100
+Women Strong
eng.auburn.edu/100womenstrong 2018 Events
• Feb. 1: Deadline for current students to apply for 100+ Women Strong Scholarships • Feb. 5: Southern Company Female Engineering Panel and Networking Event, 1103 Shelby
• Feb. 13: STEM Career Expo, 3-7 p.m., Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum • Feb. 23: E-Day, Auburn University* • March 1: Deadline for 100+WS awards, applications and nominations at eng.auburn.edu/awards • March 6: Greater East Alabama Regional Science and Engineering Fair, Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center* • March 30: Deadline for 100+WS awards applications and nominations • April 13: 100+WS member meeting, Shelby Center McCartney Suite at 9 a.m. • April 13: Leadership and Development Conference, registration begins at 10:30 a.m.* • June 26: Women in Engineering Camp luncheon* • Aug. 17: New Student Welcome Event* • Aug. 17: 100+WS member meeting, Shelby Center McCartney Suite • Oct. 12: Making a Difference in Engineering at Auburn (MADE) high school girls recruiting event, Auburn University Student Center* • Oct. 20 (tentative): War Eagle BEST • Dec. 1: Deadline for incoming freshmen to apply for 100+WS scholarships at auburn.edu/scholarship/ausom
FEBRUARY 2018
Dear 100+ Women Strong Members, We can hardly believe we are halfway through the school year. We had a successful fall that opened with the New Student Welcome Event where we greeted more than 230 new female engineering undergraduate, transfer and graduate students and their parents. We look forward to April 13 when we will host the fifth annual Leadership and Development Conference – a dynamic day of developmental sessions, panel discussions, speed mentoring and a chance to hear from our keynote speaker, Linda DuCharme, ‘86 chemical engineering and president of ExxonMobil Global Services. 100+ Women Strong is the force to recruit, retain and reward Auburn women in engineering. While the program is focused on supporting current students, prospective students, faculty and on-campus staff, the true force of the program continues to be the passionate and talented women of our membership who make this possible. The program started in 2012 with the seemingly lofty goal of attracting 100 women to support the vision of the college. Now, just six short years later, we have far exceeded the goal of 100 with 165 members and nine corporate sponsors, each giving their time, talent and treasures to ensure 100+WS can develop sustainable programs that support the mission. Being a member of 100+WS is more than making a monetary donation and hoping your contribution makes a difference. It’s about introducing middle school and high school girls to engineering at the annual summer Women in Engineering Camp and BEST Robotics competition. It’s about connecting with current students and sharing stories of your experiences while at Auburn and in your career. It’s about being a role model for them to aspire to become something greater. It’s about mentoring them and inspiring them to stick with engineering and reassuring them it’s worth it. And it’s about creating a network of fellow alumnae that will continue to grow and support Auburn women in engineering beyond the campus and into their careers. Each event and program offered through 100+WS started as an idea from a member, and the program will continue to grow and evolve with your help. We can’t wait to see what our inspired members think up next. War Eagle! Natalie Mills and Olivia Owen Executive Committee Co-Chairs
• Dec. 1 - 2 (tentative): South’s Best Robotics *Volunteer opportunities for 100+WS members Natalie Mills ’10 Civil Engineering
Olivia Owen ’77 Civil Engineering
Member Happenings • Three alumnae – Jan Davis, ’77 mechanical engineering; Cindy Green, ’79 chemical engineering, and Linda Figg, ’81 civil engineering – were honored in September by the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council as Distinguished Auburn Engineers. • 100+ Women Strong student liaison Stella Kontos, senior in chemical engineering, was presented with a Congressional Records statement in November for her work with STEM in her platform in Miss Alabama pageants. The statement includes Stella’s work with 100+WS. • Natalie Mills, ’10 civil engineering, and Rachel Moss, ’96 industrial engineering, served as guest speakers for the Emerge at Auburn Leadership Speaker Series – a freshman program focusing on developing leadership skills and solving problems on campus. • Helen Adams-Morales, ’81 civil engineering, was appointed to the Alabama Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Adams-Morales is only the second female appointed to the board in its more than 80-year existence. • Carol Godfrey, ’86 industrial engineering, presented a workshop titled “Women in Leadership: Accelerating Change and Expanding” during the Feb. 5-6 Diversity Best Practices Conference at the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center.
