On Saturday, June 26th, Dallas SWE held our annual Membership Recognition Event for FY21! Dallas SWE had the pleasure of supporting our membership base this year, so this event was held to celebrate all of our accomplishments.
This virtual event followed a movie theme. Dallas SWE sponsored a Redbox snack and popcorn boxes for everyone to enjoy like we are in the theatres together. Members were munching on popcorn and their favorite movie candies during the call. The full presentation can be found here.
We started with an icebreaker where everyone shared their name, role, and favorite movie and actress. There were lots of great movies shared during the icebreaker and it allowed us to get know more about our interests.
Our membership appreciation event recognized all of the efforts that our members have taken to make us better than before. FY21 President, Amanda Alsbrook, opened up with the FY21 Presidents Awards:
President’s Choice Awards:
Outreach Members of the Year – Margaret Crawford and Amber Kreceman
Guiding Light Award – Lynn Mortensen
Rising Star Award – Malia Kawamura
Member of the Year – Claire Jordan
Then, Dallas SWE recognized all of our amazing Committee Chairs for their leadership.
Dallas SWE Committee Chairs:
Mentorship Lead: Arthi Gopalakrishnan
Membership Committee Chair: Trina Sriram
Nominating Committee Chair: Zaineb Ahmad
Social Media Committee Chair: Marion Sanchez
Scholarship Committee Chair: Lynn Mortensen
Outreach STEM Committee Chair: Pratiksha Jaju
Outreach Design Your World Committee Chair: Gretchen Landego
Dallas SWE truly appreciates the involvement of our Committee Members.
Outreach Committee Members:
Sally Kammer
Pratiksha Jaju
Gretchen Landego
Nick Barnhill
Brandi Smith
Gerard Martir
Elizabeth Gjini
Rebecca Johnson
Amber Kreceman
Sammy Zellner
Margaret Crawford
Claire Jordan
Teri Cate
Lynn Mortensen
Haley Buckley
Evelyn Beebe
Membership Committee Members:
Trina Sriram
Claire Jordan
Haritha Yearuva
Shay Goldberg
Marion Sanchez
Barrette’ Mort
Social Media Committee Members:
Marion Sanchez
Haley Barnes
Nominating Committee Members:
Zaineb Ahmad
Haley Barnes
Haley Hannenberg
Malia Kawamura
Gretchen Landego
Fundraising Committee Members:
Ayesha Patel
Elizabeth Gjini
Scholarship Committee Members:
Lynn Mortensen
Dorci Cotton
Jamie Stringfield
Shamreen Pradhan
Mentorship Committee Member:
Arthi Gopalakrishnan
Amanda also recognized the efforts of our outgoing officers:
Outgoing Officers:
Katia Gomez, Executive Vice President
Thi Dao, Vice President of Outreach
Katie Mills, Treasurer
Sammy Zellner, Secretary
Rana Karimi, Vice President of Membership
We also congratulated all of the Dallas SWE Scholarship recipients:
High School Scholarship Recipients:
Kelly Chen, Plano West SHS
Aamilah Chowdhury, Uplift Summit
Katherine Anderson, Coppell HS
Alexia Rutledge, Lewisville HS
Abigail Simon, Coppell HS
Annie Colaço Scholarship for Collegiate Leaders:
Maaha Sakhia, UTD
Camila Giron-Errazuriz, SMU
Faith Fang, SMU
Congratulations to all of Dallas SWE’s past Members of the Month for FY21.
Member of the Month Recap:
Nick Barnhill, June 2021
Susan Biancheri, May 2021
Laura Skola, April 2021
Elizabeth Gjini, March 2021
Claire Jordan, January 2021
Pam Duffy, December 2020
Daphne Hornbuckle, November 2020
Laura Cowley, October 2020
Marion Sanchez, September 2020
Katie Mills, August 2020
Kate van Dellen, July 2020
Throughout the event, everyone shared how their experience went with Dallas SWE this year. Dallas SWE is very grateful to have such an engaged, diverse and talented member base. It was an incredible year of accomplishments and we would like to thank each of our members for making it possible!
