Are you interested in books and brunch? Make sure to mark your calendar for the next Dallas SWE Book Club Brunch! We will meet on January 26, 2020 at 11AM. We’ll be reading The Power of Habit so come ready to chat over some good food at Snooze an A.M Eatery.
Check out our Goodreads page to see more about the Dallas SWE Book Club.
Register for this event here!
Come ring in the new year with Dallas SWE!
Please join for our January social brunch on January 11th at 11 am. We will be enjoying brunch and networking at True Food Kitchen in The Plaza at Preston Center, 8383 Preston Center Plaza Suite 100, Dallas, TX 75225.
Register for this event here today! Food and drink is available for individual purchase.
Don’t miss your chance to register for the SWE conference experience with the 2020 WE Local Conferences! With 5 locations (San Diego, Salt Lake City, Raleigh, Buffalo, and Des Moines) in the US, there are plenty of opportunities to attend. You can find more information on the WE Local website.
Decided to go? Please fill out the Dallas SWE 2020 WE Local Interest Survey. Let us know if you’re going, need roommates, are presenting, etc and we’ll connect you with others going to that conference. If you have questions, please email us at dallas.swe@gmail.com.
The Dallas ISD STEM EXPO is a day-long event that focuses on STEM-related careers and coursework. Over 6,000 participants (of all age groups) engage in hands-on and interactive sessions (provided by local colleges and universities, museums, engineering organizations, and STEM-focused organizations).
Dallas SWE will be supporting this effort! We will have an activity booth to get students excited and share information about our organization and how they can participate in SWENext.
Below are the event details.
When: Saturday, January 18, 2020 from 9 am – 3 pm
Where: Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center (650 S. Griffin Street, Dallas, TX 75202)
Register on Eventbrite and choose either the morning or afternoon shift, with 10 spots available per shift.
After registering, make sure you complete the DISD volunteer orientation, or else you will not be able to participate in the event. Volunteer orientation is through VOLY.
Congratulations to Gretchen Landego, Dallas SWE’s December 2019 Member of the Month!
Gretchen Landego is originally from Chicago, Illinois, and she received her Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Alabama in May 2018. Her senior year, she was recognized as the Undergraduate Student of the Year for Mechanical Engineering and Pi Tau Sigma’s Outstanding Senior. After graduation, she moved to Dallas, Texas to work for GAF Materials Corporation as a project engineer. Project Engineering is a blend of project management and mechanical engineering, and her job’s focus is to implement new equipment that adds value to the site’s facilities and/or products. She is one and a half years into her job and she still enjoys the challenges that her work provides her. Gretchen aspires to acquire a Professional Engineer’s License, so her next goal is to pass The Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam.
Gretchen joined the Society of Women Engineers when she first moved to Dallas to make friends and get involved. She has a passion specifically for STEM outreach, and she found many opportunities through the Dallas SWE chapter. Her first event with the Dallas SWE Chapter was 2018 Moon Day at the Frontiers of Flight Museum. Fellow SWE members encouraged her to become more involved with the outreach program, so now she serves as the Design Your World Committee Chair and is also a mentor to Woodrow Wilson High School’s SWENext club, The Mechanicats.
Outside of work, Gretchen enjoys yoga, reading, and hanging out with friends.
“My favorite part of SWE is the people! I am so lucky to be surrounded by a group of strong, successful, smart women that are also kind and encouraging. I was very nervous to become the committee chair for Design Your World because I had never served in a leadership position before. The whole process was a wonderful experience because I received nothing but encouragement from all the members that were involved in the event planning. I look forward to future opportunities where I can embolden other young women to pursue their passions and help make a difference in the world.”
Gretchen Landego
Dallas SWE was ecstatic to hold the 8th annual Design Your World on Saturday, November 2nd, 2019.
In partnership with Dallas ISD and Woodrow Wilson High School, Design Your World (DYW) hosted over 105 children, parents, and educators from our local DFW community. Our participants traveled to our DYW 2019 event from Dallas, Plano, Lewisville, The Colony, Ferris, Denton, Irving, North Richland Hills, and Rockwall. 53 elementary school, 33 middle school, and 13 high school students participated in six STEM activities celebrating fields such as biomedical, electrical engineering, civil engineering, computer science, and aviation.
One high school participant shared her delightful experience with the aviation activity, led by Lieutenant Colonel Cynthia Whisennand: “I learned about how aerodynamics affect planes. It’s something I had never thought about when I took my first plane ride.” Another activity, led by Jennifer Gamboa-Copeland and sponsored by Women of AT&T, taught the participants how to code in C++, a common programming language. When asked what she was learning, one middle school participant proudly shared, “I’m learning that I love coding!”
Another integral part of DYW is our efforts to connect parents with STEM educators. During DYW 2019, parents were invited to learn from three panels: How to Raise A STEM Girl, Next Steps, and Voices From The Field. Panelists included Judith LaPlante (Computer Scientist, Advanced Computer Science High School Teacher), Morgan Merriman (Chemist, Advanced Chemistry High School Teacher), Dana Barnes (Educator, Director of EMS-ISD Educational Services), and Sadia Saeed (Undergraduate Student, University of North Texas College of Engineering).
Dallas SWE thanks Woodrow Wilson HS for celebrating #DYW2019 in addition to their newly-opened $20 million STEM wing. Daniel Garrison, an Engineering Woodrow Wilson HS teacher, thanked Dallas SWE for bringing #DYW2019 to Dallas ISD: “We are excited to share this new space with you and the community. We look forward to a long partnership with Dallas SWE and our corporate sponsors.”
Other activities during the event include a demonstration by the Woodrow Wilson Mechanicats All-Women Robotics Group, a presentation from the Woodrow Wilson HS SWENext group, and a round table social with the Coppell HS SWENext group. “I attended a Design Your World in 8th grade, and it changed my life. Now, I am the Coppell HS SWENext President, and I am present to influence the next generation of engineers at the 2019 DYW,” reflected volunteer, Abigail.
Dallas SWE thanks the following sponsors for making this great event happen:
