UT Arlington is running engineering outreach programs this summer and they’re looking for career speakers to share their experiences in STEM with 7th – 12th grade students. The speaker schedule is NOW through July 20 from 12:15pm to 1:05pm. If you are interested in participating, please contact Dr. Carter Tiernan at tiernan@uta.edu.
News & Events
Summer Girl Scout Outreach Volunteer Opportunities
Check out the two volunteer opportunities below shared with us via Million Women Mentors!
Dallas: Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Adventure Day Camp Volunteers
Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas is seeking subject matter experts to assist with hands on activities in a variety of STEM related fields. Additionally, you’ll mentor girls during lunch by answering girls’ questions about your career during our lunch Mentor Moments. Volunteers needed daily Monday-Thursday July 17-20, and July 24-27. Program runs 9am-4pm. Learn more and connect in Texas STEM Connections.
Dallas: Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Solar Eclipse Event Volunteers
On August 21, 2017, millions of people across the United States will gather to see nature’s most wondrous spectacle — an eclipse of the Sun. It is a scene of unimaginable beauty; the Moon blocks the Sun, daytime becomes a twilight, and the Sun’s corona shimmers in the darkened sky. Girl Scout families are invited to a special event and viewing at the STEM Center of Excellence where we’ll discover the science behind the Great American Eclipse, make solar s’mores, and so much more. Learn more and connect in Texas STEM Connections.
Volunteers Needed: Moon Day Outreach – July 22
Join us and Fort Worth SWE Saturday, July 22 from 10am-4pm at the Frontiers of Flight Museum for some fun STEM activities in celebration of Moon Day!
If you would like to volunteer to help us inspire the next generation of engineers, please click the button below! You don’t have to stay the whole day, just let us know when you’re available in the registration form. We need your help to make this a great event for all the visitors to the museum!
Member of the Month: Lynn Mortensen
With our Member of the Month program, Dallas SWE seeks to recognize some of our non-officer members whose technical contributions, leadership accomplishments, or SWE volunteer service are particularly noteworthy. If you would like to nominate a Dallas SWE member for his/her contributions, please email us.
Our Member of the Month for July is Lynn Mortensen. Lynn is currently following her passion as a STEM advocate and volunteer after spending 30 plus years in the aerospace and defense industry. She started her career as a Computer Scientist with a degree from California State Polytechnic University Pomona. She retired from the Raytheon Company in 2013 having held many positions within the company in program management, product development and engineering management including vice president of engineering of a $3B business segment.
During her career, Lynn was the recipient of several awards including the Malcom R. Currie Innovation Award and Raytheon Womens Network Woman to Watch Award. In 2011, she was selected as a Women Worth Watching in Technology from the Diversity Journal. As a Raytheon executive, Lynn supported several SWE conferences as keynote speaker at the Raytheon & Navy sponsored collegiate luncheons as well as different sessions on mentoring.
Lynn is active in the community promoting STEM education through her participation as a member of the Tech Titans STEM Talent Team, the University of Texas at Dallas Jonsson School of Engineering Industry Advisory Council and leader of the STEM Team, and the University of Texas at Arlington Engineering School Board of Advisors. Lynn is also active with the Collin College Department of Engineering as a mentor to students, partner in outreach activities, and member of the Convergence Technologies Business & Industry Leadership Team.
As a member of the Dallas Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Outreach Committee, Lynn has taken on leadership roles for the signature Dallas SWE Design Your World STEM Conference for Girls and as the lead for the Scholarship Committee. Lynn is also an active volunteer at BEST robotics events and at High Tech High Heels Speakers Bureau as both a speaker and member of their Grant Review Team. Lynn is a member of the STEM Advisory Board for the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas (GSNETX) helping GSNETX identify technologies and activities for the Girl Scout STEM Center of Excellence at Camp Whispering Cedars.
Lynn continues to share her experiences with the next generation of engineers in the hope of increasing the number and diversity of engineers for the future.
“Being retired, I now have the time to volunteer with organizations where I can share my experiences with women and minorities as well as focus on the K-12 and post-secondary STEM pipeline. SWE offers me the opportunity to do both through our many events and meetings and our phenomenal scholarship and Design Your World outreach programs. By sharing my experiences with other SWE members, I hope that I’m helping them have a more rewarding career and personal life. Being able to connect Dallas SWE to other organizations that I work with is definitely creating value across our community and hopefully, helping increase the number of women and minorities in STEM. Dallas SWE has many innovative and accomplished members and I’m honored to work with everyone.”
Event Recap: FY17 End of Year Celebration and Member Appreciation
Many thanks to those who were able to attend our FY17 End of Year Celebration and Member Appreciation event last Saturday, June 10. We had a great time at WhirlyBall, enjoyed some tasty food and drinks, and took some time to recognize the successes of this fiscal year. You can view more photos on our Facebook page, and don’t forget to check out our FY17 Year in Review Newsletter.
During this event we presented gifts to each of our FY17 Officers, and the following awards:
- Dallas SWE Distinguished Service Award: Nandika D’Souza, Ph.D, for her service as FY17 Executive Vice President and, in past years, VP of Outreach, for mentoring and supporting future SWE leaders, and for advocating for women in academia.
- Dallas SWE Distinguished New Engineer: Amber Scheurer, for her contributions to our section communications, professional development events, and dedicated outreach volunteerism. Amber will continue as Secretary in FY18, so stay tuned to your email inbox to enjoy more of her excellent work.
- Dallas SWE Outreach Mentor Award: Terriekka Cardenas, for her STEM Outreach service in Dallas SWE and other community service organizations. Terriekka is our new Vice President of Outreach for FY18 and we look forward to her contributions there!
- Dallas SWE STEM Advocate Award: Lynn Morensen, for her service to STEM Outreach activities in Dallas SWE, the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, and Tech Titans, and for her dedicated mentoring of upcoming STEM leaders.
Thanks to our FY17 Officers, Committee Chairs, and all the volunteers who helped make this year another great one for Dallas SWE! We are looking forward to FY18 and will be transitioning responsibilities to our newly elected officers in the coming months. If you are interested in serving on a committee or as a Committee Chair, you can check out our Committee Descriptions to learn more about your choices. Email us to let us know where your passions lie and help us make Dallas SWE even better!
FY17 Year In Review Newsletter
As one SWE fiscal year ends and another begins, we’d like to take a moment to celebrate our accomplishments, thank our leadership team for their hard work, and thank our loyal members who make Dallas SWE such a great organization! Check out our FY17 Year in Review Newsletter below! 