FALL 2020
In a semester like no other, Pitt SWE came together to sustain our mission of empowering women engineers. From supportive mentorship events and meaningful discussions with external organizations, to dynamic conversations with female leaders and vibrant outreach programs, SWE adapted to a virtual setting with immense creativity and intention. Navigating the challenges of the semester only proved that we truly are stronger together.
UPCOMING EVENTS
FiERCE Forum - Saturday, February 6th, 2021 via Zoom
Professional Development Door Prizes - Continue next semester!
SWE Points & Tier Prizes Continue next semster!
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Social Events by Annie Goodwin As most know, this semester was anything but normal! However, with the help of our creative and encouraging SWEsters our social events were a success! We began the semester by grabbing our popcorn and candy to gather for a virtual movie night featuring On the Basis of Sex. It was a perfect opportunity to honour the life of Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As we made our way into spooky season, our social events remained on a virtual platform. This time we celebrated Halloween with “Spooky SWE Bingo�. SWEsters and
Mentorship Program by Melina Hudson Throughout this abnormal year, something that has remained constant is the desire of Pitt SWE members to help each other! Fortythree first year and transfer engineering students were paired with upperclassmen mentors. These pairs were grouped into nine SWE Squads, marking the second year of using this format for our mentorship program. Instead of our traditional t-shirt tie-dye, we did a mask tie-dye, where SWE members picked up mask tie-dye kits and then tie-dyed masks together on zoom! The tie-dye event is a tradition that many SWE members love, so it was cool to keep it alive. Other mentorship events throughout the semester included an Among Us game night and a Draw Night where mentors and mentees learned how to draw the Cathedral of Learning!
friends gathered to play virtual Bingo and participate in a costume contest! Prizes were awarded to the bingo winners and the costume contest winners. Our last event of the semester was a Friendsgiving, where we took a break from the stress of studying for finals and gathered for some casual, uplifting conversation. Friendsgiving was an opportunity to reflect on this past year and really focus on what we are grateful for. Thank you to everyone who has helped to make these virtual Socials a success! See you in the spring!
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Collaborative Events: oSTEM and SHPE by Emma Ahlgren The External Relations and Diversity & Inclusion officers joined forces this semester to plan two dynamic and meaningful virtual events. We first collaborated with oSTEM (Out in STEM, Pitt’s LGBTQIA+ club for STEM majors) for "Let’s Talk About Pronouns", a discussion of the importance of pronouns and their wider significance. We also launched the #Unfiltered panel series through a joint event with SHPE (the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers). The panel featured officers from both SWE and SHPE as they discussed their experiences with microaggressions and intersectionality. Both events featured thoughtful conversation as well as the chance to spend time with some other demographic organizations in Swanson.
Investing Now x Pitt SWE Outreach by Emily Richard 3....2....1.... Blast off! The inaugural INVESTING NOW x PittSWE outreach crossover event was out of this world. For this event, PittSWE had the privilege of hosting students from Swanson's pre-college diversity program, INVESTING NOW. During this live 2-hour outreach event students were guided by PittSWE volunteers through NASA curriculum! Students were placed into three break-out rooms to collaborate on their virtual Google (work)Sheets. The hands-on mission focused on building, testing, modifying, and designing a spacecraft (paper airplane). Students modeled their design in real-time on the web-based NASA software FoilSim. The event wrapped up with some data comparison and a reminder to always reach for the stars!
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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT by Dana Emswiler, Isabella Steinley, and Katie Harris
Cigna As a presenting sponsor for Pitt SWE this year, Cigna hosted a collaboration event between WiCS and SWE on September 11, focusing on lessons that Cigna IT Principal Brittany DePoi had learned the hard way. She spoke about how these difficult lessons have guided her through her career at Cigna and how they can help others. Cigna is a global health service company, dedicated to serving the public. Cigna truly believes in the power of health healthy people, healthy communities and a healthier world - and making a real impact on people’s lives. They have available a variety of opportunities to gain valuable work experience through internships and Technology Early Career Development Program.
Eaton Eaton is a recurring presenting sponsor for Pitt SWE who hosted a virtual meeting on September 15th to learn more about their company and take a virtual tour of one of their assembly plants via Augmented Reality technology. During the event, two engineers from Eaton’s Early Talent Leadership Development Program presented on who Eaton is, opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, and spotlighted innovative technology which leverage AR headsets. The mission of Eaton is to provide sustainable solutions that will improve the personal and environmental well-being through the use of power management technologies and services.
Naval Nuclear Laboratory Naval Nuclear Laboratory develops advanced naval nuclear propulsion technology to provide technical support and ensure the safety and reliability of U.S. naval nuclear reactors. As a presenting sponsor, Naval Nuclear Laboratory hosted an event on November 12th. Representatives from different disciplines talked about their career journeys, why they chose to work for NNL, their experiences as females in engineering, and the impact of COVID-19 on their daily work. Students had the opportunity to ask questions and interact with the inspiring women on the panel representing Idaho and Pennsylvania locations.
