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! 
News & Events
FY18 Dallas SWE Leadership Team Elected
Voting concluded last week and the Dallas SWE FY17 Nominating Committee is pleased to announce the FY18 Dallas SWE Executive Board! All elected officers will serve a one year term from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018, except for our Treasurer who will serve a two-year term ending June 30, 2019 and our new Financial Advisory Committee member who will serve a three-year term ending June 30, 2020.
- President – Shelley Stracener
- Executive Vice President – Uche Maple
- Vice President of Membership – Amanda Posadas
- Vice President of Outreach – Terriekka Cardenas
- Secretary – Amber Scheurer
- Treasurer – Liz Hainey
- Section Representative – Kim Concillado
- Financial Advisory Committee (three year term) – Katie Mills
Thanks to all the candidates for volunteering to serve as Dallas SWE leaders, and to each member who voted in the election! Thanks also to all the outgoing FY17 officers; Dallas SWE would not be as enjoyable nor successful without their involvement! Committee Chairs for FY18 will be appointed in the coming months. If you are interested in being a leader in Dallas SWE, view this list of committee descriptions and let us know where your passion lies at dallas.swe@gmail.com.
Dallas SWE Nominating Committee
Teri Cate – Chair
Zaineb Ahmad, Tessa Hazlett, Molly Sing & Rachel Sheppard – Members
FY17 Feedback Survey
We want to hear from you! Please take about 5 minutes to help us improve your experience with Dallas SWE. This survey focuses on the previous fiscal year (July 2016 – June 2017). Once you finish the survey (by June 30), please provide us your name (optional) and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a free SWE polo!
Click here to take the Dallas SWE FY17 Feedback Survey!
Event Recap: May Meeting with Juanita DeLoach
Juanita DeLoach was the guest speaker for the Dallas SWE May Professional Development meeting, May 23, 2017 at Olive Garden in Addison. The event was organized to provide our members and guests with the opportunity to consider alternative careers such as law for engineers.
Juanita first provided insight into the decisions and framework that guided her to pursue her academic, engineering, and law career pathways. Juanita had a Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees in Electrical Engineering, worked for a few years as an etch and thin-film process engineer with Texas Instruments. At TI, she was the named inventor on 8 patents and published many patent applications. With this experience she pursued another Masters degree in Business and then a Law degree. She provided the details on costs and alternatives she used to pay for her education, compared starting salaries for the various steps in her career, contrasted public, private, and corporate law environments, and explained her current career stage responsibilities as an engineer and patent attorney.
As happens at many Dallas SWE professional development meetings, the atmosphere was mutually supportive and Juanita DeLoach turned from guest speaker into a coach! Members asked questions that related to work life balance and diversity as well as Juanita’s intellectual excitement from being a patent attorney. She suggested ways engineers can work in patent law without pursuing a law degree, such as serving as an expert witness. The SWOT analysis of all options was analyzed as she engaged in each conversation. Attendees resonated with her experiences and reflected on ways to develop their own careers through the information she provided.
Finally, Juanita discussed winning one of ten Hidden Figures of Dallas Awards from the National Society of Black Engineers DFW chapter this year! This award was inspired by the 2016 box-office hit film of the same name. Like many women engineers, Juanita was hesitant to nominate herself for the award and skeptical that she would be selected, but her achievements and commitment to her career in engineering and law were recognized by the local diversity organization. We are so glad Juanita shared her story with us! It was clearly a wonderful experience for all attendees and Dallas SWE is grateful for her talk.
Dallas SWE FY17 High School Scholarship Recipients
Dallas SWE is excited to award $1,000 scholarships to each of five extraordinary high school seniors from the Dallas area – Heather Erickson, Bihan Jiang, Mary Mulcahy, Irene Villa and Nicole Wojtania. Applicants were evaluated based on need, academics, community involvement, and their plans to become engineers. Thanks to the Dallas SWE Scholarship Committee for taking the time to review a record number of applications! Congratulations to this year’s recipients: we wish you all the best!
