SWE Blog

WE08 Part 4: Where is that work-life balance everyone keeps talking about?

2009-02-08T09:35:00.002-05:00

Here is the last of our posts to wrap-up the 2008 SWE National Conference. Three short days certainly seems like a whole month of experience looking back!

Megan:The keynote breakfast started my official conference experience. The charming Paz Gomez of the Navy was asked to speak on the popular topic of work-life balance. Captain Gomez is a working mother of twins, and shared her story of the priorities and choices she makes in order to make her life work. Several times, she used the phrase, “Well, she can do it, so maybe I can to” to describe how she viewed her mentors and how she may be able to help others. She describes one of the major benefits that I find in SWE – the strong examples of women who have paved the way by structuring their lives around their goals. Captain Gomez also stressed a point I have heard from several other speakers – that ultimately, work life balance choices must be personal. The woman I want to become is someone who fulfills the qualities of these women – clear priorities, faith in themselves, and strong networking, but in the end, she must still be me.

Bianca: The keynote speech was given by Navy Captain Paz Gomez. She was introduced by Rear Admiral Hamby, a female Navy Admiral who started out by saying “Let me find my notes… Oh, nope that's not it, this is my crossword puzzle… oh, here they are, under my knitting” to emphasize the importance of having a little fun and keep your mind sharp in creative ways. Rear Admiral Hamby emphasized Captain Gomez’s ability to handle her own work-life balance by knowing the difference between the most urgent and the most important things in life. She also reminded us of the need to “Put your own oxygen mask on first” in terms of remembering that if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to take care of others. I really like thinking of it this way. Often it seems like the needs of others are more important - you'll take care of yourself later, when you have time. But the thing is you won't have time and if you're not getting what you need, then you won't be able to do your best for others either.

Gomez told her story of becoming a civil engineer and joining the Navy. She is the 5th woman to make Navy Captain in the Civil Engineering Corps, and the first to have a husband and children. She offered some of her own advice on how to handle work life balance, and my favorite comment was that while she may read and write e-mails on her Blackberry outside of work hours, she waits to send those messages until the start of the workday. She also asked herself, on the audience’s behalf, what is it that doesn’t get done for the sake of worklife balance? I was impressed that she thought to ask this question. She, like I suspect many of us, leaves house work off the list of priorities until guests are coming over. She also emphasized having your own definition of worklife balance and described hers in the following way:

“If you ask my husband and children, if they are proud that I am a Navy Captain, I know they will say “Yes!” If you ask my husband and children if I spend enough time with them, I know they will say “No”. But if you asked them if they would prefer I give up being a Captain to spend more time with them, I know they will say “No”.”

She said that while “enough” may never truly seem like enough, she is able to pursue her passion and enjoy time with her family and those are the things she considers to be priorities in her life. This is as good a philosophy as I've ever heard on work-life balance and this is the perspective I want to have going forward.

SWE08 Recap Part 3 - Tips for being an Innovator

2009-01-18T07:53:00.003-05:00

This year, I was really drawn to sessions on change an innovation. The Art of Engineering session (see previous post) certainly fit this category. A later session on Innovation in Organizations also had a few interesting items. The presenter, Nirmala Krishnan, talked about the concept of the “Zero Gravity Thinker”, or the person that is not weighed down and brings new ideas and perspective to the team. Generally, this person’s primary expertise in is a related area to the topic for innovation or is a person new to the area. Also, this is often someone who is well-rounded and open to new ideas, and is willing and able to speak up. As the details of this individual were defined, I realized that this is the role that I have been filling in my own group for the past few months. She also mentioned that similar to the issue of “Group think”, an obstacle to innovation can be “Expert think”. This is when the team is antagonistic to new concepts and falls back on automatic answers and “good enough” solutions. The “Zero gravity thinker” is there to push the team to explore new concepts and push the experts to think out of the box. For a culture of innovation, the environment should be one that embraces playfulness, supports risk taking and allows for flexibility. It has to be okay to try new things and find out that they don’t work.

