Saturday, April 6th, dawned bright and sunny !! The volunteers from the Dallas – FortWorth SWE professional section who were participating in the Sally Ride Festival gathered at the UTD Campus at around 9 am, the day of, excited and eager to teach almost 800 5th – 8th grade girls the wonders of science. The intent was encourage them, to not just take an active interest in STEM related education but plant the seed to someday consider careers in STEM.
The SWE professional section had an exhibit in the “Street Fair” area, an area that had a festive look to it with balloons, food, music, displays, fun give aways and tons of hands on science related activities. The SWE volunteers taught young girls about electrical circuits and encouraged them to ask questions and trouble shoot. The festival featured a keynote speech by astronaut Wendy Lawrence, and was immensely exciting and inspiring to hear, not just for all the young women attending the festival but to adults alike. Wendy spoke about her interest in engineering and space and encouraged all the attendees to never stop trying till they reach their goals.
To end with a quote from Wendy (and President John F. Kennedy) – “We choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. And certainly, space exploration is not easy .”
It was a fun packed event Friday evening on April 5th, 2013 when the Dallas SWE Professional Section welcomed graduating seniors to the professional organization.
Sarah Osborn and Neha Dobhal at the entrance.
After a brief round of introductions where the next generation of women engineers got to learn more about our current professionals – ahem! Warriors (because sometimes navigating the workplace and emerging victorious can be a battle) , their career paths and transition from being successful students to efficient and impactful professionals, the entire crew headed inside the Perot Museum to participate and enjoy the Social Science programs for adults, featuring the topic GASTRONOMY.
Fossils at the Perot Museum
For folks who have not visited Perot yet, please do. It represents “amazing” all packed in one location and is sure to appeal to all age groups. Children because it amazes them and teaches them the wonders of life and adults, simply because it ‘reminds’ them of these wonders again JIt was certainly my first time at the Perot Museum and boy was it fun!!! Being an engineer and a true blue NERD at heart, I absolutely enjoyed all the exhibits on display. It was enjoyable learning about the solar system and our universe yet again!!! (Given the fact that it has not changed a whole lot over the past million years). We all have a little kid inside us and sometimes it is fun to nurture that spirit in us. What really impressed me were the fossils that were found in our great state of Texas that were on display. Looking at angry T Rex with a glass of rum ‘n’ coke in my hand, I just wanted to say, “Cheers! “. There were workshops on Chocolates and scientific experiments involving liquid nitrogen and cookies. All in all an absolutely great evening.
To all our wonderful graduating seniors and collegiate members, Congratulations! We are here to support YOU as you transition into the work force and you can always come talk to us. I’d like to end by quoting Sheryl Sandberg –“Talking can transform minds”. We were glad to talk to you!
Thank you Jennifer Vilbig and Lindsay Clem for putting this event together!
– Neha Dobhal
In addition to our event the other day, Dallas SWE has partnered with the Perot Museum on a number of outreach activities. During engineers week, the SWE chapter volunteers connected over 200 K-12 children and teachers to hands on circuit design of a door bell. In addition, Dallas SWE members Jennifer Blount, Nandika D’Souza and Jennifer Vilbig are working with Perot Museum Vice-President of Programs, Steve Hinkley, to develop a tour on the architecture, engineering design elements, materials, electrical and sustainable aspects incorporated in the building. A program available to the public is scheduled to be available in Summer 2013.
In the first roll out of the tour, SWE attendees of the Regional SWE conference in February 2013 experienced both engineering careers and their relation to the building design as well as developed an appreciation of the way engineering careers utilize cross-disciplinary engagement in a single project.
Jennifer Blount, PE, LEED-AP+ is a project manager at Jacobs Engineering brings structural engineering elements together with Jennifer Vilbig, EIT of Vilbig and Associates. Nandika D’Souza an engineering professor at the University of North Texas is the principal investigator on the NSF supported Partnership for Innovation project for Development of Sustainable, Energy Efficient, Multifunctional Bioproducts for the Built Environment.
This year’s annual memberships expire June 30, and SWE National has just opened up the membership renewal period for FY14!
When you renew your SWE membership you stay connected with a professional network of 23,000 enthusiastic, like-minded women engineers, as well as professional development resources that your fellow members consistently rate as “excellent.”
You’ll continue to have access to colleagues around the world who are ready to provide support, guidance and mentorship-the kind of support that will help you succeed professionally and personally. And our accredited education resources are invaluable tools designed to enhance your leadership skills.