Dallas SWE members say “SWE” and smile for a photo op.
Our resident artist, Claire, leading us through the paint activity, which was painting a Dallas theatre.
Congratulations to Dallas SWE’s July Member of the Month: Pratiksha Jaju!
Pratiksha is an IT Business Analyst at Overhead Door Corporation in Lewisville, Texas. She completed her Bachelors in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from India and pursued her Master’s in Engineering Technology with concentration in Engineering Management from University of North Texas (UNT) in 2019. Pratiksha was actively involved with SWE at the UNT chapter and served as Graduate Student Officer for FY18-19. This is her first term with Dallas SWE as the Outreach STEM Committee Chair and is excited to be involved with Dallas section.
This year as Dallas SWE followed the path of virtual world, Pratiksha has been actively involved with all the events that were lined up this Spring. She has been adding good ideas to all the outreach events along with organizing and managing few.
She loves counselling and sharing her life experiences to motivate as many girls as possible towards STEM. With her family and friends support, she has come a long way, for specially someone who comes from a community where girls are still prepared for just handling a household. She tries hard to break the weird stereotypes that still surround women. Pratiksha believes in giving back to the society and SWE has given her the platform to do so. She hopes to serve the community for betterment and hope to be a good Samaritan.
We are pleased to announce that our FY22 Dallas SWE Leadership Team has been elected after verifying results from our election, which ran May 1-31. Thank you to everyone who voted and made their voices heard!
Your FY22 Dallas SWE Leadership Team:
President – Amanda Alsbrook
Executive Vice President – Amber Kreceman
Vice President of Membership – Claire Jordan
Vice President of Outreach – Lori Wilts
Treasurer (2-year term) – Katie Mills
Secretary – Samantha Zellner
Investment Committee Member (3-year term) – Liong So
Investment Committee Member (3-year term) – Katia Gomez
Your new officers and Investment Committee members will start their terms on July 1, 2021, following transition meetings with current Dallas SWE leadership.
Lastly, don’t forget to renew your membership for FY22 at www.swe.org.
2021 Dallas SWE High School Scholarship Recipients
Dallas SWE is excited to award scholarships to each of these five extraordinary high school seniors from the Dallas area – Katherine Anderson, Kelly Chen, Aamilah Chowdhury, Alexia Rutledge and Abigail Simon. Applicants were evaluated based on need, academics, school and community involvement and plans to become engineers. Thanks to the Dallas SWE Scholarship Committee for taking the time to review a wonderful group of applicants! Congratulations to this year’s recipients: we wish you all the best!
Katherine Anderson – Coppell High School
Katherine Anderson will attend Georgia Institute of Technology where she will major in Aerospace Engineering. Katherine’s experience in SWENext, in the NASA High School Aerospace Scholar program, and in the astronautical engineering class at DukeTIP led to her passion for engineering. She is a member of the National Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, and a National Merit Scholar. She has been in choir for 5 years, performed at the Pre-Area level of the Texas All-State choir, achieved superior ratings in Texas State Solo and Ensemble, and received distinction at the North Texas Madrigals Competition. She enjoys using her musical talents to create songs that teach math concepts and dedicating her time to serving at the CCA food pantry and the Austin Street Shelter. Katherine hopes to work at JPL to engineer spacecraft for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Kelly Chen – Plano West Senior High School
Kelly Chen will attend Lehigh University where she will major in computer science and business. She is an active member of the Dallas Society of Women Engineers community and has volunteered to provide young girls with STEM-related hands-on learning activities. She is also a member of the Computer Science Club, Cybersecurity Club, and National Honor Society. Outside of school, she supports several online organizations as a software developer and web designer. With her interest to be an entrepreneur, she filed a pending patent about a new method of mobile phone payment. Kelly is proud to be a woman in engineering and has been selected as a NCWIT Aspiration in Computing National Honorable Mention & DFW Winner. She is passionate about girls in STEM and started a mentorship program with other accomplished high schoolers from Maryland, California, and Washington called The Sunflower Project. Her goal is to integrate her software and business talents to be an innovator and entrepreneur for the future.