Save the date Samuel Ginn College of Engineering
100+ Women Strong Leadership and Development Conference Friday, April 13, 2018 100+ Women Strong members Female engineering students
Keynote Speaker:
Linda DuCharme, ’86 ChE President ExxonMobil Global Services
A Success Story: Leslie Devoe Leslie Devoe is the personification of 100+ Women Strong’s mission to recruit, reward and retain Auburn women in engineering. Devoe, a senior in mechanical engineering, is the daughter of a mechanical engineer, although her father graduated from Georgia Tech. When it came time to decide on her future after her days at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, Auburn was high on her radar. She enjoyed visiting as a sophomore when her team traveled to campus for the Alabama High School Athletic Association Swimming State Championship, but it was her time at the Women in Engineering Camp that sealed her decision. “That camp played a major role in my decision. I visited five other colleges that year, and none of them stood out like Auburn did. I felt so welcome while I was there for camp, and Auburn immediately felt like home,” she said. During that camp, Devoe also met Jessica Taylor, director of recruiting and scholarships, and the two formed a bond. “She has really helped me since the beginning and she has been nothing but wonderful,” Devoe said. “An Auburn engineering graduate herself, Jessica took interest in me and saw potential that no one else saw. With encouragement from her, along with my parents, I felt confident that I could make it through engineering even when it got too difficult. Jessica has encouraged me my whole four years at Auburn, and I can’t thank her enough for that,” she added.
Devoe was also introduced to 100+ Women Strong during the camp, and she was encouraged with what she heard and saw. “This group meant we already had a family waiting for us if we chose to pursue engineering at Auburn,” she said. Fast forward a few years, and Devoe has been the embodiment of why the program was established. She has attended all 100+WS events, and even earned a scholarship from the program. “It meant the world to me to receive the scholarship because without it, I would not be at Auburn today. I come from a large family, and to go where we wanted for college, my sisters and I had to get as much scholarship funding as possible,” Devoe said. “I want to thank all the members of 100+ Women Strong for making Auburn a possibility for me. 100+ Women Strong has given me the confidence throughout these four years that I am worth the effort. My potential is worth investing in. I cannot thank you all enough for the support you have given me in my time here at Auburn. Your contribution does not go unnoticed. I hope to be as much help to young women as you have been to me.”
Member Spotlight: Rose-Gaëlle Belinga Rose-Gaëlle Belinga, who earned both her bachelor’s and master’s in software engineering in 2009 and 2012, respectively, through a dual program with Oglethorpe University, is a technology associate for Morgan Stanley in New York City.
wonderful family to me. When I got to Auburn, no one judged me because I was a transfer student or had an obvious French accent. If anything, they mainly cared about contributing to my personal, academic and professional growth,” she said.
During her time at Auburn, Belinga was involved in numerous student organizations, preparing her as a prime candidate to take a spot on the college’s newly formed Young Alumni Council upon graduation.
Having been in industry for several years now, she’s learned that groups such as 100+WS are vital to the success of female students in the classroom and beyond.
With 100+ Women Strong being established around the same time as the Young Alumni Council, Belinga jumped at the chance to work with the
new groups. After her term on the council expired, she joined the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering Industrial Advisory Board and also began serving as a 100+WS mentor. “I love giving back to Auburn because it has been such a
“In order for us to recruit and retain the best talent, we have to start sooner. We need to assist the academic community in training more women by contributing to efforts of providing students with a great
collegiate environment via scholarships, support services and, of course, mentoring,” she said. To ensure the college and 100+WS continues on the right path of supporting women in engineering, Belinga has a challenge for all members. “Think about your college experience and ask yourself, ‘What were my least favorite experiences and how am I helping the college turn them into distant memories for current and future students?’ and ‘What were my fondest moments in college and how am I working with the college to ensure others have the same opportunities, if not better?’”
