President's Report - May 2010

Hello SWE-MN!

Welcome to our new and improved HTML-enabled newsletter! Many thanks go to our webmaster, Senja Lopac, and newsletter editors, Rozaane Johnson and Melissa Rhodes, for the hard work put into making this a reality. We hope that you enjoy our new format and we welcome your feedback!
As I start to reflect as the end of the fiscal year draws near, I find that there is still so much happening in SWE-MN this year. The Wow! That’s Engineering event sponsored by Xcel Energy and our first annual Holiday Auction was a great success this past month. We still have many great upcoming networking and outreach events – check out our calendar at here. I’m so proud of everything that our section is achieving this year and I look forward to everything to come. You will notice our FY11 leadership begin to transition into the SWE-MN workings in the near future and I am so excited to see what new directions the section charts.

Until next month!
lisa

VP Spotlight - May 2010

Click on the picture to go to the website

To highlight some of the SWE National Goals, I wanted to make us aware of some SWE public policy documents. Check out the national website, Public Policy: http://societyofwomenengineers.swe.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=180&Itemid=289

From this website, SWE concentrates on the following three areas related to public policy:
1. Strengthening America’s schools as presented in the SWE’s general position statement, "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education and the Need for a Technologically Literate Workforce"
2. How Title IX can be applied to STEM fields as presented in SWE’s general position statement, "The Application of Title IX to the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Fields"
3. Strengthen the STEM workforce by ensuring equal opportunity for women in STEM education and careers as stated in SWE's general position statement, "SWE General Position Statement on Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action"

Check out these documents online! If you haven’t read them previously, it gives great insight into the organizational goals and policies!

Thanks, Cassie

SWE Networking - May 2010

Click on the picture to RSVP

New Members - May 2010

All, Please join me in giving a warm welcome to our new members:

Binita Sinha
Judith Slater
Jessica Weber










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Outreach - May 2010

Here’s a closer look at the day’s event:

Brilliant Bracelets
Hosted by volunteers from the Institute of Industrial Engineers, this session exposed the girls to process improvement and efficiency strategies. The girls first began by assembling bracelets with a difficult system (supplies unorganized and no roles assigned). Then the teams made improvements to simplify the assembly process and get the job done much easier and quicker. With the defined roles and instructions, it was obvious that the assembly procedure would go much quicker and without as many mistakes! At the end, all the girls were able to take home a bracelet they had made.

Egg Mobile
The Egg Mobile is one of SWE-MN’s favorite activities mainly because it provides students will different aspects of engineering besides the technical and scientific parts. The goal of the Egg Mobile is to design a Lego car that can safely travel down a ramp carrying a very fragile passenger, Mr. Raw Egg! Girls must work in groups to design the best and safest car that not only will go far but will also pass the safety crash test. Groups must design the car with a budget and schedule in mind as well. Although we did have some car crashes and Mr. Raw Egg experienced some injuries, the girls left this session with a better understanding of how engineers must work together under strict limitations.

Silly Putty
Girls were able to combine household ingredients (Borax, water, glue, and food coloring) to turn molecules into polymers! Before getting their hands dirty, girls learned about chemical engineering and material properties. They even got to play around with the original Silly Putty before making their own. The elastic properties of the silly putty showed the girls that when certain substances are combined (in a specific order), a change occurs and a product is yielded.

Circuit Bugs
Circuit Bugs are simple little electro-mechanical insects that respond to movement, wind, and vibrations by blinking their LED (light-emitting diode) eyes. This experiment allowed the girls to bring out their creative sides. The girls first created a circuit with a coin-cell battery, copper tubing, music wire and colored LEDS. Once their circuit was made, the girls got to be creative and make a bug out of pipe cleaners. They then attached the circuit on their bugs and learned that when the circuit was closed, the eyes lit up!

Engineering Press Conference
During the Engineering Press Conference, girls were able to ask questions to real live female engineers! Questions ranged from “what do you wear to work?” to “how much money do you make?”. The girls were challenged to take time to think about what they want to do when they grow up and to make this decision wisely. The girls were also introduced with some great resources online and in the area for more opportunities to learn about science, engineering, and technology fields for women!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

SWE_MN Outreach at the Normandale STEM Equity Initiative Spring Event

Egg Mobile and Panel with STEPS Camp!

Spool Racers with Higher Ground Academy!

Any questions, concerns, comments, or suggestions, please let us know!
Lesley and Kalyani

Email us at outreach@swe-mn.org

Membership - May 2010

It’s That Time Again!! Membership Renewal - Our fiscal year is coming to a close and during May and June. You may have already seen an e-mail message from HQ to renew. Please go to www.swe.org/renew to renew your membership or to www.swe.org/join.

Recap - Networking with the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) at a Summit Brewery Tour on May 1st
Thank you all for attending the brewery tour and networking lunch! We had a great turn out and learned about the brewing process and the history of beer. We learned that a lot of the history of beer starts with women and how they were a major influence as the beer making process evolved. We toured their brewery and saw huge metal copper kettles from a German brewery that boils the mash and also the room where they do their bottling, which is a used system from Sierra Nevada. After the tour, we headed over to Famous Dave’s and enjoyed lunch and conversation with the members of SAME and networked.
Thank to Rachel Pichelmann, my SAME counter part for helping make this event possible.