Friday's first event was a panel of Technical leaders on "Women Engineers as Change" agents. The panelists offered their own approaches to initiating change, dealing with difficult times, and facilitating support for innovative solutions. Amber Huffman, a principal engineer at Intel, was highly entertaining in her own right and said several things that will stick with me for a while. My favorite was "Not everyone has to like you. In fact, it's a good thing if the right people hate you." I'm still working out exactly what she meant, but I know am always focused on making other people happy and keeping the peace and so I'm taking it into consideration. My best interpretation is that if you are pushing the boundaries of what people are comfortable with, some people aren't going to like it. If you don't get some push back, you may not be driving change.

The last session I attended was on "Six Thinking Hats". My gut reaction to this title is that this sounds like a kind of gimmicky technique and we already have plenty of those. I changed my mind when Rachel Hutter described what it actually is in her session. The Six Hats are different styles of thinking, and in a group problem-solving session they are used to facilitate "parallel" thinking. What really intrigued me about this was the contrast between my experience of brainstorming sessions, which often seem to go in circles, and the idea that a groups thinking could be harnessed in one direction. In the session, we did a quick trial run which was fun, and also a nice way to get to know others who attended. This is definitely a tool I can use and bring back to GE and I took the first opportunity to try it out with my team already this week.

SWE08 Recap: Finding Friends and Inspiration

2009-01-01T16:36:00.006-05:00

Since there is so much to talk about, we are posting our conference wrap-up in sections. In the second installment we are focusing on our experience of the conference as a place to be inspired and meet interesting people.

Megan: My first seminar was the “Art of Engineering” by Rachel Hutter of Disney. In my pre-college days, I was a bit of an art geek. I loved to paint, draw, craft, and I was even in a group called the Art Task Force in high school. I could spend hours lost in the Detroit Institute of Arts. When I went to college, I had to immerse myself very deeply in my technical courses to keep up, and a large part of my creativity and artsy side died for a bit. In the past year or so, I’ve pushed myself to try recapture this side of myself, but I’m continually nagged by the thought that I’m not really good. Rachel’s talk at conference introduced a reaffirmed several concepts for me that are helping me as I rediscover this core part of myself.

The first is the idea that having multiple personas is not only okay, but can also be a valuable way to bring fresh outlooks to a project. Working on my sewing, creating a painting, reading a good novel – all of these keep my mind fresh and stretched and more capable of meeting creative challenges in all aspects of life. My role as a SWE president helps me gain valuable leadership and organizational skills. This is also reinforces the idea of bringing my whole self to work, a phrase that Bianca has mentioned several times. It seems vitally important yet so easy to forget.

I also appreciated that Rachel stressed the importance of planning for and accepting inevitable failures. I work in what’s referred to as a “Lean” culture, and I feel like efforts to be lean and profitable in this ever changing economy deeply forget this. I know I forget this. I often berate myself for failures before I can step back far enough to learn from them.

Rachel also encouraged us to ask the “veggie burger question.” A devoted vegetarian, she was at first embarrassed to ask for a veggie burger at her team’s annual barbecue. However, as she stressed, it’s important to address these vital aspects of self in order to be able to fully be one’s best self in your career.

Bianca: From “The Art of Engineering” I was inspired by Rachel's passion for art of all sorts. She reminded us that we each have the freedom to choose what is art for ourselves. We can each have our own personal journey with art, involving different periods, and developing the craft as we enjoyed it. Remembering that unlike our work in engineering, art does not have to be perfect, and no one has to see it, and it can be enjoyed without those pressures.

She cited studies that have shown that people can contribute more when they have “multiple identities” – as an engineer, artist, leader, mother, and so on. Each identity provides a new perspective to learn and solve problems with, giving us more tools in our tool bag. By having diverse teams, with team members who have broad experience, you can arrive at more innovative solutions. She also brought up something that I had heard mentioned recently at GE; bringing your whole self to work. This means that you don’t try to hide who you really are from your co-workers because it is different from the “norm”. Rachel gave the example of herself as a “marathon-running, vegetarian, tree-hugger” entering an environment that was the typical old-boys network: beer, beef and golf. She said that ultimately, it was to her benefit because when Disney started working on the Animal Kingdom attraction, she was nominated for that position because people knew that she had a real passion for animals and the environment.

