News & Events

Event Recap for Advancing Through SWE

The virtual professional development session organized by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) on November 15, 2023, was an excellent opportunity for attendees to learn about the Leadership Competency Model and the volunteer leadership opportunities available in SWE. The event was designed to help participants develop leadership skills that are transferable to their professional careers, build friendships and mentoring relationships, try new ideas, and give back some of the value they have received from SWE.

During the session, Amanda Alsbrook spoke on the positions open for SWE Dallas, highlighting the importance of volunteer work and how it can help individuals build leadership skills. Shelley shared her journey through SWE, providing insights on how she has benefited from the organization and how others can do the same.

The event emphasized the significance of volunteer work and the multitude of volunteer positions open, including opportunities to work on the SWE magazine. Attendees were also introduced to the SWE Leadership Competency Model, which can be accessed via SWE’s Advance Learning Center. The model provides a framework for developing leadership skills and advancing in SWE.

As an added bonus, attendees were given the opportunity to participate in a raffle and win some SWE swag and other goodies. The winner of the raffle was Dana Emswiler.

The event was held virtually via Zoom, and the Zoom link was sent through EventBrite. To feel extra prepared for the session, attendees were encouraged to take the free “Introduction to the SWE Leadership Competency Model” module in SWE’s Advance Learning Center.

Overall, the Advancing in SWE – November PD Virtual Event was an informative and engaging session that provided attendees with valuable insights into the Leadership Competency Model and the volunteer leadership opportunities available in SWE.

October Outreach Recap: Girls Inc.

Dallas SWE partnered with Girls Inc. of Metropolitan Dallas for our October Outreach Event! The morning began with the students learning from panelists about preparing for college and pursuing an engineering career. Afterwards, students and volunteers collaborated together on a robotics activity where robots were programmed to maneuver through a maze designed by the students. Thanks to SWE Volunteers Amanda Alsbrook, Rachel Gaspar, Domanique Johnson, Danielle Henry, Robyn Broniewski, and Cyonna Holmes for volunteering. Dallas SWE thanks our sponsors and Girls Inc. of Metropolitan Dallas for their continued partnership and commitment to promoting STEM!

Winter DYW Outreach Recap: Boys & Girls Club of Collin County

Dallas SWE partnered with The Boys & Girls Club of Collin County to host a mini Winter DYW at their Plano Campus in November! Activity Lead, Cyonna Holmes, led middle school students in a bioengineering activity focused on building a prosthetic limb. Students learned about the design principles required when building inventions for the human body. Activity Lead, Robyn Broniewski, led the students in a saltwater car activity where students learned how chemistry, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering can work together to power movement.

Dallas SWE Volunteers helped guide breakout groups as they designed, built, and tested their inventions. Thank you to the Boys & Girls Club of Collin County for their partnership and thank you to our Dallas SWE volunteers for their continued dedication to community volunteering!

Dallas SWE thanks our sponsors for their partnership and commitment to STEM Outreach!

Stay tuned for information on our upcoming Spring DYW!

Posted in DYW

Save the Date for Spring Design Your World with The Vickery Meadow Youth Development Foundation!

Save the Date for Dallas SWE’s Spring Design Your World Outreach Event with The Vickery Meadow Youth Development Foundation on Saturday, March 2nd from 10am – 3pm. Volunteer sign ups open on January 15th!

Posted in DYW

Dallas SWE December Member of the Month: Lynn Mortensen

Congrats to Lynn Mortensen, Dallas SWE’s December Member of the Month!

Lynn is currently following her passion as a STEM advocate and volunteer after spending 30 plus years in the aerospace and defense industry. She started her career as a Computer Scientist with a degree from California State Polytechnic University Pomona. She retired from the Raytheon Company in 2013 having held many positions within the company in program management, product development and engineering management including vice president of engineering of a $3B business segment.

During her career, Lynn was the recipient of several awards including the Malcom R. Currie Innovation Award and Raytheon Womens Network Woman to Watch Award. In 2011, she was selected as a Women Worth Watching in Technology from the Diversity Journal. As a Raytheon executive, Lynn supported several SWE conferences as keynote speaker at the Raytheon & Navy sponsored collegiate luncheons as well as different sessions on mentoring. In 2018, Lynn was selected for the Society of Women Engineers Spark Award at the National Convention.

As a member of the Dallas Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Outreach Committee, Lynn has taken on leadership roles in the past for the signature Dallas SWE Design Your World STEM Conference for Girls and is the current lead of the Scholarship Committee. Lynn is also an active volunteer at BEST robotics events and is a board member for High-Tech High Heels. Lynn is a member of the STEM Advisory Board for the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas (GSNETX) helping GSNETX identify technologies and activities for the Girl Scout STEM Center of Excellence at Camp Whispering Cedars.

Lynn continues to share her experiences with the next generation of engineers in the hope of increasing the number and diversity of engineers for the future.

“Being retired, I now have the time to volunteer with organizations where I can share my experiences with women and minorities as well as focus on the K-12 and post-secondary STEM pipeline. SWE offers me the opportunity to do both through our many events and meetings and our phenomenal scholarship and Design Your World outreach programs. By sharing my experiences with other SWE members, I hope that I’m helping them have a more rewarding career and personal life. Being able to connect Dallas SWE to other organizations that I work with is definitely creating value across our community and hopefully, helping increase the number of women and minorities in STEM. Dallas SWE has many innovative and accomplished members and I’m honored to work with everyone.”

Lynn Mortensen

WE23 Conference Recap

On October 26-28, 2023, several Dallas SWE members attended WE23, the Society of Women Engineers annual international conference, in Los Angeles, CA.

WE23 hosted over 17,000 attendees from all over the world. Dallas SWE members attended to network, learn professional and technical development skills, and connect with other SWE-sters.

Dallas SWE also represented the section as speakers at the conference. Sammy Zellner presented a talk on “Organize Your Way to Your Dream Job”, teaching participants all about balancing job search, school, work, and more.

Claire Jordan and Barbara Read presented a panel on “Let’s Grow Up and Retire Those Stereotypes about Age”. They provided great tips on working with people of all ages and backgrounds.

Shelley Stracener presented on a panel discussion titled “Survive and Thrive Through SWE Leadership”. This panel gave great tips on balancing SWE leadership roles with work and life, as well as how to apply SWE experiences to career growth.

Zaineb Ahmad presented on “What is Human Systems Integration?”, where she explained the importance of this field and all of its applications into emerging technical systems.

Dallas SWE members also attended the career fair, getting to see new tech developments across industry and grabbing fun swag. Overall, the conference was a great success, and Dallas SWE can’t wait to attend WE24 next year in Chicago, IL!

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