Ideas?

Looking for ideas on happy hours or networking events you would like to see! Send membership an e-mail and give us any suggestions you have for a happy hour location or networking event you would like to see. There’s been suggestion to have a networking lunch around the Arden Hills/Roseville area. Anyone interested in picking a date and location? Please e-mail membership if interested

Do you have an idea on a networking event? Do you live outside the Twin Cities or in the Twin Cities but don’t want to drive? The membership and professional development committees have put together “Networking-in-a-box”, so you can host your own event. This kit instructs how to advertise to SWE-MN members and how to setup the event. Just e-mail membership@swe-mn.org for the kit and details.

We look forward to seeing you at upcoming SWE-MN events!!!

Scholarship - May 2010

Minnesota Section Corporate Partnership Scholarship Program Update

As this edition of the newsletter was being compiled, the Scholarship Committee was still working to determine the recipients of our Fall 2010 scholarships. Look for an announcement of the Fall 2010 recipients in our next newsletter, coming in June. There will be an awards banquet to recognize the recipients (and all the other great things our section has accomplished this year) on June 7th.

Awards Banquet!

Contact Janette Spann at awards@swe-mn.org for more information.

Certificate of Merit Program Reaches New Heights!
Submitted by Naomi Brill, SWE-MN Certificate of Merit Coordinator

The SWE Certificate of Merit program is designed to honor high school girls with outstanding achievement in science and mathematics coursework. Award recipients must have completed three years of science and three years of mathematics with distinction, and they must be active citizens in their school and/or community. We provide their school with a certificate of recognition which is presented to the student at the school’s year-end awards ceremony. This year, we sent 141 certificates to students at 84 different schools in Minnesota!

In typical years, SWE Minnesota sends 80-90 certificates to girls at about 50 schools. This year’s requests for recognition represent an increase of more than 50% over past participation levels! In addition to achievement in science and math courses, for the first time, we recognized 11 girls for excellence in engineering and technology coursework completed through Project Lead the Way.

Our Certificate of Merit program provides us with an annual survey (albeit not absolutely scientific) of the career aspirations of Minnesota’s academically prepared girls. Seventy-six girls answered our question “What is your intended college major?” Of those 76 girls, 34 indicated engineering as their intended college major. Many of them further indicated a specific discipline within engineering. Another 19 girls indicated their intent to major in science, math, or related disciplines. Guidance counselors from all parts of Minnesota nominate our Certificate of Merit recipients, and the girls self-identify their intended college major. Implausible as it may seem, of the 76 academically prepared young Minnesota women who indicated an intended college major on their Certificate of Merit nomination form, almost 70% of them are planning on majoring in a STEM discipline. Looking at the total sample of 141 academically prepared girls (which includes both juniors and seniors), the percentage of girls indicating their intent to major in a STEM discipline is still an astonishing 38%. This is the second consecutive year our certificate recipients have indicated high interest in STEM disciplines for their college studies!

COR Report - May 2010

2011 Region H Conference

FY11 Region H Committee Openings
Nominations are being taken for FY11 Region H Committee Chair positions. The following committees have openings: Assessment, Nominating, Awards, Celebrate SWE, and Procedures. If you are interested in any of these positions, please contact the FY10 Region H Governor, Elizabeth Bierman, at ekbierman@yahoo.com for further details. For a complete description of each chair’s responsibilities, please contact the FY10 Region H Secretary, John Kasab, at SWE_RegionH_Secretary@yahoo.com.

SWE Leadership Coaching
Are you interested in helping fellow professional members develop strong leadership skills, both in SWE and the professional world? If so, Region H is looking to increase the number of leadership coaches available to professional sections. SWE leadership coaches are trained by SWE and travel to sections to present leadership modules and training sessions. If you are interested in a coaching position, contact Elizabeth Bierman, FY10 Region H Governor, at ekbierman@yahoo.com.

New Section Chartering Banquets
There have been two newly added professional sections to Region H, the Cedar Valley Section and the South Central Michigan Section. The Cedar Valley Chartering Banquet was held on Saturday, April 24, 2010 in Waterloo, IA. Members of the Region H Executive Council were in attendance.

WE10 – The Annual Conference for Women Engineers – Registration is Open!
WE10 is the largest and most comprehensive gathering of forward-thinking women engineers and technologists. Adding to the already high energy of WE10, the culmination of our year long SWE 60th Anniversary Celebration will provide inspiration and spike enthusiasm. Throughout the conference participants will experience numerous career-shaping opportunities, as well as draw from the energy of SWE’s strong past and promising future to launch innovation and define success.

Click on picture to go to website

Please feel free to contact us at cor@swe-mn.org with your comments, questions or concerns.

Jenna, Lindsey and Charlene

Resume Tips: Five Ways to Grab Employers' Attention

With today's level of competition for good jobs your resume has got only one chance to make a great first impression. To be considered for interviews your resume must have that special something that grabs the reader's attention and motivates them to call you. Here are five strategies for transforming a blah document into a WOW resume that will get employers calling you.

