October 2017
WELCOME BACK TO A SWEET SEMESTER UpcomingEvents October
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WE17
November
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GBM #3 Mentorship Event
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E3
Professional Development Event Mentorship
December
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HSED Holiday Party
Pitt SWE welcomes
members new and old to the 2017-2018 school year! We have already had a busy month full of social, professional, and outreach events. We kicked the year off with our first General Body meeting on August 30th led by the executive board: Kaleigh Smith, Heather Amper, Laura Traczynski, and Joy Huang. Everyone learned about SWE and the upcoming opportunities, and then even had the chance to win free prizes! It has been a pleasure to get to catch up with our old friends and meet new friendly faces. Behind the scenes of these activities is the hard work of our officers. We had a fun officer retreat at ASCEND to bond, climb to new heights, and of course plan events for all of you! Another awesome part of Pitt SWE is the mentorship program so younger members have an upperclassman in their major to get to know and look to for advice. A cool night of tiedying SWE t-shirts allowed the mentors and mentees to get to know each other and make a colorful addition to their Pitt t-shirt collection. With the many events planned for the rest of the semester, we hope to see you all there and get to know you better!
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT with BASF
By: Jessica Sorick
BASF Corporation is the second largest producer and marketer of chemicals and related products in North America. On
Monday, October 18th, BASF put on an informational professional development event for the members of Pitt SWE. They came to talk about resume and interview advice as well as to inform our members about their Professional Development Program (PDP) along with full-time opportunities. Many members attended because BASF was recruiting at the Career Fair the next day for full-time and their PDP Program. It was great for our members to hear first-hand from the recruiters what they were looking for in a candidate for these positions. The representatives from BASF were either Pitt Alumni or previous PDP interns. They talked about their experiences in the PDP program and in the rotational, postgraduation program at BASF. Along with this, they explained what is important to include in a resume, what types of questions to expect in an interview, and how the interview process with BASF works. After the event, BASF representatives stayed to answer any questions and talk to members interested in their programs.
DIVERSITY DINNERVIEW By: Stephanie Thornton
Dinnerview was hosted on Thursday, September 28th, by the engineering diversity organizations at Pitt: SWE, NSBE,
SHPE, SASE. This premier networking event is the biggest professional development event of the year for engineering and STEM majors. Students had the opportunity to meet representatives from corporate sponsors in a variety of engineering fields and industries. Thank you to the companies that attended: Naval Nuclear Laboratory, Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Deloitte, BASF, Duquesne Light, Lubrizol, Eaton, ANSYS, and Covestro. Before the delicious dinner, we enjoyed an opening presentation from Vince D. Pantloni, Reactor Servicing director for Naval Nuclear Laboratory, and Juan J. Ibarra, Engineering Manager for Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. After some socializing at our tables, we had the chance to ask questions about interviews, resumes, and more from the employee panel. Thank you to those who organized it and everyone who attended for making it such a successful event!
MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGINEERING DAY On Sunday, September 24th, 2017, SWE hosted Middle
GIRL SCOUT ENGINEERING DAY SWE hosted Girl Scout Engineering Day on
Sunday, October 8th. Troops of young ladies from the Girl Scouts of Western PA came to Benedum Hall to get a sense of what engineering really looks like. Representatives from all of the engineering clubs at the Swanson School started off the day by showing interactive demonstrations of what sort of projects they do. During this time, the girls learned how to make toothpaste from its base elements, and they were able to understand polarity in molecules through experimenting with ketchup. In breakout sessions, led by SWE members, girls made emergency shelters, newspaper towers, and straw structures. After learning the basics of making stable structures, the goal of the newspaper towers became having a strong enough tower so that it could support the weight of textbooks. The most important things the girls learned was how awesome engineering is, and we hope to see them back in Benedum Hall some day!
OUTREACH CORNER
School Engineering Day. Middle school students from around the Pittsburgh area were introduced to the principles of engineering through a series of fun and engaging activities. To start off the day, students and parents participated in an Engineering Expo, a showcase in which various clubs from Swanson School of Engineering could exhibit smaller activities that highlighted different engineering disciplines. While the kids went off to discover engineering, the parents had a session involving a presentation titled: “Engineering – A Greater Choice” presented by Mary Zeis and a panel discussion utilizing engineering professionals and current students in Swanson School of Engineering. To experience a hands-on activity, the parents designed rovers that would land safely without a marshmallow falling out of a compartment. The students were on a rotating schedule after the expo so they got to complete four different activities in various engineering disciplines. Newspaper tower (civil engineering activity) allowed students to construct the tallest and sturdiest tower out of newspaper, tape, and index cards. Write It, Do It, consisted of students following a sequential procedure to complete an origami; then they had the opportunity to write a procedure for a task of their choice. Makey Makey was an electrical engineering activity in which students attached wires to conductive materials to perform various tasks including playing a piano or a video game. For the fourth activity, SWE invited Scientists, Mathematicians, and Engineers for Service (SEMFS) to give a presentation and provide an activity on the Science Behind Music. Students first got to understand how science plays a critical role in the development of music, then created instruments of their own to produce musical notes. Middle School Engineering Day was exciting for parents, students, and volunteers. Thank you to everyone who attended and made it a success!
IMPOSTER SYNDROME
On Tuesday, September 26th, Dr. Susan Fullerton, an
assistant professor in the chemical engineering department in Swanson, gave a presentation to SWE to talk about imposter syndrome. The phenomenon known as imposter syndrome occurs when people internalize their accomplishments and hold a fear of being exposed as a “fraud” in their professions, even if they are actually very qualified for the job. Most people experience these feelings at some point, and it is especially common for extremely successful people, like CEOs of major corporations. Dr. Fullerton explained that the best way to combat imposter syndrome is to use it to your advantage. With a persistent fear of being exposed as an ‘imposter’, people tend to work harder and try their best in any situation, and this produces very successful results.
By: Daneen Haas
GIRLS ROCK SCIENCE
On September 23rd and 24th
some of our members participated in the Girls Rock Science event at the Carnegie Science Center. We had two different activities to entertain and teach the students. One of the activities was using a Makey Makey in order to turn tin foil and play dough into video game controls. The other activity was using the Bernoulli principal, two straws, and a cup to create a water gun. Over 150 students and their families visited our table over the two days. Thank you to the 20+ student volunteers that helped run the activities and make this event such a success!
By: Sarah Bednar
PINTEREST NIGHT
New and old members alike came together to express
their creativity and make personalized dorm decorations inspired by pins on Pinterest. The night was filled with good company and yummy popcorn. There were several different crafts to choose from. With yarn, metal rings, beads, and gold-dipped feathers, one group crafted their own indie dreamcatchers to catch all their bad dreams. Bundles of flowers were transformed into a cute letter wall hangings. Another table took on the skillful task of origami paper folding in order to make mystical crane mobiles. By the end of the night, everyone had a special, handcrafted piece to make their rooms Pinterest perfect!