In engineering, as in art, you have to decide when to stop and call it finished. You must realize how to let go and move on to the next thing. Another lesson from the world of art is to accept the inevitability and utility of failure. Because failure is a necessary part of trying new things and learning, you and your employer must be willing to take the risk to try it.

Thanks to Rachel's encouragement, I was inspired to try oil painting again. I finished my first project yesterday:

Rachel also shared some special advice for women:

Learn to temper the analytical – we focus on being more analytical in college and trying to prove that we can hold our own in the workplace. Sometimes we can forget the importance of following our intuition and letting the creative juices flow.
Recognize and reject the impostor syndrome. For most in South Ohio SWE, you will remember the Impostor syndrome as the short-hand way to describe when you feel like you are not as brilliant as those around you seem to think, or that you are only keeping up by working twice as hard as everyone else. By recognizing that this is a common issue you will probably find that the reality is that you are just as or even more smart, talented and capable as those around you.
For women engineers, competence tends to be much higher than confidence. Women tend to sell themselves short while actually outperforming male peers.
Subtle changes to communication can significantly alter the outcome. Rachel gave an example of having a discussion where you might disagree. Rather than saying to the other person “That doesn’t seem right to me” and putting them on the defensive, she would say “Why do you feel that way?” or “Why do you think that is the case?” to get into a more nuanced conversation.
Her last piece of advice was that sometimes you should allow others to “feel your pain” through experience. Every year at Disney during the high traffic season, all Disney employees, including executives, are assigned to go down and work hourly jobs in the park, sweeping streets, serving drinks, and so forth. This practice allows Disney’s employees to become familiar with the real issues affecting the operation. When I heard this I immediately thought that this is something that we need to do more of in my office. Finally, during the Q&A Rachel recommended a few sources that she uses to keep up with the latest trends in business: Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Books 24/7.

Megan: I work on a military contract at GE, and I was intrigued by a panel called “Women in Government,” which included a participant from the Coast Guard, US Army Biometrics Task Force, and two members of the nuclear regulatory commission. This session was also moderated by South Ohio’s own Mary Kinsella, who works for the Air Force Research Laboratory. As a contractor, I appreciated hearing some perspectives from the “other side.” One of the interesting comments made by a panelist was that she felt she had more power to make a larger impact working for a government agency and for managerial opportunities, because government positions are driven more towards a mission rather than a profit. The panel also highlighted benefits of working in the government, and the diverse opportunities offered by transferred to different government branches without losing seniority. This panel allowed me to see that working in the government might be more aligned with my goals than I thought, and gave me insight into an interesting career path I had never really considered.

Bianca: Meals were a great time for networking at the conference. Megan and I found Mary Kinsella of the WPAFB in Dayton at the Keynote Breakfast. At our table we met Brianna from Kellogg in Michigan, who was sponsoring the breakfast. Our table filled with women from Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin & Cummins Inc. As we ate, we introduced ourselves, learned about each others jobs, locations, and experiences, and just got to know each other a bit. One fun topic that came up was the challenge of working as a process engineer in food manufacturing. One of the perks, you can eat cookies freshly baked on the line! One of the challenges... the entire line must be clean enough to eat from.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night I joined other conference attendees for casual dinners. Wednesday I had dinner with a couple of SWE Editorial Board members, Deb O'Bannon and Sandra Wood. Thursday night at Phillips Seafood in Harbor Place attracted an eclectic group that included Shantel Samuel, one of my fellow panelists on the Rotational Programs panel, Karla Conn Welch who was a fellow UK SWE alumni who is now pursuing her Ph.D. at Vandy, Megan (our South Ohio madam president), Kate Youmans (a South Ohio SWE alum who has defected to Boston SWE) and Sharon Lee Dingle, a fellow Boston SWE member who also works for GE. Friday evening, I met DeLome Fair, who is the first woman to be named a Chief Consulting Engineer at GE Energy and found her easy to connect to and felt like we had lots to talk about. I have not had a chance to get to know our technical leaders in my own business well enough to have a long casual conversation with, so it was really cool to have that time with her. On my walk back to the hotel one evening I met a professor from the University of Alabama who turned out to have been the graduate thesis advisor for one of my friends and co-workers.

