News & Events

DiscoverE Week 2014 Review

by Dallas SWE on in Collegiate, Outreach, Special Events

National Engineers Week (formally known as E-Week) may have a new name, Discover E Week, but it still has the same spirit of learning, exploration, and new introductions of students to the world of engineering!  This year, DiscoverE Week fell on February 17-21, and Dallas SWE members were busy all week reaching out to our community and teaching people what engineering is all about.  Read below for a review of our DiscoverE Week activities!

Also, please visit the Newsletters page for the Feb18 Meeting Agenda to see announcements and upcoming events including our March 18 professional development meeting in Irving and Design Your World in Denton on March 29!

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Lockheed Martin Diversity Fair
The Dallas Section of the Society of Women Engineers participated in the Engineering Week Diversity Fair at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Grand Prairie on February 17, 2014.  The event was a fantastic opportunity for Lockheed Martin employees to learn about internal employee resource groups and external professional organizations such as SWE, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and National Society of Black Engineers.  Many women engineers who were SWE members during their college careers were energized to reconnect with SWE. The Lockheed Martin Engineering Leadership also spent time to understand how they can provide support to and benefit from the Society of Women Engineers as they focus on increased hiring, diversity of their engineering population and growth into new technical fields.
-Lynn Mortensen
Click here to see other Engineering Week activities from Lockheed Martin.

Visitors to the Perot Museum got to learn about circuits from Dallas SWE volunteers.
Visitors to the Perot Museum got to learn about circuits from Dallas SWE volunteers.

Outreach Event at the Perot Museum
Mamatha Prakash (HP) Nandika D’Souza (UNT) Barbara Vilbig (Vilbig and Associates), Kevin Vilbig, Shwetha Ravikimar (HP) and Arun Varghese (Fidelity) staffed a booth at the Perot Museum on Feb 17, 2014 to celebrate Discover E week from 10 to 2 pm. Approximately 300 school age children stopped by and enjoyed a hands on demonstration of electrical circuits.  They learned the basics of an open and closed circuit by connecting a load (light or buzzer) to a power source (battery) with various switches.
– Nandika D’Souza and Barbara Vilbig

She Networks, She Wins
On the evening of February 18, SMU SWE hosted their annual She Networks, She Wins event.  This year the event included a special panel discussion on topics in Sheryl Sandberg’s influential book, Lean In.  About 75 professionals and collegiates participated in discussions covering mentorship, negotiation skills, work and family life balance, leaning into fears and taking charge of your career path.  For more information and photos, check out the SMU SWE blog post about She Networks, She Wins and the Dallas SWE Facebook page.

Attendees at She Networks, She Wins 2014
Attendees at She Networks, She Wins 2014

Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair
This month, Beal Bank sponsored the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair at Fair Park in Dallas.  An article from the Dallas Morning News outlines the fair’s winners and includes a review of a special projects by Alicia DSouza, daughter of Dallas SWE’s wonderful Vice President of Outreach, Nandika DSouza!  Congratulations to all of the project winners!

UT Dallas’s Explore Engineering Day
Although Dallas SWE was not able to participate in UT Dallas’ Explor Engineering Day on February 22nd, we wanted to highlight this event which introduced K-12 students to STEM activities and careers.  They had a variety of engineering interests represented including software, materials (polymers), robotics, and electromagnetics (microwaves).  We hope to be a part of this event in the future!

Design Your World 2014: Call for Volunteers

by Dallas SWE on in Outreach, Special Events

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE)Dallas Section and the UNT Student Section will be hosting a Design Your World – STEM Conference for 6th through 12th grade girls to be held Saturday, March 29, 2014.

We anticipate hosting 120 students and 100 parents/educators at Discovery Park in Denton Texas.

Volunteers are needed to help with the Design Your World – STEM Conference, please complete the volunteer response form!

When: SATURDAY, March 29th, 2014, 7:30AM-4:00PM
Where: Discovery Park, UNT Denton, Texas
Cost:  $10/girl registered, $10 for the parent/educator session

For more information, check out the Design Your World website!

SWE Region C Conference 2014 Recap

by Dallas SWE on in Special Events
2014 Region C Conference Program
2014 Region C Conference Program

The 2014 Region C Conference in Houston last weekend was a great success!  Rice University and the University of Houston hosted a busy, productive, and fun few days with the theme “Mobilize to Energize.”  For more photos, please visit Boyd Raburn’s photo gallery site.  He did such a great job capturing the excitement of this year’s Region C Conference!

