Region Collegiate Team

The Region Collegiate Team is comprised of four collegiate and four professional members that work on the regional level to make sure your voices are heard.

The team brings together representatives from:

• The Sections
• The Senate
• The Region Council
• The Collegiate Leadership Coaching Committee
• The Collegiate Interests Committee, and
• The Membership Committee.

They meet monthly to discuss how students in our region are doing and how they can help.

To learn more about getting involved on a regional level, read about the team’s roles by clicking the links below!

Collegiate Representatives | Collegiate Communications Editor | Governor
Lt Governor | Collegiate Leadership Coach

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FY12 Region H Collegiate Team

The picture above was taken while in Austin, TX for the Collegiate Leadership Forum.  From left to right in the picture above, Nancy Tanaka – SWEFL, Liz Buzzard – RCS, Christina Barry RCR, Alicia Walby – RCCE, Heather Sweeney – RCR.  Even though we are dressed up, we still like to have some fun.  Below you can see us fully representing Region H by making an “H”.

Region H Brings You the "H".

Liz Buzzard (Senator), Heather Sweeney (Region Collegiate Representative), Alicia Walby (Region Collegiate Communications Editor), Christina Barry (Region Collegiate Representative)”]

[From left to right

Christina Barry, Liz Buzzard, Alicia Walby, and Heather Sweeney – Together for one last RCT group picture at the Region H Conference.  I had a blast working with all of you ladies this past year.  Best of wishes to everyone’s blindingly bright futures.  Hope to see you all in Houston later this year!

Region Collegiate Representative (RCR)

Your Collegiate Representative (RCR) is a student elected by you—the region membership—to represent our region on a national level. Our region has two RCRs, because we’re the biggest region in SWE!

The RCRs make sure that your section is the best it can be. They keep the Region Governor and Board of Directors up to date on the needs of students in our area. They also run meetings at National Conference and Regional Conference, attend a summer leadership training conference, and network with SWE leaders from across the country!

Your RCRs are your best resource for questions about anything SWE-related. They can find you help with membership issues, financial problems, or report deadlines. If your section needs help, email them at rcr-h@swe.org

Heather Sweeney

Heather Sweeney is a senior in Industrial Engineering at Purdue University. She has been involved in the Purdue SWE section since her freshman year, including TEAMS (Teaching Engineering Applications to Motivate Students) Elementary School Chair and All Member Meeting Chair. She is also a tutor and mentor for the Purdue Women in Engineering Program and an Industrial Engineering Ambassador. For engineering internships, she has worked at Walgreen Co, Disneyland Resort, Caterpillar Inc., Altman Manufacturing Company, and Packer Engineering.

Christina Barry

Christina is a senior studying chemical engineering at Michigan State University.

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Region Collegiate Communications Editor (RCCE)

Your Collegiate Communications Editor is a student elected to improve communication between sections within our region. Primarily, she manages this blog!

The RCCE helps share best practices within our region and also helps the RCRs with their role, such as running the collegiate meetings at National and Regional conferences. She is your best resource for mass-distributing information, such as events or deadlines. If your section has an event you want publicized regionally, or a great idea (or event, social, workshop…) they’d like to share with the rest of the region, email the RCCE at rcce-h@swe.org

Alicia Walby

Alicia is a fourth year in Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Technological University, located in Houghton, MI.

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Region Collegiate Senator

According to the Article V, Section 2 of the SWE bylaws:

The senate shall be responsible for charting the strategic direction of SWE by developing and adopting the long-range goals for the Society.  The senate shall also be responsible for developing statements of external policy on issues or positions that have broad implications for the professional environment and the Society as an organization.  To these ends, the senate shall conduct essential dialogue on long-term trends and issues of common interest, and may appoint subordinate units to assist in the creation of these strategic directions or policies.  The senate shall communicate the outcome of such dialogue to the board of directors.

Liz Buzzard

Liz is a senior in Materials Science and Engineering at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Vanessa Stuart

Vanessa is as senior in Chemical Engineering, concentrating in Food Science, at Michigan State University.

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Region Governor

Your Region Governor is a professional member. She runs and represents our region. She also advises region leaders, keeps us updated on SWE issues, reports on our needs, and ensures the health of your section and the region as a whole.

Wendy Landwehr

Wendy is a Fellow Life member of the SWE-Chicago Region Section, where she served as the FY06 Section President, vice president, COR, and secretary.  On the National level, she was Procedures committee chair FY09-10 and has served on the Awards and Membership committees since FY07. Wendy has been active in Region H as Secretary, Region Council, Awards committee chair and currently the FY12 Governor.

Wendy has an MS degree in Computer Science from the Illinois Institute of Technology. She is an employee of Northrop Grumman in Rolling Meadows, IL.  She has had increasing responsibilities during her 25 year tenure at Northrop Grumman and is currently a Fellow Software Engineer.  She has lead small and large groups and is considered a technical expert in her product line.

Wendy is an active member of the Northrop Grumman Women Engineers employee resource group and has held several offices there including Sector and Corporate chair.  She is one of the founders of this group and has contributed to its growth from a site-wide, to sector-wide and today a corporate-wide organization.

Wendy lives in Arlington Heights, IL with her husband Martin and Chocolate Lab, Rosie.  She enjoys cooking and spending time working in her extensive and eclectic garden.

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Region Lieutenant Governor

The Lt. Governor is the organizer of the Region Collegiate Team. She facilitates information-sharing between us. She also serves as Region Governor if the Governor is temporarily unable to serve.

Betty Leonhard

Betty Leonhard joined SWE in the last half of the 1990′s while a student at UW-Platteville and has been active volunteer and leader as a professional member ever since. After graduating, getting involved in SWE was the perfect way to meet new people in a new state, advance my professional development, and connect with other female engineers after a long day working in an all male department.  She has been involved in region H council meetings every year since FY04. And in the past several years she’s worked with every collegiate section in Region H on their bylaws. She’s also been a member of the leadership coaching committee since 2005 and has collaborated with the CLCC as well. You probably have seen her at region conference as a session presenter or at the region meetings. Ms. Leonhard is active in the SWE-Wisconsin section planning professional programs and participating in many outreach activities, besides serving on their EC.

Outside of SWE,  Betty has held local leadership roles in the Institute of Industrial Engineers, SAI  (an International Women’s Music Fraternity), and at her church. She is a (CQE) certified quality engineer through ASQ and participates in local ASQ meetings.  She is currently a domestic engineer (aka mom). Ms. Leonhard has worked for Oshkosh Corp., Mercury Marine, John Deere, Thermo King, and Square D since graduating with her BS in IE in 2000.

Feel free to contact her at betty.leonhard@swe.org.

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Collegiate Leadership Coach (CLC)

The CLC  works with collegiate sections to help them improve. Specific section issues (money, membership, recruiting, etc.) can be coached individually. A CLC can travel to visit your section! If your section needs help, ask!

Molly Johnson

Molly Johnson is a Senior Consultant at Baker Tilly Virchow Krause in Minneapolit, MN.  She is a part of the Enterprise Solutions team for Baker Tilly – an accounting and advisory firm based in Chicago.  She has Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  While at Wisconsin she began her active involvement in SWE, including serving as Section President.  She has been a member of the Collegiate Leadership Coaching Committee since 2007 and now serves as the Team Lead for Region H.

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