support they receive and the challenges they face.
The meeting was filled with exuberant discussions and the hour and half was not nearly enough. While there are cultural differences between the two countries thousands of miles apart and on opposite sides of the globe, the meeting brought to light that similar challenges are faced by women engineers on both sides. We concluded that we are glad to be engineers and have the support of SWE!
Moving forward, we decided to plan a once-a-year SWEsters joint meeting
WE Local Buffalo
https://welocal.swe.org/buffalo/
April 8-9 | Buffalo Convention Center & Hyatt Regency Buffalo
https://welocal.swe.org/buffalo/
April 8-9 | Buffalo Convention Center & Hyatt Regency Buffalo
Over 500 SWE members and guests attended WE Local Buffalo 2022 on April 8 and 9, the best attended U.S. WE Local in 2022. Eight SWE Pittsburgh members made the journey and enjoyed the sessions and the networking.
Four of our Pittsburgh members gave presentations.
1. Deepika Devarajan presented on Responsible Innovation: What Can YOU Do Differently. Her session was lively with a lot of great questions.
2. Mary Ann Walsh and Laura Traczynski shared our Mission Award winning knowledge with other sections in their Mission Award Gold session. SWE Pittsburgh has won the Gold Mission Award in both 2020 and 2021 so they had a lot of good tips to share.
3. Mary Ann Walsh and Mary Zeis were a part of Late Career & Retiree Affinity Group-sponsored panel discussion on Elder Care: What is Your Plan for the Unexpected. Mary Ann and Mary both shared their personal stories about taking care of their fathers.
4. Mary Zeis showed great enthusiasm for one of her favorite topics when she presented SWENext: What’s New, What’s Next. SWENext is a free program for middle school and high school students to become a part of the SWE community before college. SWENext helps students explore engineering and prepare for college.
All of these sessions were pre-recorded, so if you’d like to see any of them, please reach out to swe.pittsburgh@gmail.com and we’ll send you a link to the one(s) you want to see.
Mary Zeis was also honored to accept the WE Local 2022 Outstanding Outreach Event award on behalf of SWE Pittsburgh. We submitted the application citing two virtual SWENext Networking events we held, specifically the “Zoom Networking for High School Girls” run on November 17, 2020 and the “SWENext Speed Mentoring” run on April 22, 2021.
48 different high school girls attended one or the other or both events. And 16 SWE Pittsburgh members volunteered. We want to publicly thank them: Anita Jain, Deborah Mort, Deepika Devarajan, Erica Stevens. Jackie Welsh, Karen Levin, Lindsay Bonn, Mary Hall, Mary Zeis, Meaghan Shea, Mikayla Ferchaw, Paula Baker, Rachel Upadhyay, Rebecca Rugh, Samantha Orlando, and Sydney Sandidge. Without you, this award would not have been possible. Thank you for your dedication to STEM Outreach!
Although no official announcement has been made, we’ve heard that next year’s WE Locals will be in Hartford CT, Detroit MI, and Seattle WA. We hope to see you at one of them!
Four of our Pittsburgh members gave presentations.
1. Deepika Devarajan presented on Responsible Innovation: What Can YOU Do Differently. Her session was lively with a lot of great questions.
2. Mary Ann Walsh and Laura Traczynski shared our Mission Award winning knowledge with other sections in their Mission Award Gold session. SWE Pittsburgh has won the Gold Mission Award in both 2020 and 2021 so they had a lot of good tips to share.
3. Mary Ann Walsh and Mary Zeis were a part of Late Career & Retiree Affinity Group-sponsored panel discussion on Elder Care: What is Your Plan for the Unexpected. Mary Ann and Mary both shared their personal stories about taking care of their fathers.
4. Mary Zeis showed great enthusiasm for one of her favorite topics when she presented SWENext: What’s New, What’s Next. SWENext is a free program for middle school and high school students to become a part of the SWE community before college. SWENext helps students explore engineering and prepare for college.
All of these sessions were pre-recorded, so if you’d like to see any of them, please reach out to swe.pittsburgh@gmail.com and we’ll send you a link to the one(s) you want to see.
