When:
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
6:00 – 8:00 PM
Where: USAA Offices
7300 Parkwood Blvd, Plano TX 75024
This month, USAA will be hosting Dallas SWE at their offices in Plano. Attendees will network over food and drinks, participate in the panel discussion “Navigating Your Career”, and tour the USAA Collaboration Spaces.
Dallas SWE had our October Professional Development meeting at Ericsson Technology Center in Plano. The evening was hosted by Cara Hale, Senior Requiter, Talent Acquisition. Two groups visited the Technology Innovation Lab and experienced the future of a connected world. First Ron Smith connected the visitors to mobile phone data capability history from 1G (1979) to 2G (1991) to 3G (2001) to the current 4G (2009) network, then finally providing a glimpse of what will be available through Ericsson’s innovations on the upcoming 5G network. From a text message to a photograph sent to watching a Netflix movie, he provided insight into what network responsiveness enables. In the first demo Sham Hamee provided an example of a virtual reality viewing device so that everyone in the room could be transported to a room. As the person wearing the device viewed the remote location, everyone at the Plano location were able to see the remote location on the TV screens. Then, Suhel Patel showed an example of traffic sensors capturing data in 4 cities so that both the real time connection to traffic patterns, signal events, and paths could be optimized. Finally, Ron described a flow-through water quality monitoring system that could be positioned at remote sites to provide real-time information on water speed and contaminants. Multiple sensors could be placed along a single waterway to help pinpoint potential problems. By programming the system to go to sleep between data collection and transmission cycles, two AA batteries can last for 10 years. A future where energy, cell phone coverage, and other ancillary services are enabled through real-time sensor networks is very exciting!
After all attendees experienced the Technology Center, we went to the meeting room to work on our personal branding with Cara Hale. We were able to distinguish between creating a 2 minute elevator speech and a phrase or graphic that reflected our values and where we could impact. The successful evening led to much discussion among attendees.
On Saturday, November 19 from 9:00am to 11:30am, we will partner with the Dallas / Fort Worth sections of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) to serve our local communities! Volunteers from all three engineering diversity organizations will help sort materials at two Habitat for Humanity ReStore warehouse locations
There is a limit of 25 volunteers at each location, so claim your spot! If your plans change before the event, please let us knows so we can make space for someone else.
There will be a lunch afterwards sponsored by Axxess at Tacos and Tequila that is open to all! Click the button below for more information and to register. Feel free to share the event flyer (right) as well!
Shilpa Nagaraj, Dallas SWE member and Counselor to the Collin College SWE section, shared some information with us about a recent visit of Collin College students to Emerson Process Management in McKinney.
The students had a tour of the facility including the flow lab, materials lab and 3D printer lab. They also enjoyed a great panel discussion chaired by Nadine Brown, Director of Marketing and Business Development regarding several interesting topics for students. Other panel members included Chantel Bailey (Project Manager), Rebecca Hawkins (Project Engineer) and Shilpa Nagaraj (Senior Design Engineer).
The discussion addressed topics including:
Thanks to Emerson and our Dallas SWE members who support our sister SWE sections at local colleges!
We’re starting a new member appreciation initiative this year: Dallas SWE Member of the Month! With this program we hope 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.
This month, we would like to recognized Stephanie Watts Butler, Ph.D, P.E.! At WE16 in Philadelphia this month, she will accept the SWE Achievement Award, the highest honor given by the Society of Women Engineers. Congratulations, Stephanie!
Stephanie Watts Butler, Ph.D., P.E., has produced innovations in the semiconductor industry in the areas of control, process and package development, R&D management, and new product development. She currently is the Technology Innovation Architect in Texas Instruments’ High Voltage Power Solutions business unit, driving new technology innovations from concept to revenue by leading partnerships with TI’s technology organizations, manufacturing sites, universities, and product development teams. The result is amazing power semiconductors that enable TI’s customers to make smaller, lighter, and more energy efficient products. Dr. Butler has authored more than 40 papers and 16 U.S. patents. She is a Fellow of AVS and a Senior Member of IEEE and AIChE. SWE has honored Dr. Butler with the 2016 Achievement Award, and the Dallas Business Journal selected her as a 2015 Woman in Technology. She serves on the TxGCP Champion Board and UT Austin Department of Chemical Engineering Advisory Council.
My involvement with SWE began as a freshman in college. SWE was a supportive environment to develop my leadership and community service skills as part of a technical community. As a working professional, SWE continues to be a supportive environment for each new generation of engineers entering the workforce, while also providing opportunities to keep leadership and service skills fine-tuned throughout my career. The Dallas SWE section is an active community with different opportunities to easily network with people from a broad range of industries and even academia. I’m learning from individuals and situations that I would be unable to experience if I only focused on organizations within my industry. I’m also proud of the work the section does to introduce girls (and boys) to the exciting world of STEM and produce the next generation of innovators.
On Saturday, October 8th, Dallas SWE hosted it’s second Social Brunch of FY17. We had 13 Dallas SWE members and friends attend the brunch at Meso Maya. We enjoyed getting to know each other and delicious Mexican food. Stay tuned for future SWE social brunches around Dallas. Our next one is slated tentatively for January 2017!