Faculty Spotlight: Jin Wang Jin Wang is the Walt and Virginia Woltosz Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and she joined the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering faculty in 2006 as the B. Redd Assistant Professor. She was later promoted to associate professor in 2011 and then to the rank of full professor in 2016. She earned her bachelor’s and doctorate in chemical engineering, specializing in biomedical engineering, from China’s Tsinghua University in 1994 and 1999, respectively, before obtaining a second doctorate in control engineering from the University of Texas in 2004. The central theme of her research is to apply systems engineering – in particular control engineering principles and techniques – to understand,
predict and control complex dynamic systems, including both industrial processes and microbial organisms. Her current research focuses on metabolic network modeling and analysis, as well as the validating experimental research. She has been recognized for her work and achievements, receiving the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award in 2008, the Alumni Senior Research Award in 2017 and several best paper awards at international conferences such as the AIChE Conference. Her research is funded by various U.S. and state agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the departments of Agriculture, Education and Transportation, as well as private foundations. Prior to her time at Auburn, she was a development engineer
and senior development engineer at Advanced Micro Devices Inc. from 2002-06. During her tenure at AMD, her research and development yielded 13 patents. In addition, she received several high-profile corporate awards for being instrumental in developing effective advanced control solutions. She credits her academic and professional success to her parents, both of whom inspired her to be anything she wanted to be. Although her mother wasn’t an engineer, she helped push her to overcome gender stereotypes in her home country and see her full potential. “When I was in high school, many of my teachers believed that boys are smarter than girls and they didn’t hide their opinions from students. This was very discouraging to other
girls in my class, as many students tend to dislike the subject if they don’t like the teacher. My mom played an important role in preventing me from falling into that hole. She set up a very good example for me to learn from and taught me that if you believe in yourself, and do your best to pursue your goal, you will succeed no matter whether you are a boy or a girl. From my own experience, I feel that examples and encouragement from female role models can have profound impacts on female students.”
Mentor-Mentee Spotlight: Emily Zieman and Haley Dorn Emily Zieman, who earned her bachelor’s and master’s in aerospace engineering in 2002 and 2004, respectively, will never forget the day during her freshman year when she flunked a physics test for which she had studied for two weeks straight. The daughter of a farmer and a mail carrier, neither of whom attended a fouryear university, asked herself, “How am I ever going to be an engineer if I can’t pass physics?” But through a combination of stubbornness and fear of failure, she kept pressing on through those first two years when students have large lecture-type classes that cover the basics of everything, preparing them for any type of technical or engineering discipline. Now, the Department of the Army Systems Coordinator for Black Hawk and Lakota helicopters aims to support students who are walking the same path she once walked as a student. “My story is certainly not unique. Many of us struggled, especially early on,” Zieman said. “Why would we not take advantage
some of her time with me and given me the opportunity to provide advice on various parts of her education and supplemental activities,” Zieman said. “I think the world of Haley and I hope that, through our exchanges, I’ve provided her a bit more validation that she will be a great engineer in whatever path she chooses.” And for that, Dorn is thankful.
of the opportunity to remind students that the struggle is a common thing and they shouldn’t be deterred?” One of the students Zieman has supported is Haley Dorn, junior in industrial and systems engineering. The two were paired together through 100+WS’s mentoring initiative, and began emailing back and forth. Outside of campus events, the two get together on occasion, with Dorn and her mom even visiting Zieman at the Pentagon. “At this point, I would consider Haley a friend and I’m grateful that she has shared
“My relationship with Emily is absolutely fantastic. I could not have asked for a better mentor. We are so close, and our relationship has truly transformed into a friendship and not just a ‘mentor/mentee relationship.’ She has taught me so much about not just careers, but about life and how life can direct us to where we are supposed to end up as far as a career is concerned,” Dorn said. “Gaining a mentor through this program allows you to have it all – a mentor, friend, advisor and peer, all in one, who will help you throughout your time at Auburn because they have already been through the process and know what it is like to want, and need, someone on your side.”
Corporate Partner Spotlight: International Paper For more than 120 years, International Paper has been making products people depend on every day. Packaging that protects and ships goods worldwide; pulp for diapers and other products that promote health and wellness; and papers to facilitate education and communication – IP products touch the world. The company’s support of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering ensures a steady stream of talent for a company recognized as one of the world’s leading producers of
fiber-based packaging, pulp and paper. For more than 20 years, IP has supported numerous scholarships and programs focused on pulp and paper; mechanical and chemical engineering; computer science and software as well as recruiting minority and women students to these fields. In 2017, IP became a visionary sponsor of 100+ Women Strong. Allison Magness, ’00 chemical engineering and IP vice president, manufacturing containerboard, said support of women’s initiatives at Auburn
is important to the company’s future. “I am proud to represent IP as we partner with this prestigious group of female leaders,” Magness said. IP’s commitment to creating a diverse workplace includes efforts like 100+ Women Strong and internally includes the IP Women’s Mentoring Board.
This interactive forum connects women across IP to discuss relevant and timely issues. “From career development, to work-life balance, I am proud to work for a company that seeks out diverse perspectives. Support of 100+ Women Strong is an important extension of our internal work to attract, develop and retain females in manufacturing,” Magness said.