DallaSWE
The Newsletter of the Society of Women Engineers
February 2005
CONTENTS:
Call for Nominations/Volunteers for Officers
Editor’s Notes and Web links to check out
DallaSWE Objectives & Web Link
SPEAKER: Atussa Simon, Professor – The Guildhall at SMU and CEO of Artemis Software
TOPIC: Education and Career Opportunities in the Video Gaming Industry
DATE: April 19
TIME:
LOCATION:
Nedley’s Restaurant – Board Room
1801 North
CONTACT:
SPEAKER PROFILE:
Atussa Simon has a BSEE degree from UTD and is a member of the Independent Game Designers Association.
Atussa was one of The Guildhall's original staff members, invited by the university to work with the Guildhall team to help develop a vision for is graduate level program in computer gaming.
Besides serving as an instructor at The Guildhall, Atussa is also CEO of Artemis Software Inc. Her game design experience began with the TRS-80 COCO II in 1986. Since then she has participated in a variety of game development projects. She considers herself a jack-of-all-trades, having worked on games as a game tester, an artist, a level designer, a game designer, and a game producer. Artemis Software's last game title was purchased by a fortune 500 company, and the company is now focusing on furthering the art of Machinima as a force in cinematics as well as movie production.
"Dallas Membership Chair Davinia Chism is serving as a coordinator for honoring our graduating SWE student members at the April meeting. As usual, students are always welcome and invited to attend our meetings. But this April, graduating student members are invited to be our guests of honor. Your assistance in reaching these students and letting them know about this invitation is especially appreciated.
On 31 March, several members of the Dallas and Ft. Worth SWE chapters met with Betty Shanahan at the Blue Mesa Grill for dinner. It was an excellent opportunity for members to meet and talk with the Executive Director of the Society of Women Engineers. Ms. Shanahan was in town for the annual National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) convention.
Bravo to all the volunteers for a great Girl Scout Engineering Badge Program! DallaSWE helped fifty-two girls earn the badge, officially called the “Making it Matter” badge, on March 19 at the Girl Scouts of Tejas Council Center.
A quick run-down of the activities:
As reflected by the survey forms we got back at the end of the event, we got overwhelmingly positive responses from the girls, as well as from the troop leaders. But first, I would just like to convey special thanks to the following volunteers:
Cheryl Homan and Heather Chan for doing an outstanding job as Event Coordinators. They kept things running smoothly up to and throughout the event. Cheryl also managed to secure fruit juices for the girls, provided by Dr. Pepper!
Davinia Chism and Jean Cathcart for scoring lots of wonderful goodie bag items for the girls. Jean also handled registration, and Davinia printed extremely nice award certificates that were personalized for each girl.
Next, I must share a handful of the survey comments. They really reflect, very well, the overall tone of the event. Note: I left the comments exactly as they were written; including any spelling and grammatical errors (some are cute!)
Note: LOTS of girls said they liked EVERYTHING.
Specifc things they liked…
The question was: “Is there anything that the Event Staff or Consultant could do in content or presentation to improve the experience for the girls?”
Comment: “I thought the Computer instructor (Julie) and the silly putty instructors (Donna / Davinia) in particular were GREAT—good role models. My daughter really liked the electronic circuit. It was great having a take home kit with all needed supplies!”
Comment: “This was a charming, informative experience. We greatly appreciate your dedication, expertise, and love shown to our girls.”
Comment: Nothing to improve upon—excellent”
Thanks to all the event volunteers. Your presence and
help make this program a success! Program Volunteers:
Barbara Vilbig, Cheryl Homan, Davinia Chism, Dona Mularkey, Ellen Damaso, Eric
Stromberg, Heather Chan,
We need members to step up to the plate and help to keep our organization strong and supportive of our membership and community by volunteering to serve as:
President – manage and over see the direction of the organization
VP (program chair) – plan monthly programs and conduct meetings in absence of the President. Can work with others to solicit speakers, etc.
Treasurer – responsible for managing section’s financial resources, payment of bills, and budget preparation/monitoring; prepare and submit annual treasurer’s report to SWE.
Secretary – distribute monthly meeting notices, newsletters, and other communications via email. Maintain organization email distribution lists. Maintain records of officer and meeting activities.
Section Representative – serve as official interface between Dallas SWE and SWE, including representing and voting for organization on the SWE Council of Representatives. Prepares and submits periodic status reports to SWE. Ideally, person should be able to attend the national conference and Region C meetings.
If you are
interested, please present a short bio, office(s) of interest, and reason for
interest. Responses and inquires should be sent to
Editor’s Notes: My web links of the month are: http://www.anysoldier.com & http://www.anysoldier.com/FAQ.html and similarly: http://www.mysoldier.com/ & http://www.mysoldier.com/faq.htm My best guess is that there are other similar sites out there, but these are the two I know about. The “Any Soldier” site has been out there “longer” (I think) and has links to free stuff for you and your soldier. Read both FAQ pages, some information is duplicated but it is all interesting!
We
know about these sites because our son is in
Email letter to PBS’s The NewsHour:
As the first woman president of our nation's largest engineering organization (http://www.ieeeusa.org), I believe that Harvard's Dr. Summers has inadvertently done more to focus on the plight of women scientists and engineers than major publicity programs could have possibly accomplished.