In attendance from Dallas SWE were Jennifer Vilbig (President), Barbara Read (Vice President), Morgen Schroeder (Secretary), Amanda Posadas (Section Representative), Barbara Vilbig (Board of Trustees), Liong So (Board of Trustees), Cherrie Fisher (Scholarship Committee Chair), Rachel Seidner (Membership Committee Chair),  Nicole Navinsky (Fundraising Committee Chair), Shelley Stracener (Dallas SWE and Region C Webmaster), Sue Biancheri, and Lori Wiltz.  We enjoyed visiting with each other, members from our sister section, Fort Worth SWE, and other friends from all around Region C!

Barbara Read, Analecia Caylor (UH), and Liong So. Photo credit: Raburn Photography
Barbara Read, Analecia Caylor (UH), and Liong S.
Photo credit: Raburn Photography

 

(left to right) Barbara Vilbig, Inga Hughes (Collin College), Shelley Stracener, Amanda Posadas, Barbara Read, and Jennifer Vilbig. Photo credit: Raburn Photography
(left to right) Barbara Vilbig, Inga Hughes (Collin College), Shelley Stracener, Amanda Posadas, Barbara Read, and Jennifer Vilbig
Photo credit: Raburn Photography

The conference kicked off Friday evening with a Spa Social during which collegiate members were encouraged to get to know professional members by filling in a list of obscure trivia about each of us!  There were some really great statements on that list and it was fun to guess which professionals had lived in 4 different countries, loves dancing, or is an aspiring pianist.  Attendees got massages, manicures and tasty food as a relaxing intro to the busy days ahead.

Great attendance at the Keynote Breakfast this year!
Great attendance at the Keynote Breakfast this year!

Saturday morning’s breakfast keynote speaker was Karen Horting, CAE who delivered a State of SWE presentation that highlighted some exciting new things for the year ahead!  Included in her talk were statistics from a record-breaking WE13 conference (in Baltimore, MD October 2013), SWE’s strategic plan for the future (which include focus on Professional Excellence, Globalization, and Advocacy), new webinar and virtual conference topics, a partnership with Outreach 4 Change, and announcements about WE14 conference in Los Angeles October of this year!  It was a great insight into what the Society is planning at the national and international level.

After breakfast, we had a joint professional and collegiate Region Meeting hosted by Region C Governor Dianne Beever.  You can find the slides from that meeting here.  Region C leadership gave updates on the business of various committees and SWE Senate bylaw vote results, and we enjoyed presentations on two bids for the Region C Conference in 2015: the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Texas at Austin.  We then split off into separate professional and collegiate meetings.

Region C Professional Meeting 2014: What a great group!
Region C Professional Meeting 2014: What a great group!

Members attended various sessions throughout the day.  Workshop topics included volunteer service (Engineers Without Borders), the importance of Hackerspaces to local communities, engineering ethics, finance for SWE sections, building retirement strategies, effective communication, and graduate research fellowship proposals.  More information about the sessions can be found at the Region C 2014 Conference website.

Saturday’s lunch combined delicious food with an Oil & Gas Panel of four engineers with a variety of experience.  They answered questions from the moderator and audience including tips on how they’ve steered their own careers and family lives, their best and worst experiences in the field, the value of being open to new opportunities, and how recent legislation and public opinion on new fossil fuel extraction techniques has challenged the energy industry.  The panel members offered great insight and advice on these and other topics!

Closing out the formal events of the conference was the Awards Dinner at the Chevron building a few blocks away from the Crowne Plaza hotel.  A list of awards presented to Region C members can be found here. The keynote speaker was Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar, a former NASA astronaut.  She gave a wonderful talk about her life growing up on a farm, how her curiosity about her environment inspired her to learn enthusiastically, how she was encouraged along the way by inspirational mentors and teachers, and about her experiences at NASA and in space!  Her story is so inspiring!

2014 Region C Conference Awards Photo Credit: Raburn Photography
2014 Region C Conference Awards
Photo Credit: Raburn Photography

Sunday morning we had an informal breakfast and two yoga sessions to round out a great weekend before attendees headed back to their respective home cities.

Thanks to all the conference committee members and volunteers who helped make this an outstanding event!  If you weren’t able to come to this conference, don’t miss the international SWE WE14 in October or the next Region C Conference in 2014.

