Dallas Society of Women Engineers

Event Recap – She Networks, She Wins at SMU

by Dallas SWE on February 23, 2017 in Collegiate

On Tuesday, Feb 21, SMU held its eleventh annual networking event She Networks, She Wins, with about 65 guests in attendance. Collegiates socialized with engineering professionals and enjoyed refreshments before the panel talk began. The four panelists were Cindy Clingenpeel (VP, Hitachi Consulting), Ellen Dowd (Senior VP at Hitachi Consulting), Dr. Leslie Ledda (Director of Internal R&D at Raytheon), and Lauren Windsor (Intelligence Analyst at Lucid).

SMU SWE President Kelley Howey and Special Events Chair Marissa Dusek posed some really great questions around how changes in technology have affected the way we work, using our strengths to find our passions, and how to stand out from others, especially in large organizations. Dallas SWE President Shelley Stracener ended the meeting by inviting students to continue these important connections by attending upcoming Dallas SWE events and staying connected to professional organizations like SWE after graduation, no matter where they end up geographically.

There were many insightful quotes from each panelist, but here are a few gems that really stood out:

“Don’t try to represent all women or follow a script: being yourself brought you to where you are & it will carry you forward!” -Ellen Dowd

“Technology is great to connect us virtually but you have to build relationships and trust with people first.” -Cindy Clingenpeel

“Take advantage of opportunities to connect outside your immediate teammates to build an influential network of other engineers.” -Dr. Leslie Ledda

“Network outside of engineering groups too! Connecting with people with other interests will help you gain new perspectives.” -Lauren Windsor

Thanks to SMU SWE and their Faculty Advisor, Rachel Goodman, for continuing this successful Engineers Week tradition!

Dallas SWE Scholarships – Apply Now / Volunteer to Review Applications

by Dallas SWE on February 17, 2017 in Announcements

Dallas SWE offers scholarships to graduating high school seniors and collegiate SWE leaders. Award amounts range from $250-$1000.

Qualified applicants for high school scholarships must attend a Dallas area / Region 10 school and plan to major in engineering. Applications for high school scholarships are due April 15.

Qualified applicants for the Annie Colaço collegiate SWE leader scholarships must be SWE members in good standing and attend a Dallas / Fort Worth college or university. Applications for collegiate scholarships are due April 30. For more information and to apply, visit our Dallas SWE scholarship website: http://www.dallaswe.org/scholarships/

Please share this information with the young ladies in your life! We also need volunteers to review the increasing number of applications we receive each year. We have a great rubric set up and the entire evaluation process will only require a few hours out of your busy schedule over the 2-3 week evaluation period in late April. Please email Scholarship Committee Chair Lynn Mortensen if you are interested in helping us reward local students for their accomplishments! This is a great way to give back to SWE and pay it forward for the next generation of women engineers.

Member of the Month: Molly Sing

by Dallas SWE on February 14, 2017February 14, 2017 in Membership Appreciation

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.

Molly Sing is a microelectromechanical system characterization engineer at Texas Instruments. She has her MS in Mechanical Engineering and MS in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, and her BS in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. She is currently working on her PhD in Mechanical Engineering in the nonlinear control of microsystems at University of Texas at Dallas. Two tenets have served Molly well in her career, asking why until there is a physically relevant phenomena, and fostering communication between disciplines and roles. So far she has worked on silicon nanowires, phase change switches, aluminum nitride filters, MEMS variable capacitors, and MEMS spacial light modulators, in academia, national laboratories, and in industry.

Molly joined SWE in 2010 during graduate school at Purdue. She served as graduate student coordinator, running a program to connect undergraduates with graduate student mentors. She joined the Dallas professional section in 2015 and in this year participates on our Programs Committee where she has helped plan two of our monthly professional development meetings. She has also participated on several panels including the one on Industry Perspectives on Diversity in STEM at our recent College to Career Leadership Workshop. We love her enthusiasm for sharing her story with others! Outside of SWE she has volunteered for High Tech High Heels, UTD’s Young Women Investigators in Science and Engineering, and serves as the Dallas Alumni coordinator for Rose-Hulman.

“What I love about SWE is that we are stronger because we are together, we are stronger because we are different, and we are stronger because we can be honest with each other. What attracted me to SWE was a commitment to helping each other. Sometimes you need help, sometimes you can help others and SWE accommodates both.”

Event Recap – DISD STEM EXPO

by Dallas SWE on February 6, 2017June 26, 2017 in Outreach

On Saturday, February 4th Dallas SWE was a part of the Dallas ISD STEM EXPO, held at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center. The STEM EXPO was an all-day event that focused on STEM-related careers and coursework. K-12 DISD students and family members engaged in hands-on and interactive sessions that were provided by local colleges and universities, museums, engineering organizations, and STEM-focused organizations. The Dallas ISD STEM EXPO also included the district’s STEM competitions, showcases, and exhibits from students within Dallas ISD. Dallas SWE had a booth to assist the students and parents in “building a circuit” and gave out information on Dallas SWE, SWENext and Design Your World. Check out highlight videos from the event here.