Professional Development - February/March 2011

18th Annual Professional Development Spring Seminar: Forging



Please join us for the 18th Annual Professional Development Spring Seminar sponsored by the Society of Women Engineers. The Spring Seminar provides an excellent opportunity for professional and personal growth. The seminar will consist of 4 sessions featuring an array of topics. With multiple speakers per session, each attendee can personalize his or her own experience.

Date: Saturday, March 12, 2011

Time: 8:30 am - 4:00 pm

Location: Honeywell Learning Center

1985 Douglas Drive North

Golden Valley, MN 55422

Cost: $55 for members, $80 for non-members, $30 for unemployed members / college students

Questions: Email Jacalyn or Katrina at pd@swe-mn.org

Breakfast and lunch are included in the cost of registration

For more information on the event, including the day's agenda, please check out www.swe-mn.org/springseminar2011.html
For event registration and payment, please click here

WIN Presentation Recap

On Thursday, February 10th, the Women In Nuclear (WIN) group at PaR Nuclear hosted SWE-MN for an
educational evening about nuclear power. After an enlightening presentation by Sara Mancell from WIN,
SWE-MN members were showed around PaR Nuclear’s manufacturing area, where the purpose of each piece of equipment was explained. We learned valuable information about how nuclear power is produced, today’s energy market, and the industry’s many safeguards. SWE-MN would like to thank Sara Mancell and WIN for a fantastic event!

Upcoming PD Committee Meeting

The PD Committee will be having a committee planning meeting to discuss final details for the Spring Seminar. We would love to have you join us at the meeting!

When: February 23, 2011

Location: Panera at

6064 Shingle Creek Parkway

Brooklyn Center, MN 55430

The PD committee is still looking for more members to discuss ideas and help out with events. If you have any questions or suggestions, or would like to join the Professional Development Committee, please contact Katrina Sanders or Jacalyn St. Dennis at pd@swe-mn.org.

FY11 Professional Development Schedule

The tentative schedule for Professional Development Events is as follows. More details to come!

February 23rd – PD Committee Meeting at Panera
March 12th – SWE-MN Spring Seminar at the Honeywell Learning Center
April – Mayo Tour & Speaker in Rochester
May – Microsoft event at Mall of America, TBD

Outreach - February/March 2011

Spark Slime Speed, Feb 20th at the science museum, we are positioned to have a great event w/ everything planned and volunteers settled. Should be an exciting new experience in a free section of the museum!

Tech Fest, Feb 26th

Wow! That's Engineering Committee Members Needed 

Awards and Recognition!

Congratulations to SWE-MN!!

SWE-MN Professional Section took home the honors at this year’s National Conference!

National 2010 Awards:

• Professional Development Event Award for “Sustaining Ourselves and Our Skills” – First Place (Spring Seminar)
• Strategic Communications Award, Newsletter – Third Place

Region H 2010 Awards:

• Outreach Award
• Continuous Improvement Award

And last but not least – Congratulations to Region H for winning the Spirit Award at National Conference!

These awards are a huge affirmation that SWE-MN is on the right path! Congratulations to the many people who make these possible.

For Individual National Award Recipients, please click here
For more information about the awards and recipients, please visit the SWE Magazine's online conference issue here 

Remember; the time to apply for Individual National Awards is approaching for 2011!  
Applications are due March 31 and some of them take a long time to gather – these are serious awards!
Contact Cassie at awards@swe-mn.org for help with applications!

Fund Development - February/March 2011

Thank you to all of those who contributed to our winter fundraiser!

Get to Know Swe-MN: Melissa Kaufman Perlmutter

I was introduced to SWE my first week at Cornell University, when I was invited to attend a Welcome Picnic. I was impressed by the friendly, enthusiastic members, and have been involved with SWE ever since. I have held positions including Cornell Section President, Region E collegiate webmaster, and I am currently involved with National SWE as a member of the Collegiate Interest Committee.

Since moving to Minneapolis, I have loved being a part of SWE-MN, and I am currently the Fund Development Chair – thanks everyone for making our Winter Fundraiser last month such a success!

Melissa and I at the Winter Fundraiser

I received my B.S. in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell in 2006. After graduation, I joined GE’s Operations Management Leadership Program, and spent two years completing four assignments in Supply Chain, moving back and forth between Cincinnati and Boston. In the summer of 2008, I transferred to GE in Minnetonka to join my husband Jason, who is completing his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Every time I moved, I always connected with the local SWE section and immediately had a network in my new home.

I am now working as a Sourcing Specialist for GE Water and Process Technologies, a producer of water treatment products and filtration equipment. I spend my time searching for the highest quality/least expensive supply of material to feed the manufacturing process.

Outside of work and SWE, I enjoy traveling, seeing shows at the local theaters, attending the different outdoor season festivals around the Twin Cities, and I can’t wait for the snow to melt so I can go jogging around lakes.

Notre Dame in Paris

Section Representatives - February/March 2011

Region H Conference at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

The conference was hosted by University of Michigan, Ann Arbor from February 4-6, 2011 was attended by over 600 members. It started off with Collegiate Upgrade Event and Presidents Meeting on Friday. There were many Networking and Social events like SWE Carnival with exciting activities, carnival snacks and more; a Networking Casino hosted by representatives from different companies; a SWE Café to catch up with old friends over coffee and pastries. There was also a Dance performance by students and WALL-E showing that night.

The events on Saturday began with a breakfast speech by Dr. Nancy Love, Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental, University of Michigan. She talked about the importance of conference theme “Going Green”. The keynote speaker, Pamela Fletcher is Global Chief Engineer at Chevrolet Volt & Plug-In Hybrid Electric Powertrains, General Motors. She shared some of the measures taken by GM towards Going Green.

At the joint member meeting, the bid for next Region H Conference was won by University of Wisconsin, Madison. The conference would be hosted on February 17-19, 2012 at the Madison Concourse Hotel and Conference Center. At the professional business meeting, the slate for FY12 was announced for the following positions: Lt Governor, Senator, Secretary, Treasurer, Alt Senator and Region H Rep to National Nominating Committee.

The sessions covered topics related to Going Green, professional development, career development and topics related to SWE and SWE sections success. The networking lunch provided a great opportunity for members to interact with representatives from many companies. The Career Fair had over 50 companies some of which were Medtronic, Cummins, Caterpillar, Rockwell Automation etc. There were some tours offered for the members: The Big House, Adaptive Materials – a leader in portable fuel cell power, University of Michigan Museum of Art and the Lurie Nanofabrication Facility.

At dinner, the Dean of Engineering from University of Michigan, Prof. David C. Munson Jr. welcomed all the SWE members, talked about the importance of the theme “Going Green” and it was followed by the State of SWE Address by Stacey Minch DelVecchio, Treasurer of SWE. The keynote speaker of the night was Elizabeth Iversen, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Navigation Systems Division, Northrop Grumman Corporation who shared her story with us with great messages about taking risks and making choices.

Left to Right: Charlene Willenbring, Kalyani Mallela and Lindsey Roberts McKenzie

Please feel free to contact us at sectionrep@swe-mn.org with your comments, questions or concerns. Please note the new email address!

Kalyani, Lindsey and Charlene

Help with the Newsletter!

Calling all SWE-MN members!
We are looking for some help with the newsletter. With the improvement of our newsletter and implementation of html, we are struggling to keep up with only one editor. If you are interested in joining our executive council as a newsletter editor, or would like to know more information (i.e. time commitment, technicalities etc), please e-mail Roz Johnson at newsletter@swe-mn.org or rozaanejonson@gmail.com.