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Aerotech Aerotech is a market-leading engineering and manufacturing firm that produces motion control and high-precision automation products to our clients all over the world. These world-class solutions push the boundaries of what is possible in the industrial, medical research and aerospace markets, to name a few. They have received numerous corporate awards for innovation and employee satisfaction (including being named a Top Workplace by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2020). Aerotech, who served as a presenting sponsor for Pitt SWE this fall, hosted a virtual event on November 17th to provide tips and advice that the women from Aerotech had for entering the career field. In addition to their helpful insight, they provided a breakdown of their company, including job opportunities for our members, why these women chose Aerotech, and how the company is responding to the ongoing pandemic.
She Creates At this year’s virtual She Creates panel discussion, members of Pitt SWE were inspired by ambitious female entrepreneurs! This annual partnership between the Big Idea Center, Women in Bio (Pittsburgh), Next Act Fund, CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Pitt School of Computing and Information highlighted two incredible women: Susie Harborth and Margot Matouk. Both women shared the importance of going after your dreams with intention, energy, passion, and curiosity. As a past keynote of the event, Margot introduced the event and participated dynamically in the panel presentation. Susie’s presentation theme was titled “Be the Spark: If You Can Dream It, You Can Be It” which was extremely reflective of the overarching message -- don’t let obstacles get in the way of you achieving your professional and business goals.
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OUTSTANDING OUTREACH GSED by Bailey Jones This year's Girl Scout Engineering Day was like no other! Being held entirely on Zoom, we were able to incorporate girls from all over the United States, as well as one girl in Germany! Activities included building a candy catapult, a hand winch, and a finger balance. Since the event was held on October 31st, we had a Halloween theme. Many girl scouts showed up in their costumes and excitedly shared their Halloween plans! 91 girl scouts successfully completed the program and will receive a special PittSWE badge. Many are excited to finish up their "Think Like an Engineer" badge by completing a community service project. Overall, the event was a success and many girls signed off with a newfound excitement for engineering!
E3 by Emily Grugan This semester's Elementary Engineering Extravaganza found great success in a new format! Instead of a live event, the E3 team worked together to make videos that served as project tutorials for 5 different engineering disciplines, which is more than we are typically able to feature in a live format! The videos were posted on a website for over 100 kids to access. In addition to elementary school kids, we were able to reach elementary educators to guide them through projects for their classrooms. We're excited to brainstorm ideas and put together more projects this coming spring semester. Have a great break!
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Code Day by Amelia Wear Code Day was the final event for the SWE++ program, aimed to teach middle schoolers the basics of coding. Code Day, an entirely virtual event and open to all middle schoolers, aimed to teach the attendees about different fields relating to computers and coding, as well as inspire them to explore the field more. Activities included developing basic webpages, creating 3D models, discovering computer hardware and robotics, and learning from multiple professionals in the industry. Led by Amelia Wear and Courtney Sheridan, Code Day hosted over 90 attendees, about 30 volunteers, and 6 speakers through the course of the event. The day was a huge success, and the attendees, volunteers, and speakers all expressed their enthusiasm for the day. One attendee
“I think Code Day was amazing!... I took away many new skills and ideas of what I would want to pursue in my future.� said in a post-event survey that
Fall 2020
MSED by Vincenzia Vargo Pitt SWE held our annual Middle School Engineering Day (MSED) virtually on October 3rd! The virtual format was a challenge; however, my co-chairs and I were determined to make the event enjoyable for the middle school students. We had over 100 students and parents in attendance making our event a success. We kicked off the event with EXPO’s from other Pitt Engineering organizations. The middle school students really enjoyed learning and were inspired by our Pitt engineers! The middle school students further learned about the engineering field through various at-home, hands-on activities. The first activity was the Mint Mobile. The students had the opportunity to learn about mechanical engineering and the process of designing and building a car! The next activity was “Let’s Build a Robotic Arm”. During this activity, the students learned how to build a robotic arm to help benefit the bioengineering and medical field. The goal of this activity was to build a surgical instrument that can safely remove an object from a goat’s stomach! I am proud that the middle school students were engaged in the activities and learned about the engineering field in our new virtual format. Thank you to everyone who helped make MSED a success for the students! We look forward to seeing you at Girls in Engineering Middle School Day (GEMS) in the spring!
HSED by Vidhya Thiyagarajan The Virtual High School Engineering Workshop, a brand-new program for PittSWE, took place on Saturdays from September 12th to October 24th. Through this workshop, 40-50 high school boys and girls from the Pittsburgh area learned about the various engineering disciplines offered at Pitt through working on hands-on activities, engaging in mentorship opportunities with PittSWE members and sponsor volunteers and listening to panel discussions with members from the professional Pittsburgh SWE section. The kids had a lot of fun, especially with the hands-on activities! Some of their favorites were building a ‘Helping Hand’, constructing an efficient coin sorter and making ice cream! A parent program was also held by Mary Zeis, a Pitt alum, on October 10th. As a result of this workshop, three students from local high school are working to start SWENext clubs to bring similar experiences to their friends! A huge thank you to Adele Sedlar, Amirtha Maria and Rebecca Voss for being amazing co-chairs throughout the program!
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