Aamilah Chowdhury – Uplift Summit International Preparatory
Aamilah Chowdhury will attend Johns Hopkins University where she will major in Biomedical Engineering. Aamilah graduated in 2020 and with the pandemic, chose to continue performing biomedical research in cardiovascular medicine. While in high school, she was active in Key Club, National Beta Club, Mu Alpha Theta National Mathematical Honor Society and the National Honor Society. She was also editor of the Yearbook. Outside of the classroom, Aamilah is the founder of the summer program K-STEM! and devotes her time to nonprofits that work towards decreasing the gender gap in the sciences. She was also successful in multiple science and engineering competitions, having been a finalist in the international INSPOScience fair for her cardiovascular tissue engineering research. In addition to her achievements in the sciences, Aamilah placed at the National History Day competition in Washington D.C. where she also won the National Latino-American History award. Aamilah continues to participate in research and other activities that will enable her goal of solving medical cardiac issues. She is excited to perform biomedical research this summer at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor as a part of a National Science Foundation internship.
Alexia Rutledge – Lewisville High School
Alexia Rutledge will attend the University of Texas at Austin where she will major in Aerospace Engineering. She is the founder and president of Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering, an organization that encourages the participation of minorities in STEM activities. For this work she was awarded a Girl Scout Gold Award from the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. She is a president of the Technology Student Association and Mu Alpha Theta (National Mathematics Honor Society) and serves as historian for her school’s National Honor Society. Strong academic and leadership skills enabled Alexia to become a Texas High School Aerospace scholar where she worked with NASA scientists. Alexia is also a member of her high school’s marching and concert bands. Alexia enjoys giving back to her community through various organizations. At UT, Alexia looks forward to participating in and contributing to the Women in Engineering Program, Society of Women Engineers, and Women in Aerospace Leadership and Development (WALD). She is excited about becoming an Aerospace Engineer and passionate about increasing the representation of women and minorities in STEM.
Abigail Simon – Coppell High School
Abigail Simon will attend the University of Arizona, where she will major in Material Science and Engineering. Abigail is the President of Coppell High School’s SWENext Chapter, where she has been involved for four years. Abigail’s experience in SWENext, in the NASA High School Aerospace Scholar program, and as a volunteer for Dallas SWE’s Design Your World led to her passion for engineering. Abigail is heavily involved in Girl Scouts and was recognized as Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Young Woman of Distinction in 2020. She is involved in theatre both in and out of school, serving on the Lifestage Youth Leadership Board and as a Student Director at Coppell Cowboy Theatre Company and a member of the International Thespian Society. Abigail has followed her passion to be a material scientist and engineer since the 3rd grade and is looking forward to impacting the future.
2021 Dallas SWE Annie Colaço Scholarship Recipient – Collegiate Leaders
The Dallas Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is delighted to announce the recipients of the Annie Colaço Scholarship for local college students. The scholarship is named in honor of Annie Colaço (1899-1991), the grandmother to SWE lifetime member Nandika D’Souza. Annie Colaço epitomized selfless service and lifelong learning, which is reflected in the SWE mission.
Dallas SWE is excited to recognize these outstanding SWE collegiate leaders and encourages each recipient to continue to be a SWE member upon graduation. The Society of Women Engineers, founded in 1950, is a not-for- profit educational and service organization. SWE is the driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women. SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and be recognized for their life-changing contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders.