For lunch Saturday, Megan and I joined Kate Youmans and my friend and fellow panelist, Jessica Randall and learned a lot about the medical device industry and sales engineering. Afterwards, I took the afternoon to explore some sights of Baltimore with Jessie Gmeinder and her mentor Margaret Adriatico. We wandered around the Inner Harbor and historic Washington Place chatting about our choices, experiences and interests. In the three hours that we spent together, our conversation flowed from the cultural aspects of our companies to our families to an examination of our own personalities and talents. I think we also got some cool pictures.

I also met more students at this conference than I have since I was attending as a collegiate myself. Friday morning was spent on a special project for SWE Magazine that turned out to be a lot of fun. A new feature idea was proposed that involved setting up impromptu conversations between students and professionals and having them contribute a short article about the experience. I agreed to set up three of these and so the next several hours was spent finding willing individuals, arranging for recording and setting up rendezvous times and locations. It was easy and really fun to introduce people and get them talking. I think those types of conversations are what these conferences are all about, and I'm looking forward to seeing the result in the Spring issue of the SWE Magazine.

On the shuttle I took back to the convention center, I happened to meet the students from the University of Kentucky who were performing in that evenings Celebrate SWE. It was nice to be able to share some of my own UK experience with them and hopefully I will get a chance to see them again in the future.

By the time I got on the plane with Megan, I thought I had probably made as many new connections as it is possible to make. I turned out to be wrong as I ended up sitting with another conference attendee from University of Cincinnati SWE, and we just found that we had so much to talk about that the flight just zipped by. My new friend Alexzandra and I had a lot in common and I think we both enjoyed sharing our experiences. Since she is also Cincinnati, I'm very excited about the prospect of getting together for lunch or dinner and keeping that connection alive.

Beware of the dog house

2008-12-23T14:36:00.002-05:00

This video was just so amusing that I had to share. Happy Holidays everyone!

Catching up

2008-12-20T23:52:00.004-05:00

November and December were very busy months, so we are just now getting around to posting some of our notes from the National Conference in November. First of all, it was awesome. A lot happened, and so while Megan and I have a ton of things to share, we are going to divide it up into a couple of posts. To start with, here are some of our general impressions...

From SWE Con Baltimore 2008

Megan: I am in Baltimore, a city I have never visited. I’m at the National SWE conference for the first time, meeting a large variety of phenomenal women, and my mind keeps drifting to an American Express commercial. If you haven’t seen Diane von Furstenburg’s Amex spot, it’s available at this link:http://inside.dvf.com/dvf_magazine/2008/10/05/american-express/

I was immediately drawn to this ad during my obsessive viewing of Project Runway, and I think its appeal reached deeper than beautiful fabrics and the haunting music. Something about the concept of the woman I wanted to become resonated and became an internal theme for me at this year’s conference.

Bianca: This is my 9th SWE National Conference. Last year, I was so focused on recruiting that I had very little time for seminars and networking and other fun things. This year, I cleared my calendar so that I had total freedom of choice to make the most of every day there. My only two firm agenda items were the SWE Magazine Editorial Board meeting and the panel I moderate on Rotational Programs. Otherwise, I planned to attend as many sessions as possible, talk to and meet lots of people and enjoy myself. And pick up some fun freebies at the Career Fair!

Megan: My memories in college career fairs involve trying not to muss my clothes or resumes, and nervously targeting booths in hopes of making a positive impression to someone out there. For those who have never been to conference, the SWE career is in a league of its own, and I found value in attending even though I wasn’t looking for a position. After a fantastic performance by the Harlem Gospel choir, the career opened to a good crowd and a fairly relaxed atmosphere. I had a fun evening visiting booths and asking questions, especially for those that I wouldn’t normally think of as “engineering companies,” such as Kellogg, Hallmark and Weyerhauser paper.