Mary Zeis was also honored to accept the WE Local 2022 Outstanding Outreach Event award on behalf of SWE Pittsburgh. We submitted the application citing two virtual SWENext Networking events we held, specifically the “Zoom Networking for High School Girls” run on November 17, 2020 and the “SWENext Speed Mentoring” run on April 22, 2021.
48 different high school girls attended one or the other or both events. And 16 SWE Pittsburgh members volunteered. We want to publicly thank them: Anita Jain, Deborah Mort, Deepika Devarajan, Erica Stevens. Jackie Welsh, Karen Levin, Lindsay Bonn, Mary Hall, Mary Zeis, Meaghan Shea, Mikayla Ferchaw, Paula Baker, Rachel Upadhyay, Rebecca Rugh, Samantha Orlando, and Sydney Sandidge. Without you, this award would not have been possible. Thank you for your dedication to STEM Outreach!
Although no official announcement has been made, we’ve heard that next year’s WE Locals will be in Hartford CT, Detroit MI, and Seattle WA. We hope to see you at one of them!
Engineer the Future Volunteering!
Carnegie Science Center
February 24-25, 9 am - 3 pm
|
SWE volunteers engaged and encouraged future engineers in celebration of Engineers Week. |
At the SWE table, future engineers made a paper airplane, fastened it to a balloon, and then launched their balloon rocket along a fishing line, demonstrating Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion. (“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”)
Over 185 girls and boys flew balloon rockets at our table over the two days. We also had 17 girls sign up for the SWENext Program, a free program for students to be a part of the SWE community before college. And we had 4 teachers subscribe to the SWENextEd newsletter for educators.
Thanks to all the volunteers who staffed the SWE table on Thursday and Friday!
Thanks to all the volunteers who staffed the SWE table on Thursday and Friday!
February Virtual Social Hour
Career Level Networking
February 7-10 @ 7 PM
Pittsburgh SWE Supports Future City
Career Level Networking
January 29, 2022
Seven SWE Pittsburgh members volunteered as judges for the 23rd Annual Future City Competition. The event was held virtually this year.
Thanks to the Pittsburgh SWE members who volunteered as judges: Carol Pan, Chuck Bleil, Edugie Niepa, Elaine Larkin, Mary Zeis, Mary Ann Walsh, and Suzanne Laurich-McIntyre.
Future City is a competition for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, to foster their interest in math, science, and engineering. Teams of students design a city of the future, write an engineering-related essay, and build a scale model of their city using recycled materials. During Competition Day, they present their city to a panel of judges. The theme this year was "Designing a Waste-Free City". As part of the challenge, students were asked to design a city that uses the principles of a circular economy – design out waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems.
Only 10 schools participated this year in the Pittsburgh regional competition due to the difficulty of students getting together to design and build their city. The winning school was The Ellis School. This is the third year in a row that they won. Congratulations!
The Pittsburgh SWE Section supports the competition each year by donating $250 to be a Special Award Sponsor at Future City. The SWE Special Award this year was for “Best Integrated City”. The criteria were “a city design that streamlines city operating systems and creates an effective infrastructure design for transportation, green space, communications, water delivery systems, and wastewater treatment”.
The SWE Special Award went to the Fort Couch Middle School team. Below is a picture of their model city, Thị Trấn Tre Hạnh Phúc (Vietnamese for Happy Bamboo City).
Thanks to the Pittsburgh SWE members who volunteered as judges: Carol Pan, Chuck Bleil, Edugie Niepa, Elaine Larkin, Mary Zeis, Mary Ann Walsh, and Suzanne Laurich-McIntyre.
Future City is a competition for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, to foster their interest in math, science, and engineering. Teams of students design a city of the future, write an engineering-related essay, and build a scale model of their city using recycled materials. During Competition Day, they present their city to a panel of judges. The theme this year was "Designing a Waste-Free City". As part of the challenge, students were asked to design a city that uses the principles of a circular economy – design out waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems.