Faith Fang – SMU Mentoring Chairman
Faith Fang is a student at the Southern Methodist University working toward her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and B.A. in Music. As the Mentoring Chair of the SMU SWE section, Faith worked to provide a program that fostered meaningful bonds and professional guidance between mentors and their mentees. This year, Faith assigned mentors to 25 new members, including those attending school both on-campus and virtually. Faith also created 7 virtual and hybrid events to allow mentoring pairs and members of SMU SWE to connect with one another in a socially distanced setting. It is anticipated that these mentor pairs will stay in touch, cultivating future mentors and officers while building a strong community within SWE. After graduation, Faith plans to pursue graduate school and apply her background in engineering to a career in consulting.
Camila Giron-Errazuriz – SMU Membership Chairman
Camila Giron-Errazuriz is a student at Southern Methodist University working toward her B.S. in Civill Engineering and Mathematics. As Membership Chairman of the SMU SWE Section, Camila developed a new incentive program which increased section membership by almost 30%. Most impressive, she achieved this at a time when new members were difficult to recruit due to social distancing. This new system has strengthen the capabilities of the section and these new members will definitely become part of the section’s future leadership. After graduation, Camila plans to work in construction management, obtain her PE and one day return to her native Honduras to help build sustainable housing.
Maaha Sakhia – UT Dallas Vice President of External Affairs
Maaha Sakhia is a student at University of Texas at Dallas working toward her B.S. in Electrical Engineering. As Vice President of External Affairs for the University of Texas at Dallas SWE Section, she played a crucial role in creating mentorship, competition, conference, volunteering, and hackathon programs for the section members to establish meaningful connections and to grow their technical skills. From her contributions, membership increased from less than 100 to over 300 members! Additionally, she has worked on establishing a sustainable structure for the UT Dallas SWE board to continue these initiatives. In order to determine how each committee/program runs, Maaha spearheaded the efforts to document the roles of each officer. Maaha is currently pursuing the Fast Track program at UTD, so after graduating with her B.S. in Electrical Engineering, she hopes to graduate with an MSEE, with a focus in Computing Systems. This summer she will intern at Texas Instruments.
Congratulations to Nick Barnhill, Dallas SWE’s June 2021 Member of the Month!
While Nick officially became a member in SWE in 2020 when his wife (Thi Dao) asked him to become a volunteer coordinator in her committee, his SWE involvement really started as the unofficial pack mule at Design Your World events over the last couple of years. Back then, no one knew his name – he was just somebody’s husband carrying event tables up and down the hallways all day long. And now today, he is the member of the month and what a come-up story it has been.
Nick is involved with the Outreach committee and helps coordinate volunteers for events. He has enjoyed the opportunity to serve young women that attend the outreach events and it’s been a pleasure to see the impacts that the events have on people. Although his background is in corporate finance, Nick enjoys being included in the volunteer events and getting the chance to serve the SWE group.
To give some background on Nick’s professional career, he has served in corporate finance roles for over 8 years and is currently serving as a manager in the Valuation, Modeling and Economics division at Ernst & Young LLP. Nick’s transaction experience includes supporting valuation analyses related to M&A advisory, security valuations, and fairness opinions. His transaction experience includes transactions spanning a wide range of industries, including consumer products, oil & gas, power & utilities, technology, banking, credit cards, etc.
Nick holds a BS degree in Accounting and MS in Finance from Texas A&M University. Nick is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Certified Public Accountant. He also holds memberships in CFA Institute and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
To discuss what he most appreciates about SWE, “It’s clear how much people care about this organization and the impact that the volunteer events have on young people is amazing. It’s not easy to take on a role in an organization but the level of energy and effort that people regularly bring in SWE has always been impressive to me. Thank you to the talented and dedicated women that are involved in Outreach events and Dallas SWE.
Dallas SWE truly values the opportunity to have served our membership throughout the year. We also value all of the feedback from our members and use this as an opportunity to reflect on what went well and any potential areas of improvement so we can continue to serve our membership even better. Please take a few minutes to fill out our membership survey and let us know your thoughts! We truly value your input!
Responses to the membership survey are due by June 25.
