A LOOK AT OUR STUDENT ORGS! SOCIETY OF WOMEN ENGINEERS

The University of Iowa chapter of the Society of Women Engineers is a group where women can be empowered within the engineering industry and work alongside their peers to prepare them for success. There are several Mechanical Engineering undergraduate students serving on the executive team for this organization. Third year Abby Temple acts as the Recruitment Chair for SWE, recruiting new members and coordinating mentoring groups. She refers to SWE as “a resource and supportive group of female engineers.” Temple feels her involvement in this student organization better prepares her to be a mechanical engineer because it gave her a strong network that she can lean on for advice and support, while also providing her leadership opportunities to grow her soft skills. Fourth year Abby Hayes served as the Social Media Chair, posting to the SWE Instagram and Facebook. One of her favorite parts about the Society is attending professional development events with other women. She talks about the group of women she become close with who all “understand what the engineering course load is like, but also understand how important it is to have a good work-life balance.”

If you are interested in joining SWE or have any questions at all about the organization, feel free to reach out to Abby’s email at abigail-temple@uiowa.edu.

Mechanical Engineering boasts a number of student organizations dedicated to providing friendship, learning and hands-on experience to its participants.

Iowa Baja is a hands-on organization where students design, build, and race off-road vehicles. Though the club is offered by the college of engineering, the organization is open to all disciplines. Iowa Baja goes to multiple regional races a year, with a national’s race right around May. Their racing events are made up of several events such as hill climb, brake checks, suspension, acceleration, cost reports, design presentations, and a favorite of many, the endurance race. One of their races hosted in Michigan has a pickled egg eating contest built into gridding, and Baja is on a winning streak! On top of the hands-on application, Iowa Baja offers resume workshops, volunteering, and builds connections with valuable companies looking for interns, co-ops, and full-time job opportunities. Iowa Baja hopes to foster a foundation of knowledge to their team members.

On October 22nd, Iowa Baja attended the Backwoods Baja race in Stout, WI. Overall, the race went pretty smoothly. This year, they participated in the car carry where you take off the tires, carry the car a short distance, then put all the tires back on. Although one of their bolts got bent, they got the tires on eventually and completed the dynamic event. Baja sent two cars to the endurance with no major breakdowns. 51s front steering got stuck at one point and 33 had some carburetor issues, but the team finished off the race pretty strong.

Baja hosts an annual Alumni Tailgate, and this years’ was hosted for the Northwestern v. Iowa football game. It was great for all of Baja’s alumni to come together and cheer on the Hawks.