PittSWE Newsletter - October 2012

PITT SWE

Volume 1, Issue 2

Annual Conference Winner Announcement Announcement Written By: Sandy Liu This year’s Society of Women Engineers National Conference (WE12) is in Houston, TX! SWE will be sending 12 national members, including two males and one grad student. At the National Conference, Pitt SWE members will have the opportunity to attend the Career Fair with more than 250 exhibitors, speak with colleges and universities, network with professional SWE members, and attend workshops, panel discussions, and developmental sessions.

The event will close with the Celebrate SWE! Awards Banquet. Last year, Pitt SWE won awards for Outstanding Collegiate Section Silver Level and Best Collegiate Website!

The National Conference is also an opportunity for Pitt SWE members to meet collegiate and professional members from all over the world. The workshops include topics such as careers in academia, innovation in technology and business, management and strategy (professional development), diversity, and outreach. As collegiate members, representatives from Pitt SWE also attend the Hospitality Suites hosted by top sponsors (with chances to win great prizes such as laptops, iPads, and gift certificates!), the Collegiate Welcome Lunch, the Women Defining the Future Luncheon, and Celebrate SWE! The winners of this year's Conference Competition, who are the four most active members, are Matthew Gargani, JoAnna Male, Claire Hoelmer, and Hannah Fernau. As a thank you for their dedication, Pitt SWE pays for registration fees, the Celebrate SWE! dinner, flights to and from the conference, and hotel stays for the duration of the conference. A new addition to the Conference Competition is a guarantee for a Freshman winner; our goal is to improve the future of our organization by sending younger members to learn more about SWE.

October 2012 Edited by: Julia Wasas

Upcoming Events November November 3 - Girl Scout Engineering Day November 8 - 11 – SWE Annual Conference November 17 – Habitat for Humanity Workday November 29 – Company Visit: TBA

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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Annual Conference Winner Announcement Upcoming Events Henna Tattoo Night Etiquette Dinner PMADD Regional News National News AAAC Distinguished Alumni Dinner SWE Riddle Halliburton Elementary Engineering Extravaganza Current Officers

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Henna Tattoo Night Social Written By: Karin Rozendaal The SWE girls gathered in early October for a break from studying, a tasty meal, and some creative freedom – in the form of a Henna & Spaghetti Social. We took some time out of our busy logic filled days to express ourselves with some temporary body art.

Some girls chose to create their own tattoos while others expressed their creative side by tattooing friends, and the artwork varied from abstract designs, to lizards, to electrical outlets. The end result was a group of relaxed girls with a variety of beautiful, creative Henna covering their hands, arms, and feet.

this to be extremely helpful in knowing how to approach interview questions. Feedback that we received was positive in terms of discussion at the tables.

It was also noted by the representatives that the students were extremely well behaved and receptive to advice and constructive criticism. We would like to thank everyone who participated and encourage everyone who didn’t to attend similar events in the future

PMADD Service Written By: Alicia Kolling On Saturday, October 20th, SWE members participated in Pitt Make a Difference Day (PMADD). This service activity connects University of Pittsburgh students to the greater Pittsburgh area by allowing them to give back to their community. Students are assigned to a bus that transports them to a local community where they can volunteer to help with tasks such as cleaning up local parks or repainting neighborhood buildings. This year, SWE members were given the task of cleaning up litter in the Strip District.

Regional News SWE members painting henna on each other.

Etiquette Dinner Professional Development & Networking Written By: Christina O’Donnell On October 11, SWE hosted an Etiquette Dinner that was attended by 6 representatives and around 40 students. The companies in attendance were Haliburton, FM Global, IBACOS, and Draeger. The evening began with a presentation from Trisha Hyatt from Career Services on proper etiquette and other professional tips and then the students networked with the representatives and dinner was served. After the dinner and conversation, Ronda Rakes from the sponsoring company, Haliburton, gave a closing presentation on Haliburton and also on how to present yourself to potential employers.

For dinner conversations, the representatives were provided with a list of common interview questions that they were encouraged to ask the students at their table and to explain what a good answer would be and why. Many students found

Region G Written By: Julia Wasas The University of Pittsburgh Society of Women Engineers is a collegiate section of Region G. Our region includes part of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and parts of Kentucky.