Heather Erickson – Byron Nelson High School
Heather Erickson will graduate as the Valedictorian from Byron Nelson High School where she has also been designated as an AP Scholar with Distinction and a Commended National Merit Scholar. Heather will attend Brigham Young University in the fall, majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Heather has participated in multiple sports and was identified as Academic All District and All State Division 6A for Varsity Basketball. She is currently co-president of the Solar Car Team which won the 2016 National Championship race. As co-founder of a tutoring program for students that are required to retake the state administered STAAR examination, Heather is helping these students be successful. Heather is very active in the Young Women’s Organization and has impacted many through her over 400 hours of community service. Heather is hoping to develop practical, economical, eco-friendly vehicles powered by alternative energy sources.
Bihan Jiang – Texas Academy of Math and Science
Bihan Jiang graduated from the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science (TAMS) at the University of North Texas, a unique two-year program where high school students complete a rigorous academic curriculum of college coursework. Bihan will attend Stanford University in the fall where she plans to study chemical engineering. Along with being a 2016 Siemens Regional Semifinalist, Chinese Institute of Engineering Youth Achiever Award Recipient, and a Miles Foundation Discovery Opportunity Awardee, Bihan has also co-authored six research publications on chemistry and engineering topics. Outside of the lab, Bihan participated in Taekwondo, the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra, Rotary Interact Club, and Forward Tutoring. She has also mentored middle school students in research and volunteered at local pet shelters and nursing homes. Bihan is hoping to research methods to make pharmaceuticals safer and more effective for patients.
Mary Mulcahy – Highland Park High School
Mary Mulcahy will graduate from Highland Park High School where she has been designated as an AP Scholar with distinction. Mary will attend Georgia Tech in the fall, majoring in Biomedical Engineering and participating in their Honors program. Mary’s honors and recognitions include the Presidential Service Award, National Merit Finalist, National Honor Society, and National Math and Social Studies Honor Societies. Mary has participated on the Varsity softball team as well as volunteered at the Perot Science Museum and as a tutor. She is most proud of earning her Girl Scout Gold Award by organizing and teaching a Biology/Chemistry Summer camp for over 60 under-privileged kids in West Dallas. Mary hopes to be a biomedical researcher and develop technologies to help active duty soldiers, first responders, and veterans.
Irene Villa – Lassiter Early High School
Irene Villa will graduate from the Lassiter Early College High School at El Centro College, a unique program where high school students complete a college and high school coursework at the same time. Irene will attend The University of North Texas in the fall where she plans to study computer engineering. Irene is the President of the Ambassador Student Leader Organization for Lassiter and through this organization has completed over 400 hours of community service. Irene’s honors and recognitions include A Honor Roll, National Honor Society and Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She has also been a participant in the Academic Decathlon. Irene’s interest in engineering grew during her physics class. As a result of the class, Irene explored engineering and science majors and participated in an internship at an engineering firm which solidified her desire to pursue a computer engineering degree.
Nicole Wojtania – Plano West Senior High School
Nicole Wojtania will graduate from Plano West Senior High School where she has been designated as an AP Scholar with Distinction. Nicole will attend Harvard College where she will major in Biomedical Engineering. Nicole is a 3 time Intel International Science & Engineering Fair finalist and a 2 time Grand Award winner. She was also a Grand Prize winner at the Dallas Regional Science & Engineering Fair and the Texas State Science and Engineering Fair. Among Nicole’s honors and recognitions are National Merit Finalist, National Honor Society, and National French Honor Society. Nicole is also an accomplished Rhythmic Gymnast who was the Texas State Champion in 2016 and a past member of the USA National Team. Pursuing engineering satisfies Nicole’s yearning to explore multidisciplinary fields. She is excited to leverage the engineering problem-solving mindset to improve society, advance well-being and enhance the human condition.
Dallas SWE FY17 Collegiate Scholarship Recipient
Dallas SWE is excited to award the Annie Colaço Collegiate Leader Scholarship to one outstanding SWE collegiate leader from the Dallas area – Erica Doty. Congratulations, we wish you all the best in your continued success!
Erica Doty – University of North Texas
Erica is a senior at the University of North Texas (UNT) and expects to graduate in December 2017 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Erica was the Vice President of Networking for the UNT SWE Section last year. She is recognized for creating events and activities enabling SWE members to network among members, faculty and corporate partners and to grow individual leadership skills.