President's Report - January/February 2011

At the 2010 National Conference, the Region awarded Minnesota the Continuous Improvement award for our Fund Development program and I look forward to continuing the momentum this year with our Winter Fundraiser and Silent Auction on Friday January 21st. Please consider joining with other members at Spill the Wine in Minneapolis for an evening of eats, wine tasting, and donation towards our SWE-MN programs. Here is some more information about this event.

Reflecting the past half of the fiscal year I am proud of the leadership team in their efforts. The section was recognized for its work last fiscal year with the awards presented at the National Conference. With New Year’s resolutions on the mind also come SWE-MN nominations. On January 8th there will be a Leadership Coaching session at 10:30am at SEH in Vadnais Heights. Let me know at president@swe-mn.org if you would like to join us for this hour with Cathy Krier as we learn about membership strategies. Thank you to everyone for renewing your membership by December and continuing your participation with the society. If you want to become involved next fiscal year starting in July on the executive board please start to talk to the current officers and committee chairs about their positions. Before the Spring Seminar we will be looking for officer nominations and committee chairs following. Lesley and I would welcome the opportunity to chat with you on how you would like to contribute to the society leadership.

There are many more exciting programs planned for the next half of the fiscal year. After our membership fundraiser in January, there is Engineers Week in February. The Outreach committee has many events planned for volunteers to maximize the community impact on teaching about engineering during this national recognition week, but volunteer assistance is needed to complete this undertaking. The highlight of March to me is the annual Professional Development Spring Seminar. There is a stimulating line up of sessions being pulled together by the committee for Saturday, March 12th at Honeywell. Throughout the remainder of this coming year there will be many more Professional Development and Membership programs publicized in the weekly emails and on our website, so read the emails or check out the monthly calendar on the web http://www.swe-mn.org/.

I hope that you have all enjoyed the holidays with some rest and fun with friends and family. Welcome to 2011 where I expect you can continue to see dynamic programming from our section to participate in.

Happy New Year to You,

Angela

VP Article - January/February 2011

At my department’s annual New Year kick off meeting, a manager of mine challenges all of us to do one thing better each year. Although I have heard this same spiel from him for the past three years, each year it sticks with me. As the leader of our department, he tells the 65 or so of us that if each of us does one thing better each year, then every year as a department, we will do 65 things better. If the “one thing” was up to him, I’m sure it would have something to do with the efficiency of our daily work, the performance of our products, or the time to market of our upcoming projects, but as he motivates us, he leaves it pretty open ended ☺

As we begin 2011, I encourage each of you to do as my manager encourages me and “Do 1 thing better in 2011!” As a section of almost 200 members, we have the ability to do 200 things better this year! Similar to my manager, I do have a bias of what the one thing is….something to do with SWE! Maybe you would like to improve your communication or leadership skills, or maybe you would like to contribute more to the Outreach committee, or maybe you have been saying you were going to attend a networking lunch or happy hour but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Be sure to check out the SWE-MN calendar and find what it is that interests you and think about something you can do better in the New Year!

Of course, I would like to encourage you to do at least one thing better in your daily, professional, and family life, but don’t forget your SWE life when you are making your new year’s resolutions!

~Lesley

Scholarships

The Minnesota Section of the Society of Women Engineers is pleased to announce our

Section and Corporate Partner Scholarships for Fall Semester 2011

We are offering nine tuition-based scholarships

for women students in engineering and computer science

at schools in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota

THANK YOU to our corporate partners who have made these scholarships possible!

Banner Engineering Scholarship

• $2,000 scholarship for a student of mechanical or electrical engineering
• Banner Engineering is the sensor market leader with the broadest line of products and solutions in the nation. See www.baneng.com for more information

Boston Scientific Scholarship

• $1,500 scholarship for a student of biomedical or mechanical engineering
• Boston Scientific is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices who, for more than 25 years, has advanced the practice of less-invasive medicine by providing a broad and deep portfolio of innovative products, technologies and services. For further information, visit www.bsci.com

General Dynamics AIS Scholarships

• $1,000 scholarship for a student of electrical or computer engineering
• General Dynamics AIS is a leading provider of transformational mission solutions in command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. See www.gd-ais.com