This region encompasses both university sections and professional sections.

National News SWE National Written By: Julia Wasas On November 8th through the 11th the Society of Women Engineers will be hosting the Annual Conference in Houston Texas. The conference includes many exceptional workshops for members to improve upon themselves, their career, and their involvement in SWE. In addition, SWE hosts one of the largest engineering career fairs in the country at the conference. This is a tremendous networking opportunity for collegiate, professional, and retired members.

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AAAC Distinguished Alumni Dinner Networking Written By: Christina O’Donnell

Tracey Travis, Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient

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.

Following the pattern please replace the “?” with the proper answer

During homecoming weekend, the African American Alumni Council (AAAC) hosted a Distinguished Alumni Dinner to present the Alumni with awards. Past University of Pittsburgh SWE member, Tracey Travis, was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Travis currently works as the Executive Vice President and chief financial officer at Estée Lauder Companies Inc. She is also a member of the University of Pittsburgh’s Board of Trustees.

In addition to working for Estée Lauder, Travis has worked at Ralph Lauren Corp., Limited Brands, PepsiCo Inc., and General Motors in the past. She has also been named one of the fifty Most Powerful Women in Business by Black Enterprise magazine in 2008 and 2010. Travis graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1983 with a degree in Industrial Engineering.

The other recipients of the 2012 AAAC Distinguished Alumni Award include Lucile Adams-Campbell, Linda Wharton Boyd, Charles Curry, Arnold Sowell, Lois Dougan Tretiak, and David B. Washington.

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Halliburton

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Sponsor Highlight

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Written By: Lisa Volpatti

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So what is Halliburton?

Halliburton is one of the world’s largest energy services companies that aids oil companies in the areas of drilling and evaluation, consulting and project management, and completion and production. HAL has operations in over 80 countries and research centers in 14. With almost 70,000 employees worldwide, Halliburton has ample opportunities for engineers.

Why Halliburton?

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Halliburton was awarded the Woman Engineer Magazine 2011 & 2012 “Best Place to work for Women Engineers!”

Halliburton technology won two awards (Best Health, Safety, Environment/Sustainable Development Onshore and Best Visualization and Collaboration) of eight nominations at the 11th Annual World Oil Awards. If that is not reason enough, University of Pittsburgh – Society of Women Engineers – October 2012 - 3

HAL promotes a creative and dynamic work environment, provides leadership opportunities, and constitutes a diverse workforce. Learn more at http://www.halliburton.com/ and search for careers at Halliburton at http://www.halliburton.com/careers/.

strings, exploring sound and vibrations by asking questions through cups connected by strings. During the students’ activities, the parents were presented information on ways to get their children involved in the STEM fields.

Following the parent presentation, the students and the parents moved into an activities block of three different activities. The first activity was the marshmallow slingshot where students and parents built a sling shot and then competed to see who could successfully shoot a marshmallow into a bowl. The next was an exploration of static electricity in Static Cling. The final activity was the paper table. This activity allows students to use newspaper and tape to hold a large quantity of books.

Elementary Engineering Extravaganza

The event wrapped up with closing remarks and awards for students who won competitions throughout the day.

The activities the students participated in throughout the day covered chemistry, civil engineering, physics and other STEM related fields.

Outreach Written By: Julia Wasas Elementary Engineering Extravaganza (E3) is a new outreach event that Pitt SWE piloted this year on October 27th. The event focused on 3rd to 4th grade students and their parent, guardian, or adult influencer. The goal of the event is to spark an interest in both the students and their parents/educators and encourage the young students to further explore STEM fields.

The event began with a presentation for the students and adults. They learned how cotton candy relates to the manufacturing of insulation, what happens when you mix baking soda and vinegar, and what happens when you mix diet coke and Mentos. They also learned the science behind each of the experiments.

Following this presentation the students dispersed into two activities. The first was the exploration of starch and water.

As seen in many videos online, this mixture is typically liquid but quickly solidifies when experiencing a sudden force or vibration. The second activity inolved cups with

Two of the participants of E3 holding their marshmallow sling

Pitt SWE Officers President – Lisa Volpatti Vice President – Julia Wasas Secretary – Sandy Liu Treasurer – Christina O’Donnell

To stay updated on news and events visit our website www.pitt.edu/~pittswe.

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