1. Keep your focus clear and to the point.
The first thing potential employers need to know is what you do and the position you are interested in. In the past job seekers have used an objective statement at the top of their resume to indicate their employment interest. With the lightning speed scanning approach that recruiters take in viewing resumes, a wordy, vague objective statement taking up three or more lines of text just doesn't get the job done. In most cases they don't get read.

Instead, write a short, direct professional summery that clearly illustrates your career focus. Your statement should include your profession, how long you've done it and your particular areas of expertise. Something to the effect of:
Senior purchasing professions with 10 years' procurement expertise in: strategic sourcing, contract negotiation, financial analysis, strategic planning, leadership, contract law and process improvement.

Remember, your resume is not an historical tell-all. To keep your focus clear make sure that everything following in your resume relates to your focus. Leave off extraneous details.

2. Stuff your resume with key words.
The more key words you use the more frequently your resume will show up in online searches like LinkedIn, TheLadders and CareerBuilder, etc.. Additionally, employer resume data bases also use key words to query for qualifying candidates. Without appropriate key words your resume will be electronically ignored. Without key words, your resume is being shot off into a black void each time you submit it.

A good way to make sure your resume is full of key words is to check it against job postings. Use as many of the key words found in the responsibilities and qualifications sections of job postings. As much as you can, match up your terminology with what you find in job postings.

3. Keep your resume reader-friendly.
Nothing gets ignored like a resume full of lengthy blocks of text. No one has time to read through that much information. Resume screeners need to be able to absorb your information quickly. Leave out extraneous details so that key facts show up easily. Separate blocks of text into smaller easy-to-digest snippets of information. Use white space to separate bullet points so that each stand out. Be sure that your font size is readable: nothing smaller than 11 point.

4. Include plenty of accomplishments.
If you want to stand out from the crowd you must include accomplishments throughout your resume. Write accomplishments that show how you solve universal problems such as saving time, cutting costs, improving performance and increasing customer satisfaction. Your accomplishments should stand out on your resume in bullets separate from your responsibilities. Don't make the common mistake of combining responsibilities and accomplishments in a long list of bullets. List your responsibilities in a small block of text and your accomplishments in bullet form following.

5. Get your best information on page one.
It's true, if you can't grab their attention on page one they won't stick it out to find out the wonderful things you've got on page two or three. This presents a problem for those who experienced their most productive work five or more years back. The solution is to use the hybrid resume format that allows you to create a highlight of accomplishments section at the top of page one of your resume. This area of your resume is reserved for the best examples of your work. The accomplishments you include should illustrate the key transferable skills needed for the position you are interested in.

Don't delay in implementing these resume changes. Employers are waiting for you with opportunities for a better career and a better life.

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Get to Know SWE-MN - May 2010

FEATURING: Senja Lopac

I was introduced to SWE in 2008, directly after finishing graduate school and moving back to the Twin Cities area. Due to a small female engineering population, my university only had a “Women in Engineering and Science” program, so I was looking forward to meeting others from every engineering discipline and background. Being a former Girl Scout, I was also looking forward to assisting with Girl Scout Patch Day, and encouraging younger girls to consider engineering as a future career path. I had considered the engineering path since I was in eighth grade, thanks in part to a statewide math competition being sponsored by an engineering organization, and now realize how my decision would have been positively impacted by having a female engineering role model to look up to. I currently serve as SWE-MN’s webmaster and member of the scholarship committee.

I received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2005. In addition to my studies, I participated in an internship, a co-op, and an undergraduate research program. I discovered I really enjoyed the research side of engineering, and decided to head to graduate school. I spent two years attaining my master’s degree in chemical engineering from Iowa State University in 2008. My thesis involved utilizing biodegradable polyanhydrides microspheres as drug delivery mechanisms. My project allowed me to step over to the “other side” and experience the scientist’s world: synthesizing polymers, producing microspheres, culturing cells, in-vivo testing on mice, and learning various laboratory techniques.

I am currently employed at Beckman Coulter as a Development Scientist in Immunoassay R&D. Immunoassays are biochemical tests used to detect and measure the amount of a substance in a biological liquid, such as serum or urine. Beckman Coulter manufactures both immunoassay instrumentation and test kits at our Chaska site. My last project was working in product development on a novel chemistry detection method for implementation on a new line of immunoassay analyzers. I recently started on a new project involving test method validations on our manufacturing line.

I’m originally from Chisholm, MN; being from the Iron Range practically requires one to learn the sport of curling. I’ve been curling since I was 14, and recently became reacquainted with the sport after a few years off for graduate studies. I curl in a few leagues out of the St. Paul club, and spend most of my weekend bonspieling (curling tournaments); I even had the opportunity to curl in two national events, including one this past December in Seattle. I also enjoy exploring the Twin Cities, spending weekends at my cabin, attending concerts, and working on genealogy.

Please go to the SWE-MN website to see more of our sections events and opportunities!