SEE WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO
Last Sunday, May 4, 2014, was the second annual SWE End of the Year Brunch. The brunch's purpose is to take a nice break from finals, enjoy a nice meal with fellow members, and commemorate notable members of the organization. The event gives the members a recap of the year and a reminder of all the hard work and great accomplishments made.
The event was beautifully planned by the 2013-2014 executive members and was held in the notorious Montpelier Room at James Madison University. Present were National SWE members Colleen Layman (who generously helped sponsored the event) and Mary Perkinson. Members of all different graduating classes were there, five who are graduating this coming Saturday. The event included a slideshow displaying photos from all the events held this year. Photos included group pictures taken at the Region E Conference at Virginia Tech, to engaging action shots during the EYH Conference in Memorial Hall. The food served was deliciously cooked breakfast food: fresh fruit, scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, biscuits, and herb potatoes. The room was filled with chatter and laughter. The executive members started by recapping the year. It was mentioned that this past year was the year that SWE held the most events, which is a great step forward! This past year also consisted of regularly-held meetings. A fun and competitive incentive for members to attend more meetings, the executive held a point system and designated a certain amount of points for each event. Melissa Bernazani and Winifred Opoku had the most amount of points, attending the most and second most amount of meetings and events, respectively. The executive board also announced the new positions for the upcoming 2014-2015 year. Senior Mallory Draeger passes her duties to former Vice President, Genna D'Antonio, who also has been with SWE back in the early roots. Towards the end, the members celebrated the graduating seniors, who will be graduating in the College of Integrated Science and Engineering this Saturday, May 10, 2014. For photos from this event, visit the gallery link on this website.
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Every year in March James Madison University hosts the Expanding Your Horizons Conference, a conference to accelerate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to young girls grades 6 through 10. Multiple campus groups and academic departments lead workshops that the young students can sign up for. This was the third year that the JMU Society of Women Engineers participated, also the third year where three workshops were requested and easily filled up.
The engineering workshop explored the many discipline of engineering one can enter to learn and pursue a career. The workshop then transition into the importance of design and geometry when designing and building a long-lasting structure, such as a bridge. The young girls are then asked to partake in a challenge--to build a candy structure that can withstand large amounts of "candy loads!" Teams of two were given materials such as gumdrops, toothpicks, Twizzlers, etc. The team with the structure that holds the most amount of candy wins the challenge. It's a great challenge that is really thought-provoking; "what shapes will be the most sturdiest?", "how can I make this bridge self-standing?", "how can I evenly distribute the materials?" The challenge and the hands-on experience seems to make the workshop a lot of fun. One parent at the conference said, "Last year we saw girls carrying around large structures of candy and we knew we HAD to sign up early for the engineering workshop." Not only do the students have fun, but also the workshop leaders! Dr. Jacquelyn Nagel and the members of the Society of Women Engineers always have fun at this conference every year. The JMU SWE Section 112 at James Madison University has a lot of accomplishments they should be proud of. They are starting out to be a very motivated and energized organization during the first semester coming back being a charted SWE section. In October, JMU SWE were able to obtain a grant to allow the officers to attend the National SWE Conference WE13 held in Baltimore, Maryland. The officers, senior Mallory Draeger, juniors Genevieve D'Antonio and Bartlett Jones, and sophomore Vivian Diep were also accompanied by their fearless faculty advisor, Dr. Jacquelyn Nagel. The group enjoyed their time at the conference and the surrounding area in the National Harbor. The JMU section were mentioned at the conference a couple times because of their new, instated status. This was the first national conference that JMU SWE participated in.
Section 112 also celebrated their chartering banquet over this weekend, November 9th, 2013. Not only were the current members invited, but professors, regional leaders, alumni, and other close campus SWE sections were invited to the event. The banquet was elegant; beautiful flower arrangements on every table that complimented the university's colors, organized itinerary that was professional yet relaxed, and a fun mix-and-mingle with the students and regional leaders. The itinerary also included recognition of past leaders, the physical chartered being given to president, Mallory Draeger, and a beautiful and motivated keynote speech made by the delightful Mrs. Peggy Layne. The members have so much to look forward into the future, especially with such a great start. Although the section has been tremendously busy planning the chartering banquet and attending the four-day conference, they had found ways to enjoy themselves and relaxed. Some members went to University Park and engaged in an adventurous ropes course. The 2013 officers and members has so much to provide to the table and there should be a lot to expect this upcoming year. For photos of all three events, visit the photo gallery. After almost two years of being a small organization, the James Madison University Society of Women Engineers was officially chartered as a national section in May. The section is now a part of the E-Regional section, which covers the mid-Atlantic area from New York to Virginia. Not only was it great news to the section to be chartered, but the organization also garnered recognition with the university itself. This recent accomplishment was published in the university's student-run newspaper, The Breeze. The article states, "JMU’s charter with the Society of Women Engineers has ushered in new opportunities and change for the organization and its members." Read the full article here.
Started in 2005, James Madison University Engineering was a young program with their first class graduating May of 2012. The program was modeled for students to obtain an interdisciplinary degree that encompasses the ideas of sustainability, design, and systems analysis. ABET is an organization that accredits college and university science, technology, engineering, and computing programs. With an ABET accreditation, the organization ensures that the university program meets the standards and quality established by the profession the program formulates. "Madison engineering is meeting the rigor that the engineering profession expects," The news broke out to students and alumni on September 3, 2013. To read the full JMU article, click here. Click on the following links for more information on ABET and the JMU Engineering Program History. |
Paulina HoangJMU Engineeirng Alum ('13), former section president, and serving now as the section's external counselor. Archives
August 2020
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