By Neil Nachbar
The URI student chapter of Society of Women Engineers (SWE) attended the SWE National Conference on Oct. 25-28 in Austin, TX. Named WE17, the event is the world’s largest conference and career fair for women in engineering and technology, with over 14,000 attendees and more than 300 sessions.
The career fair featured 326 exhibitors who were eager to meet engineering students. URI SWE members had nine on-site interviews for internships with companies such as Boeing and Medtronic. One URI student was offered an internship on the spot. Some of the workshops the URI group attended spanned leadership development, diversity and inclusion, and tips to know before entering the workforce.
“Attending the national SWE conference provided an opportunity for leaders of the local URI collegiate section to understand how the section relates to the larger SWE organization, and the issues faced world-wide by women in engineering,” said URI SWE faculty advisor Dr. Valerie Maier-Sperdelozzi, who accompanied the students on the trip. “The speakers and panelists were inspiring and provided countless ideas for programs and activities that can be implemented at URI.”
The awards dinner was held on Oct. 28. The president of SWE spoke about the state of the organization and then recognized the attending collegiate seniors by giving each one a white rose. The two seniors from the URI chapter who attended the conference were Rachel Bellisle and Rachael Amore.
The keynote speaker was Mary Petryszyn, sector vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman Corporation. She spoke about “Love, Life, and Leadership,” using live music with her speech, since Austin is the live music capital of the world.
The culmination of the evening was the awards ceremony. The three levels of awards, gold, silver and bronze, are based on how well the section demonstrated continuous improvement and growth and embodied the SWE core values of integrity, inclusive environment, mutual support, and professional excellence and trust.
The URI SWE chapter was presented the Gold Collegiate SWE Mission award. This put URI in the same ranking as UC Berkeley, Cornell, Georgia Tech, Carnegie Mellon, and Yale University, to name a few. It marks the first time the URI chapter has been nationally-recognized.
“It was wonderful to see the students recognized for their achievements and contributions,” stated Maier-Sperdelozzi. “The URI students have worked hard, continuing long-standing community events, such as Girl Scout Badge Days; professional development events, such as speakers from industry and plant trips; and introducing a new Shadow Day for high school students interested in STEM at URI.”
Attending the conference from URI was Bellisle, Amore, Sydney Robinson, Kelly Domogala, Ian Heino, Robyn Johnson, Maeve Story, Julia Donovan, Gabby Aiello and Maier-Sperdelozzi.
Aiello, who is the secretary of the URI chapter, took part in the conference’s Collegiate Leadership Institute, for which she had to apply and get accepted.
“The collegiate institute was a great way to network,” said Aiello. “It also helped prepare me to be a leader in SWE and eventually in the workplace.”
SWE’s local conference will be held April 20-22 in Providence, which was one of five cities selected across the United States for 2018. For more information, or to become involved, contact Maier-Speredelozzi at valerie@uri.edu
Founded in 1950, SWE is a not-for-profit educational and service organization that empowers women to succeed and advance in the field of engineering