Lockheed Martin Scholarships

• $1,500 scholarship for a student of electrical systems engineering
• $1,000 scholarship for a student of mechanical engineering
• Lockheed Martin’s vision is to be the world’s best advanced technology systems integrator. Visit www.lockheedmartin.com, for more information

Medtronic SWEnet Scholarship

• Two $1,000 scholarships for students of biomedical, chemical, mechanical or electrical engineering
• SWEnet is a professional network of Society of Women Engineers members who work at Medtronic, the global leader in medical technology. These dedicated women have donated their time and talents to create this scholarship opportunity. For further information on Medtronic, see www.medtronic.com

MTS Systems Corporation Scholarship

• $1,500 scholarship for a student of mechanical or software engineering
• MTS Systems Corporation is the world’s leading supplier of mechanical testing and simulation equipment. For more information, visit www.mts.com

The Minnesota Section Scholarship

• $1,500 scholarship for a full time women student enter her junior or senior year of an accredited engineering or computer science program at schools in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
• This scholarship is funded by an endowment of the Minnesota Section of SWE.

Please help us to bring this opportunity to the attention of all women engineering students in Minnesota, North Dakota, or South Dakota by passing it along to any faculty, staff, counselors, and students who you know at these schools! Copies of this announcement, details on our program, the application form with instructions, and details of the judging criteria can be obtained by going to www.swe-mn.org and clicking on “scholarships”. If you have further questions about SWE or our scholarship program, please contact us.

Naomi Brill or Holly Kimball at scholarships@swe-mn.org

Outreach - Recap and Upcoming Events - January/February 2011

Upcoming Events

Events Recap

Read more about the Girl Scout Patch Day here

Fund Development - January/February 2011

Make a donation to the silent auction!

Sample donations can include: sporting event tickets, restaurant gift certificate, music lessons, wine, DVDs, spa packages, gift baskets, and more!

Donation Request Form: http://www.swe-mn.org/donate.pdf

Funds raised will go toward programs for member and community activities to promote engineering to students of all ages.

Thanks for your support!

Get to Know SWE-MN: Shanna Kent

I was first introduced to SWE as a student in 2008 where I attended the 2008 Region H Conference in Peoria, Illinois. Since then, SWE has continued to provide excellent continuing education, networking and volunteer opportunities.

I attended Minnesota State University, Mankato where I received my undergraduate degree in 2008. Being from South Central Minnesota, the opportunity to join the Minnesota Department of Transportation at the Mankato Office was a perfect fit. I currently work in the design section providing assistance to the District Hydraulic Engineer and project management. I also served nine years in the Army National Guard as a Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic. During that time I worked 9 months full time for the New Ulm Maintenance Shop and completed an 18 month deployment with 11 months stationed near Tikrit, Iraq.

My husband and I enjoy traveling north to escape the sea of cornfields whenever we get the chance. I also enjoy lake sports, scrapbooking and reading a good book when I can fit it in. When that isn’t enough, I have a pair of rottweilers that always keeps me on my toes.

Membership - January/February 2011

New Members:

Feed My Starving Children Recap:

Thursday, December 9^th we had a great turnout for a new service event for SWE-MN.  11 SWE-MN members (including family/friends) met up at the Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) facility in Coon Rapids to pack meals to feed children in Zimbabwe (where this shipment of meals will be headed).  The night started out with networking and a happy hour at a nearby restaurant and ended with great camaraderie packing meals with a lot of other volunteers.  Our shift of volunteers packed over 80 boxes of food, enough to feed 18 children for an entire year! 

If you’ve never been to FMSC, it is a wonderful organization dedicated to feeding children and their families in some of the most destitute areas in the world.  I highly encourage everyone to get a group of friends or co-workers together sometime to volunteer at one of their facilities or mobile events.  It is super easy to sign-up (online!) and is only about an 1 ½ hour time commitment.  Check out their website for more information:  www.fmsc.org

We are planning to do another service event in the spring, so please forward on any ideas you have to Lynn or Nicole at membership@swe-mn.org