Only 10 schools participated this year in the Pittsburgh regional competition due to the difficulty of students getting together to design and build their city. The winning school was The Ellis School. This is the third year in a row that they won. Congratulations!
The Pittsburgh SWE Section supports the competition each year by donating $250 to be a Special Award Sponsor at Future City. The SWE Special Award this year was for “Best Integrated City”. The criteria were “a city design that streamlines city operating systems and creates an effective infrastructure design for transportation, green space, communications, water delivery systems, and wastewater treatment”.
The SWE Special Award went to the Fort Couch Middle School team. Below is a picture of their model city, Thị Trấn Tre Hạnh Phúc (Vietnamese for Happy Bamboo City).
January Virtual Social Hour
January 19, 2022
We met on Wednesday, January 19th for a virtual social hour. We spent some time talking about any personal or professional goals we’ve set in the new year and how or if we can help hold one another accountable.
Indian Cooking Class
December 4, 2021
November Social Hour
|
|
WE21 Recap
October 21-23, 2021
Twelve SWE Pittsburgh members journeyed to Indianapolis for WE21, societal SWE’s annual conference held on October 21 – 23, 2021. It was SWE’s first in-person conference since the pandemic began in March 2020.
Over 7,000 SWE members attended onsite and over 9,000 participated virtually. The Career Fair had 211 employers onsite and 272 employers (some overlap) at the virtual Career Fair.
Missed the fun? Start planning now for WE22, which will be held in Houston, Texas on October 20-22, 2022. If you will be looking for a new job then, or want to take time for professional development, consider attending. It’s a great experience!
Also, WE Local Buffalo is on April 8-9, 2022. WE Local conferences have the same great conference features on a smaller scale. And Buffalo is just 4 hours away from Pittsburgh!
Learn more here.
Hope to see you at a future SWE conference!
Over 7,000 SWE members attended onsite and over 9,000 participated virtually. The Career Fair had 211 employers onsite and 272 employers (some overlap) at the virtual Career Fair.
Missed the fun? Start planning now for WE22, which will be held in Houston, Texas on October 20-22, 2022. If you will be looking for a new job then, or want to take time for professional development, consider attending. It’s a great experience!
Also, WE Local Buffalo is on April 8-9, 2022. WE Local conferences have the same great conference features on a smaller scale. And Buffalo is just 4 hours away from Pittsburgh!
Learn more here.
Hope to see you at a future SWE conference!
Virtual Pick Your Own Webinar Sharing Session
|
FY22 General Body Meeting
|
|
On Saturday September 11th and Sunday September 12th, Pittsburgh SWE held the 4th Annual Leadership Summit. This event allowed collegiate SWE Leaders near Western PA to learn more about the society, connect with one another, and share their section’s best practices
|
4th Annual Leadership Summit
|
|
BYO Morning Beverage + HikeWe had our first in-person event since before March 2020 on September 11! We had a great Saturday morning a few weeks ago catching up with one another in Frick Park and taking advantage of one of the nice trails. Thank you to all who attended! Hopefully we will have more in-person events in the coming months
|
Outreach: "Science at Play"
We were delighted to be a part of “Science at Play”, an in-person event sponsored by PPG, the Carnegie Science Center, and the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation. It was held at PPG Paints Arena on August 17th.
SWE hosted an activity table where students made a “Ball Launcher” from toilet paper tubes and rubber bands. We interacted with over 70 students and 25 parents.
Outreach: Mentorship 101 Workshop
|
SWE Pittsburgh sponsored a Mentorship 101 Workshop for high school girls in August.
The workshop was designed and run by Janise Kim, a SWENexter and a rising 12th grader at Fox Chapel Area High School. After Janise explained what mentors do, three high school girls gave testimonials on how they found and interacted with mentors. Then, students participated in a Speed Mentoring session with SWE members.11 girls attended. |
|
Hybrid Officer Transition MeetingJuly 19th, we held a hybrid transition meeting for our officers and executive council. We reviewed our section's vitality agreement, mission award, and FY21 goals. We also brainstormed new goals for this upcoming year.
|
Advertisement
SWE News