PittSWE Newsletter - January 2014

PITT SWE

Volume 2, Issue 4

January 2014

Ice Skating with CMU and Pitt SWE

Edited by: Christine Bontempi

Social Written By: Matthew Gargani This semester the CMU and Pitt sections of SWE hosted a joint ice skating night at the local Schenley Park Ice Rink. The Pitt Section met with the CMU Section at Phipps Conservatory, we did quick introductions, and then we began the long hike to the ice rink. We had about a dozen Pitt members and 6 CMU members, just the right size of a group for everyone to get to meet each other. After getting a little lost, we found the ice rink and skated around with other Pittsburghers. It was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the winter weather and joy of skating outside. A lot of people were new to skating, but were quick to learn. We also had some people who were quite skilled at ice skating; one of our freshmen does skate guard downtown! It was also a good time for Mentors and Mentees to catch up with each other and talk about the break between semesters. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and we even got a group photo on the ice. Only a few people fell, but we helped pick each other up.

Ice Skating at Schenley

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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Ice Skating with CMU & Pitt SWE Be A Leader in SWE Sexual Harassment Workshop SWE Region G Conference Death By Chocolate Meet and Greet Welcome Back Housing Panel

Be a Leader in SWE! National News Written By: Christine Bontempi Are you interested in taking your leadership role in SWE to the next level?

Apply to be Region G’s next Region Collegiate Representative (RCR), Region Collegiate Communication Editor (RCCE) or Region Collegiate Senator (RCS). These positions allow the officer to be the liaison between the collegiate chapters and the professional region and national chapters. Some of these positions allow for voting on behalf of the collegiate chapters or communicating to the collegiate chapters. This is a great leadership experience where the officer is sure to learn a lot and gain valuable lessons.

To apply and learn more about these positions and their requirements, visit http://regiong.wordpress.com/2013/12/ 26/collegiate-leadership-nominations/ Applications are due February 1.

Sexual Harrassment Workshop Professional Written By: Sovay McGalliard Every year SWE hosts a sexual harassment seminar to help educate Pitt students about this problem in the engineering industry. This seminar is very important because many women in engineering come into situations that qualify as harassment, but may not know what to do about it or how to help themselves. The speakers at the seminar were knowledgeable and showed the girls that they are not alone in this problem and they can get help.

There were a few girls during the seminar

who spoke up about situations that they have been in where they were dealing with men in the industry who took advantage of their positions and how they wished they had better knowledge of their resources. I think that the best way to help decrease sexual harassment in male-dominated fields is to keep talking about it and make sure accountability is taken seriously. Overall, I hope this event continues to help women know their rights and know what to do if they are put in an inappropriate situation.

2014 SWE Region G Conference Region G News Written By: Kylie Zeis An event that is taking place through national SWE which also impacts the University of Pittsburgh chapter is the 2014 SWE Region G Conference. This conference, whose theme is “Engineering Around the World,” is for those members in southwest Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Any collegiate student in this region who is a member of national SWE is able to attend just by paying the fee of $50.00. It is going to be hosted by Ohio State University on February 21st through the 23rd. During this weekend of engineering fun, the majority of the events will begin on Saturday, the 22nd. Every person who attends will have the opportunity to go see four different sessions that can range from “personal and professional development” to “global engineering” to “technical talks.” In the evening, a career fair will be held, providing the collegiate students a chance to network and speak with companies who are involved with the Society of Women Engineers. If you are planning to attend the career fair, you can submit a

resume before the conference. Companies are able to pre-select students to invite to a networking lunch using these submitted resumes. Dinner will be served that evening, and breakfast will also be provided on the 23rd. This conference would be a good idea to attend if anyone is looking to gain more knowledge on engineering in today’s world and would like to network with companies at the career fair. The deadline to register for the SWE Region G Conference is February 7th, so do not delay to commit to this helpful event if this interests you!

takes to run this organization at the university level.

If you are thinking of running for an officer position next year and did not attend this event, you missed out on a great opportunity to meet the current officers and hear about their experiences being in their current positions this year.

If you have any questions about any of the positions, please don’t hesitate to contact them. You can find out who the current officers are by visiting: http://www.pitt.edu/~pittswe/officers.ht ml

Housing Panel Discussion Social Written By: Sarah Pachesky

Death By Chocolate Meeting

Death By Chocolate: Officer Meet and Greet Social Written By: Hannah Fernau On January 28, SWE held an officer meet and greet complete with (almost) all of the melted chocolaty goodness anyone could want. And who doesn’t like chocolate, especially when it is combined with fruit, marshmallows, graham crackers, pretzels, and peanut butter? This event was a great forum for officers to talk about their role in SWE and for people in attendance who are not officers to learn about what it

Pitt SWE held their welcome back meeting for the spring semester on Wednesday, January 8th. The room was full of rejuvenated freshmen enjoying pizza and staying warm while arctic temperatures persisted outdoors. The event for the night was a panel on finding housing. Many students must start their search for next year's housing in January and feel the pressure to sign a lease or find roommates by the end of February. The purpose of the panel is to answer any questions that students may have about living in upperclassman dorms or offcampus housing. Many of the questions that were asked centered around the lottery system for on-campus dorms, a topic that is fairly confusing for freshmen.

The five students sitting on the panel were seniors who have had experience in living on- and off-campus, subletting and had other unique housing situations. The housing panel was quite successful and Pitt SWE hopes that all attending students living on-campus next year get a good

lottery number. May the odds be ever in your favor.

SWE RIDDLE Pitt SWE would like to challenge you to a riddle! The first University of Pittsburgh student to email PittSWE@gmail.com with the correct answer will receive a $10 dollar gift certificate as a reward.

Find a number less than 100 that is increased by one-fifth of its value when its digits are reversed.

Chocolate Fondue Station at Death by Chocolate

Pitt SWE Officers

Upcoming Events

President – Christina O’Donnell

February 6-Siemens Company Visit February 12- Resume Workshop February 13-20- Officer Elections February 14-15 – Volunteer at Carnegie Science Center February 18- Northrop Grumman Night February 19 – Diversity Dinnerview February 22- Middle School Engineering Day

Vice President – Christine Bontempi Secretary – Sarah Pachesky Treasurer – Dhanu Thiyagarajan