However, the NewsHour and other mainstream news providers have not even started to focus on the real problems. In fact, this may have been worsened by the NewsHour since none of your panelists addressed the topic from the viewpoint of a practicing woman scientist (none were engineers). (They were scientists that addressed studies and statistics - not their personal experiences. This position was far more politically correct and less dangerous for their future career success, than mentioning challenges they were personally addressing.)
Further, the program addressed problems associated with women and careers in science and engineering as if these professions were the same, while there are significant differences between the two. As an example, most successful scientists have PhDs and work as researchers. Though a large percentage of engineers do have higher level degrees, most start their careers at the BS level and most are employed as designers and producers of products and/or services. I believe that the introduction to the panel indicated that over 50% of those graduating with science degrees were women. It failed to mention that fewer than 25% of BS level engineering degrees were awarded to women.
And, the issues faced by university professors/researchers in science and engineering are entirely different than those who work in industry or for non-academic entities. In fact, I believe that even the academic careers of women in science and engineering tend to be far different. For instance, I suspect that a higher percentage of women engineering professors become deans of engineering than holds for the percentage of women science professors who become deans. And, I'm rather certain that a higher percentage of women engineering faculty become deans than the percentage of practicing women engineers who become higher level engineering managers.
As for other issues which haven't been addressed, consider the fact that few have compared the success of women in the medical profession with the lack of equivalent success for women scientists or engineers, even though all of these careers require aptitudes in math and science. I am not aware of studies that have addressed this particular issue, but I do have an hypothesis that may prove to be true. Once the medical degree and licensure are earned, most physicians are in small or individual practices. Physicians are the leads in medical teams and their practice - they are in more complete control of their career direction and destinies. In contrast, most engineers in industry function in teams and very few have real control of their career destinies. Thus, women engineers are far more dependant upon the whims of their male co-workers. My hypothesis - women are partially more successful in medicine than in science or engineering because they have more control of issues related to career success, subsequently they are less dependant upon the cooperation of men for achieving this success.
As for reasons for smaller numbers of women who study engineering, many who study the issue believe that it is based on the image or lack of positive image of engineering as a profession. The image of engineering as a profession is complex, but I firmly believe that smart young women are aware that engineers experience lay-offs and daughters of engineers are very aware of the long working hours of their parents. So, why would a smart girl who has the means want to become a soon-to-be-unemployed engineer when she can be a more esteemed lawyer or physician or a steadily employed pre-college educator?
I do hope that the views expressed in this email may inspire an on-going focus on how to improve the work-environment and career successes of women scientists and engineers.
For LeEarl’s IEEE bio, see URL: http://www.ieeeusa.org/volunteers/bryant.asp
Melissa Tata, Region C Governor, provided the following Student Transition Team report by Celesta White, Chair and Karen Bodach, Committee Member.
The Student Transition Team met in
The STT has had a major focus to increase student leadership in SWE. One of the STT's recommendations is to have a student participate on the SWE Board of Directors (BOD). Starting in FY06, a 2-year pilot is being launched which allows a student to participate in BOD meetings as an invited guest of the FY06 President. This new student leadership position will be called the Collegiate Representative and will be the first student in SWE's history to participate on the BOD. The collegiate representative will provide an excellent opportunity to serve the student members and become involved in the strategic functions of the Society. An application/interview process will be used to select the most qualified student.
Watch the SWE webpage and your e-mails for additional information about this great collegiate opportunity!
SPEAKER: Atussa Simon, Professor – The Guildhall at SMU and CEO of Artemis Software
TOPIC: Education and Career Opportunities in the Video Gaming Industry
DATE: April 19
TIME:
LOCATION:
Nedley’s Restaurant – Board Room
1801 North
CONTACT:
SPEAKER PROFILE: See above for details.
At the April 19 Monthly meeting, area graduating student SWE members will participate in a special recognition ceremony. As the guests of the Dallas SWE professional members, all area graduating student SWE members have been invited to the April meeting. The students will receive a certificate, gift bag, and dinner while being recognized for their accomplishments. They will have the opportunity to learn the venue of the professional meetings as well as network with the Dallas SWE members. This is a big event for our seniors so be sure to come to the April meeting to congratulate these students and invite them to join us!
Please direct any questions to Davinia Chism at davinia@raytheon.com -
972-344-2234
TBD
SPEAKER:
TOPIC:
Hoop the
DATE: May 24
TIME:
LOCATION: Nedley’s Restaurant – Community Room
CONTACT:
Certificate of Merit nominations deadline
“Engineer It!”
Volunteers needed for hands-on exhibit. http://www.mindstretchingfun.org
For more information, see our February 2005 Newsletter.
OBJECTIVES OF THE SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERS
• To inform young women, their parents, counselors, and the public in general of the qualifications and achievements of women engineers and of the opportunities open to them.
• To assist women engineers in readying themselves for a return to active work after temporary retirements.
• To serve as a center of information on women in engineering.
• To encourage women engineers to attain high levels of educational and professional achievement.
CHECK US OUT! www.dallaswe.org