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.

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