North Dakota State University SWE: TechGYRLS

Hello from the blustery city of Fargo, North Dakota, home of the two-time National Football Champions, the North Dakota State Bison! Fargo is also home to the NDSU section of the Society of Women Engineers. This 2012-2013 school year has been a busy one for our section. With a total of 48 members (a 118% increase from last year) we have been involved with a number of outreach programs including two events with the Fargo-Moorhead Girl Scouts, a one-day event during E-Week with children of employees of Ulteig (a local Fargo company), and our most prized program: TechGYRLS.

TechGYRLS, offered since Fall 2003, is a 10-week after-school program to introduce young women to science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines and is a bi-annual program. The program, for third through seventh grade girls, is held on NDSU’s campus on Mondays and Tuesday from 4:00-6:00pm. The College of Engineering and Architecture and the NDSU student section of the Society of Women Engineers sponsor this program. Participants engage in a variety of activities, from designing a robot to creating a life-size Angry Birds simulation, or even racing a hydrogen car. We are most proud of this program and we want to share it with you! Below are five simple steps to get TechGYRLS started on your campus! Hail the Bison!

TechGYRLS: 5 Easy Steps to Start Your Own

1. The foundation of TechGYRLS is the girls. Our program is focused on teaching STEM concepts to girls in 3^rd through 7^th grade. To start off every year, an advertisement is placed in the local school newspapers, trying to get our word out and gain as much interest as possible.

2. It couldn’t be done without our SWE members! Early in the year, a group of SWE members gather and plan the 10 sessions that we offer. This includes planning what lessons will be taught, as well as who would like to lead every lesson.

3. Don’t forget about the parents! Parents love to know what their daughters are taking part in. After the girls are registered, a Welcome Packet is sent, containing anything and everything TechGYRLS. Throughout the year, a weekly note is sent home with the girls, and e-mails are sent often.

4. The girls LOVE their snacks. Once the schedule is set and the sessions start, it is important to ensure that you have all of your needed supplies. Things run smoothly if you have everything separated and ready at the start of each week. One needed supply is the snack that starts off each session!

5. Structures are important. And I don’t just mean a lesson on structures! Each class is structured similarly. We always start with a snack and talk about a certain type of engineering, followed by the lesson introduction and directions. After the activity, the class ends with the girls writing about the day in their journals.

With these basic steps, everything is set up and ready for you to run a successful outreach program such as TechGYRLS. Good luck, and have fun!

- This post was written by the North Dakota State University SWE Section.  If you have any questions please feel free to contact Taylor at taylor.headlee@ndsu.edu or Katie at katie.scholl@ndsu.edu

FY14 Region H RCR, RCCE, and RCS Candidates

Region Collegiate Representatives:

Erin Westerby

Inga Bentley

 

Savannah Goodman

 

Region Collegiate Communications Editor:

Alison Bergmann

 

Region Collegiate Senator: 

Ashley Stroup

WE13 Call for Participation Reminder

Highlight your expertise and support the advancement of women engineers by presenting a session at WE13! SWE is currently accepting presenter applications for the WE13 annual conference, October 24-26, 2013 in Baltimore.

If you are interested in participating, please click here to apply. The deadline for submissions is March 4, 2013.

WE13 Session Tracks:

• Career and Life Transitions
• Careers in Academia
• Careers in Government and Military
• Inclusion and Cultural Awareness
• Innovation in Technology and Business
• Management and Strategy
• K-12 Outreach

Click here to learn more about presenting a session, as well as other ways you can participate at WE13.

Just a reminder if you happened to miss the WE12 conference or just couldn’t get to all the sessions you can still see some of the fantastic presentations by registering for the WE12 Virtual Conference. Click here to learn more.

Become a Collegiate Leadership Coach for FY14

The Collegiate Leadership Coaching Committee (CLCC) is looking to hire new coaches for FY14!  The CLCC helps to promote section vitality by sending coaches to visit collegiate sections who present SWE related, professional development modules during a coaching session.  If you are interested in applying for a coaching position or would like more information about the CLCC, please contact Heather Wiest at wiesthk@gmail.com.

Rebecca Reck Receives SWE New Faces of Engineering Recognition

Region H’s Rebecca Reck Receives SWE New Faces of Engineering Recognition

Rebecca Reck of the East Central Iowa Section was recognized as one of SWE’s New Faces of Engineering in the Winter Edition of SWE Magazine.  
Check out more about her in the electronic edition.

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/swe/winter13/#/2

Congratulations Rebecca!

The Coalition of Minority Professional Engineering Societies Professional Development Conference

Below is a great opportunity for those in the Farmington Hills, Michigan area!

The Professional Development Conference is hosted by The Coalition of Minority Professional Engineering Societies (COMPES) on Saturday April 13, 2013.

• This event is very unique in that we are three minority engineering societies, SHPE/NSBE/SWE working together to create a one-day conference that provides an opportunity for engineers from various companies and industries to come together for professional networking which can lead to potential job opportunities.
• Also attendees will gain new perspectives by participating in breakout sessions on technical topics, soft skills presentations, career planning, and panels around the theme of “Thriving on Diversity”.
• For those who want to take charge of their own career, participating in this event is a step in that direction.

• This is also an opportunity for the community to see the value of a diverse engineering workforce in action and is made possible by our many supporters including our host sponsor Nissan Technical Center and platinum sponsor Yazaki North America.

• Event is one-day on Saturday, April 13 starting 9 am at Nissan Technical Center in Farmington Hills, MI.  Speaker schedule released in February and Registration is in March.  For more information please visit:  www.compespdc.org.

COMPES PDC:
http://www.compespdc.org/

SWE Society:
http://alltogether.swe.org/blog/swe-detroit-media-fox-2-news-job-shop-for-local-pd-conference.html

FOX 2 News Job Shop:

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/20761441/compes-professional-development-conference

Region H Conference 2013 – Recap

Can you all believe it was just over a week ago that over 750 SWE members, volunteers, and sponsors were at the lovely University of Minnesota – Twin Cities for the 2013 Region H Conference?!  On behalf of the University of Minnesota Section, we all just wanted to thank you again for coming!

Hopefully all of you that had the opportunity to attend have taken the time to reflect on and implement all that you learned, as well as connect with those new people you met!  I know I definitely learned more about non-traditional engineering careers, the Mall of America, and how to resolve conflict.  Also, be sure to share everything you learned with your fellow SWE members that were not able to make it.  In my section, next week we are hosting a “Conference Recap” event for everyone to share what they learned.

Share what you liked best about the conference in this poll!

 

Congratulations again to Michigan Technological University for winning the bid  to host the 2014 Conference!  We look forward to seeing everyone again at the Region H Conference next year at Michigan Tech!