Society of Women Engineers at SUNY New Paltz
10/04/2007
Left to right: Ian Ralls, Andrew Crimmins, Stephanie Genesee, Christina Apatow, Clara Enuma, Carimaxy Benitez, Lisa Mohr, Amanda Flores, Michelle Feliciano, and Harrison Carranza.
The SUNY New Paltz Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has formed a Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Collegiate Section under the guidance of Lecturer Michael Otis.
SWE, founded in 1950, is a not-for-profit educational and service organization. It is the driving force in establishing engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women. SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and be recognized for their life-changing contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders.
The motivation for establishing a collegiate section at SUNY New Paltz is first and foremost to keep women engineering students interested in engineering. In the past, a large percentage of these women would continue at SUNY New Paltz, but change their major to something more traditional for women. Hopefully, SWE will help keep women interested in engineering and attract new students into the program. As liaison, Mike will provide these budding engineers with resources and activities such as guest speakers, mentors, field trips, job fairs, and many other networking opportunities. The soon-to-be official section is open to any SUNY New Paltz students; women or men, whether engineers or not.
The group has been very busy. Four meetings have been held this semester and the following officers have been elected: President - Christina Apatow, Vice President - Carimaxy Benitez, Treasurer - Amanda Flores, and Secretary - Michelle Feliciano. They’ve also had IBM Senior Engineer, Lisa Mohr, speak of her experiences as a woman in engineering. Upcoming plans for next month include a visit from the Mid-Hudson professional section of SWE and a field trip to one of our local high-tech industries – Panasonic Plasma Display Laboratory of America in Highland.
IBM Senior Engineer Lisa Mohr (left center) speaks about her experiences as a woman in engineering.
