On December 8, 2020, Kimley-Horn hosted a virtual information session over lunch for its DFW area employees to learn more about the benefits of membership in professional engineering societies focused on diversity. In a panel discussion moderated by Kimley-Horn employees, leaders from NSBE DFW, SHPE DFW, and Dallas SWE discussed their experiences with the organizations and how they have been able to develop and refine a variety of skills that carry over into their careers. Community involvement, outreach and how the groups work together were also topics of conversation. After the group panel wrapped up with questions, attendees were invited to join breakout groups to learn more about the individual organizations and continue the discussion. With the panel discussion having over 100 attendees, this first corporate informational session was a huge success!
If you or your company are interested in learning more about holding an info session with NSBE DFW, SHPE DFW, and Dallas SWE to increase professional involvement, please reach out to dallas.swe@gmail.com with subject line: Info Session. We hope to hold more events like this in the future!
We want to start the new year off on the right foot by creating the NEW PROFESSIONAL YOU in our March professional development meeting. If interested, please send us your resume to review and receive advice on how to improve to Dallas.SWE.PD@gmail.com with the subject “Resume Review” by February 5th. Additionally, if you are interested in reviewing resumes, please email us at Dallas.SWE.PD@gmail.com with the subject “Reviewer Support” by February 5th. Thank you!
More details about the March Professional development meeting to come!
SWE parents and fellow learning enthusiasts are invited to virtually join Dr. Beth Lusby on Thursday January 28, 2021 at noon as she answers pre-submitted questions and discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected learning. She will answer questions like:
How can parents help to keep students engaged in learning within this challenging new school environment?
With loss of social events and other things we typically look forward to and may use as incentive for work production, how can parents encourage work ethic and keep it fun for kids?
What challenges do you see happening at school and home right now around learning and how do you suspect these difficulties have potential for long-term effects for our children’s learning?
Regarding learning in children, what could parents do to enhance their child’s learning experience right now and into the coming months of continued pandemic and other difficult cultural situations?
What should parents be on alert for, asking for from the school, requiring from their child’s routine, etc?
What learning gaps do you suspect we will see with the pandemic and are there things parents could be doing to anticipate and fill learning gaps?
Register below or on Eventbrite to secure your spot!
Registration Ends Tuesday January 26, 2021 at 10pm.
Our Membership Appreciation Holiday party this year looked a little different but a good time was still had by all. Members donned their favorite holiday apparel and joined a GoToMeeting where we shared dinner, beverages, and laughs. Several members shared their favorite recipes and the significance behind them. Claire’s holiday trivia stumped everyone but we learned a lot about the many holidays observed this time of year. Congratulations to our door prize winners: Shelley and Teri!
Congratulations to Dallas SWE’s January Member of the Month, Claire Jordan!
Claire Jordan is a recent graduate of Arizona State University. She received her BSE in Mechanical Engineering in Spring 2019 and her MS in Mechanical Engineering in Spring of 2020. In September, Claire started a full time job at Texas Instruments as an Equipment Engineer, working in manufacturing. Throughout her time in college, Claire was very involved with SWE at ASU. She held officer positions as External Relations Officer, Treasurer, and Vice President. She contributed to SWE ASU’s mentorship program, conference efforts, GradSWE initiative, and Nominating Committee. She was also involved in Tau Beta Pi, Fulton Ambassadors, engineering tutoring, and engineering career mentoring. Claire loves engineering and sharing that love with others. During her graduate program, Claire spearheaded several initiatives to get graduate students more involved on campus, both in recruiting students to ASU and in professional organizations like SWE and TBP. She also got a chance to work with the professional engineering outreach team, leading multiple remote camps for K-12 students over the summer.
All of her involvement in college taught Claire the importance of networking and putting herself out there to try new things. As a result of this, Claire was awarded the IMPACT award through the Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU. She received this award twice, earning the opportunity to sit on stage and be recognized during the engineering graduation ceremonies as one of 10 awardees each time. While 2020 may have looked a lot different than she had hoped, Claire keeps pushing her career forward and moved out to Dallas in September to start her first engineering job.
Claire loves her new job and is very excited to start her career at TI. She interned at TI for two summers, once in Dallas and once in Maine. There she learned how to work in a clean room, troubleshoot problems she was seeing on equipment, and design and implement solutions to solve recurring issues. These internships taught her that there was a lot more to being an engineer than just math, and she fell in love with the TI culture and with Texas.
Thanks to SWE, her internships, and the many people and organizations who supported her along the way, Claire has easily transitioned into her new role and getting involved with SWE as a professional member was a clear next step. She currently serves on the Society Bylaws Committee and the Dallas SWE Membership Committee. Thanks to her experience leading virtual summer camps, she also coordinates online logistics as part of the Design Your World Outreach Committee.
Claire is so excited to be in Dallas and can’t wait to continue her professional journey in the years to come.
“Being a good engineer is about using your engineering toolbox to solve problems of all shapes and sizes. Thanks to my involvement in SWE, I understand that often, that toolbox includes people too. I’ve met so many amazing people and had so many wonderful mentors along the way, and I cannot thank them enough. Thanks to my amazing support network, I have been able to start a career, even in a year when everything seemed bleak”
SWE’s 2020 National Conference, WE20, was a 2-week virtual conference and career fair hosted via vfairs.com. From November 2-13 attendees were able to log in and participate in live and semi live sessions. Additionally, some of the features of the conference were virtually available like a photo booth, scavenger hunt and networking lounges. A Slack channel was created for Dallas SWE members to connect. Dallas SWE Attendees met virtually on GotoMeeting, on two occasions, to discuss their personal conferences experiences. While the live portion of may be over, attendees (and anyone else who wishes to register) can access sessions on demand for a year.
Cindy Liu, Dallas SWE Member & WE20 Attendee
“Attending WE20 as a virtual conference was a unique experience and very valuable! The speakers were exceptional as always, and I enjoyed still being able to “meet” members from around the world. I appreciated that many topics covered were relevant to the current and new challenges we are all facing.” – Amanda Alsbrook (3rd WE Conference attendee).
“I had been looking forward to WE20 in New Orleans for several years, so it was initially disappointing not to have an in-person conference. The virtual conference was such a different, but also such a valuable experience. Having access to so much amazing content was overwhelming at first, but now, it’s great to be able to go back and rewatch favorite sessions or keep attending new ones. Despite being virtual, I did make new connections with other SWEsters from other sections, which further adds to the value of SWE and the annual conference. It was my first year speaking at conference, which was a fantastic experience and something I hope to do again in the future. Looking forward to WE21 in Indianapolis now!” – Zaineb Ahmad (6th WE Conference attendee).
“WE20 was definitely not what any of us expected, but SWE stepped up in a big way to connect us all and “Practice Curiosity” virtually and safely this year! The session speakers were fantastic, covered a wide variety of topics, and recordings are available for a whole year! The interactive nature of the networking chats and virtual talks helped us feel closer together and see our SWE friends we’re used to seeing at conference each year. My favorite sessions were on digital communication strategies and of course the annual State of Women in Engineering research and literature review.” – Shelley Stracener (11th WE Conference attendee).