She Networks, She Wins!

by Dallas SWE on in Collegiate, Outreach, Special Events

The SMU SWE Section and the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership invite you to attend She Networks, She Wins!  Come enjoy an evening networking with women in industry and join the Lean In book conversation. This year’s event includes a panel discussion with women who are, have been or are on their way to top positions in their fields.  Discover how they did or did not “Lean In”!

When:  Tuesday, February 18th at 5:30pm
Where: SMU (Caruth Hall, 3145 Dyer St. 75225 – click for map)
Cost: Free!  Light hor d’oeuvres will be served.
Registration: Please RSVP now!

This event takes the place of the Dallas SWE February meeting.

Volunteer opportunity:
Also, SWE Dallas is looking for volunteers during National Engineer’s Week to be a part of our exhibit at the Perot Museum, February 17, 10am-2pm.  Even if you can only be there for a portion of our time slot, any help is greatly appreciated!  Please contact Nandika D’souza if you are interested.

Recap: Dallas SWE at the Engineering & Technology Career Expo

by Dallas SWE on in Special Events
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Leslie Gulledge (left) and Barbara Read (right) at the Engineering & Technology Career Expo, Jan 23, 2014.

The Dallas Section of the Society of Women Engineers supported the recent Engineering & Technology Career Expo held January 23, 2014 at the Richardson Civic Center. The Dallas Morning News, Monster, and Expo Experts, LLC presented the Career Expo. Requirements for attendees included a minimum of two years of experience in an Engineering or Technology field plus a related degree.

In addition to promoting the Career Expo on its website, Dallas SWE hosted a booth at the Expo.  Approximately one in six of the Career Expo attendees visited the Dallas SWE booth. Hosting a booth allowed Dallas SWE to share information about professional development meetings, networking opportunities, and STEM outreach. Several visitors at the SWE booth were former collegiate SWE members; they were encouraged to check out the action of the professional section. Some of the employers exhibiting at the Career Expo also visited the Dallas SWE booth, expressing an interest in hiring women engineers.

– Barbara Read, Dallas SWE Vice President

Event Recap: Forging Your Career Path

by Dallas SWE on in Meetings

Forging a career path may not come with an exact road map, but members of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) were given the next best thing at a recent meeting at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD).

2014 UTD TI Meeting
Jan 22, 2014 Professional Development Meeting with SWE Dallas and UTD

Samantha Dwinell, vice president of human resources for Talent Management at Texas Instruments, addressed the SWE audience, which included members of the Dallas professional chapter and UTD student chapter. While attendees ranged in age and background, all were united in their focus on engineering and leadership.

“There are many different paths, particularly for engineers,” Dwinell told the audience. “There may be specific types of engineering roles, but the reality is that the field is open for you to forge your own path. And for engineers it’s a wide path to explore.”

Dwinell discussed the importance and need to balance three key elements as engineers consider advancement throughout their career: Insight, Direction, and Capability.

“Before you can move forward, you need to first have insight into who you are, what you value and what you are good at,” she offered. “You should also understand your company’s focus and direction, and what they value. When you combine all those elements, you’ll perform your best.  Great performance is the starting point. From there, work to develop your capability and continuously push yourself to strengthen your skills.”

Dwinell reflected on her own career at Texas Instruments to offer attendees relatable advice on forging a career path.

“If you want others to put you into leadership roles, you have to first see yourself as a leader,” Dwinell said. “If things aren’t going right, go left. Use everything around you as a learning opportunity, ask for help, and continuously seek feedback. Reach up and connect with leaders at school, within your company, or organization. And when you start to forge your path, bring others along. Continue to build relationships and be the kind of leader that helps to develop others.”

Dwinell explained that career advancement isn’t just a job title, leadership can take many forms. “Not everyone wants to be the head of the company,” she said. “Advancing your career may mean you stay in the same area, and dig deeper to grow your skills and become an expert at what you do.”

Before opening the discussion to questions, Dwinell reinforced the need to communicate your value.  “Have an elevator speech ready,” she said. “Be able to succinctly state your expertise and value, because you never know when opportunity will present itself or who you will meet, at school, at your job, or in life.”

Tips to forging your path

  1. Own your career
  2. Insight into yourself and what you value
  3. Understand what your organization values, including how they define great performance
  4. Continuously build your capability and improve
  5. Key methods for development: on-the-job, learning from others and formal training
  6. Be intentional about what you choose to develop
  7. Be open to feedback
  8. Understand your career options
  9. Communicate your value

– Leah Templeton, TI Communications Manager

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