Strengthen your real-life social network and succeed on your own terms. Renew with SWE: the engineering society that focuses on the discipline of personal success – however you define it.
Our April event will feature an informal networking night with a speaker. The event sponsor, Capital One, is also providing heavy appetizers & a drink ticket.
Schedule:
6:30 – 7:00 Arrival & Informal Networking
7:00 – 7:30 Speaker – Nadia Aziz – VP of Enterprise Support, Capital One 7:30 – 7:45 SWE Announcements 7:45 – 8:30 Networking
Speaker Biography: Nadia Aziz, Vice President of Enterprise Support, Plano, TX
As the Vice President of Enterprise Support for Capital One Home Loans, Nadia oversees the Home Loans Business Risk Office and the Project Management teams.
The Home Loans Project Management team provides overall project strategy, planning, scheduling and execution. The Business Risk Office includes compliance monitoring; event and issue identification, tracking and remediation; and overall risk management reporting to Senior Leadership.
Nadia’s prior positions at Capital One include Vice President and Head of Retail Sales for Capital One Home Loans and Senior Director in the Business Risk Office for Capital One’s Financial Services Division.
She has an MBA from Stanford University and graduated Magna cum Laude from Oregon State University with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering
Why engineers are a great fit at Capital One….
Previous Work Experience in ….
* Consulting at a top firm managing key clients and projects
* Teaching leadership in ROTC to prepare officer candidates for commissioning.
* Analyzing maintenance trends to set personnel, repair, and facility needs.
Leads to
* Manage Recruiting organization of 275 people
* Accountable for the performance of a $6 Billion loan portfolio.
* Train Analysts and Operations Managers to lead, engage, and align.
* Analyze credit data to gain insights into the risk of Customers.
* Analyze customer experience trends to determine investment priorities.
This is a reminder to submit nominations for executive positions by April 12th to Barbara Vilbig at dallas.swe@gmail.com. See brief descriptions of the portions at the prior post here.
In addition, call for interest for those who may be interested in helping with the formation of a Dallas SWE Board of Trustees to manage the Dallas SWE investment account. The duties of the Treasurer are two-fold and it would be more feasible for the Treasurer to focus more on the section operating budget rather than the investment strategy and scholarship management if there was a Board of Trustees. The formation committee would compile best practices from other SWE sections with similar organizational structures. For example, the Houston BOT is responsible for managing the investment account of the SWE Houston Section and reporting annually to the SWE Houston Executive Board how much interest income is available for them to use. They typically meet two to three times per year, so the time commitment is minimal. With this setup, it gives members who may be too busy with other things a way to stay involved, and also ensures there is some continuity with the investment strategy as well as multiple people to discuss the investment strategy. Please e-mail dallas.swe@gmail.com if you are interested.
For everyone who could not make it to our March meeting held at Abbott Labs ( Abbott Diagnostic Division) in Irving, we had almost 35 people from both Abbott Laboratories and Dallas SWE attend the event. Nicole Koritsaris, Director – ADD Packaging and Mark Krikau, Site Director – Dallas gave the audience a fun filled presentation on Abbott Laboratories, its position as a leading health care company in the global market, and the benefits of working at Abbott.
Nicole gave a review of her inspiring career path, from being an individual contributor in an engineering field to being a strategic leader who drives innovation in the company. Mark Krikau then explained in great detail the instruments that are designed and built at the Dallas site. He taught the audience what an assay does and how important blood screening and diagnostic instruments are for medical diagnosis. He used his personal experience to illustrate that Abbott Labs is not just a fantastic place to work, and that almost every person working here has a responsibility towards creating quality products that enhance the quality of life and alleviate pain for millions around the world. In addition to this, we had a networking session where attendees interacted with each other. The presentation was followed by lab tours led by Abbott employees Ryan Johnson and Trevor Coffman. They showed the audience the existing instruments and track systems in the market and gave a demonstration of their capability. It was a fun packed event and a great opportunity to learn about the medical device/healthcare industry.
Neha Dobhal welcomes attendees before speakers Mark Krikau and Nicole Koritsaris take the floor!
Special thanks to the internal “Women Engineering” team at ADD Dallas who helped me organize and execute this event. Thank you to all the Dallas SWE members who made it to the meeting. We hope everyone had a great time!