Megan: One of fields I have always been interested in is biomedical engineering. My 7^th grade science project was on my mom’s cochlear implant, and it has always appealed to me that I might someday be able to change people’s lives in such a personal and pivotal way. However, I was fortunate enough to accidently sit in on a session of self awareness. There was a session in the program called “The Power of Passion.” I thought it would cover a career discussion of finding a career that really drives you. However, the passion these ladies had was for a procedure called deep brain stimulation that involved a detailed discussion of brain surgery, complete with pictures. If it was not for my friend Kate distracting me, I think I would have been on the floor. I commend and applaud this industry, but have decided my way of serving lies elsewhere. I’m happy to stick with jet engines and things that don’t bleed for now.

Bianca: On Saturday, I went to the panel of Executive Women, who openly shared their personal experiences on achieving success, making mistakes, and navigating a career path. The panelists were very diverse and all had valuable advice to offer. I also attended the "Technical Poster Session" which had a diverse offering of topics including STEM educational programs, RFID technology, the impact of 3D Virtual Worlds. My favorite was 3D Virtual Worlds presented by Deepa Nair. She was so obviously passionate about the possibilities beyond the gaming world, and really engaged my curiosity.

Megan: The final activity I attended was the SWE Outreach fair. I picked up some interested pamphlets and websites on this and learned about Agilent’s premade science kits. I want to make a final plug to anyone out there that might want to help with South Ohio SWE’s outreach programs. I believe outreach is one of the more vital pieces to SWE’s mission, and one that we are currently shorthanded on.

October SWE Happenings

2008-10-11T16:27:00.004-04:00

Back when I was a college member of SWE, we held a Halloween pumpkin carving event and this was the result!

October is a busy month for South Ohio SWE. This Tuesday is our very timely "Wine, Women, and Wealth" event, where you can learn how to take charge of your financial future and get a better understanding of what is going on in the economy right now. We still have spots available, and the price includes a meal at the lovely Stonecreek Dining Company in Montgomery. Contact Michelle at murchis9@msu.edu or 517-230-6295 to reserve your spot.

We are also holding a General Meeting for Members to meet your officers and discuss National SWE issues. This event is on October 16th at from 6-8 at the Panera on Winton Road.

On October, 30th we are holding a UC vs. Southern Florida Tailgating party in conjunction with the UC Collegiate Section of SWE. The cost is $20/person and includes a ticket to the game and food. RSVP to southohioswe@gmail.com.

Hope you can join us for some of our October gatherings and if not, keep an eye out for latest e-mail to our listserve for the November and December updates!

How SWE Helped Kick-Start My Career contest!

2008-09-11T10:17:00.002-04:00

Click the link above for more information on National SWE's new contest.

We Want to Hear Your Story!
We also want to share it with SWE Collegians who are considering the transition to SWE professional memberships. As a result, you could win a Visa gift card.

How to Enter
We know that to tell your unique story, you need to tell it in your own way. That’s why we invite you to submit your story about how SWE helped kick-start your career through the method of your choice—audio, video, visual poster, written essay or poem.

How to Win
Be creative, be inspirational and most of all, just be yourself. Through this contest you will guide SWE collegians toward continued success with a SWE professional membership. Your story can help motivate them to create a success story of their own. It can also help you win a prize. First, second and third place winners will receive Visa gift cards in the amounts of $150, $100, and $50 respectively for the most inspirational stories. Winners will be announced at the WE08 Lava Lounge but need not be present to win.

Need a little help getting started? Feel free to use the following questions to get your creative juices flowing. Note: These questions are simply for guidance, you do not need to answer them in your submission.

What specific SWE resources helped you find a job?
What kind of doors did SWE networking opportunities open for you?
What SWE resources and/or benefits have helped you build your professional career?
How did your SWE collegiate membership benefits transition into SWE professional benefits?
What professional successes can you attribute, at least in part, to your SWE professional membership?
What skills have you acquired and/or fine-tuned as a result of your involvement as a SWE professional member (e.g. leadership, networking, communication)?
Why would you urge collegians to stay involved after moving into their careers?

All entries must be in by October 24.

Fall Issue of SWE Magazine

2008-08-30T07:49:00.003-04:00

Members should be receiving the Fall issue of the SWE magazine in the mail shortly. I haven't had a chance to read it all yet, but found the letter from our new President very interesting and am really looking forward to the Alternative Fuels article. Betty Shanahan's monthly piece points to some really interesting research on how we frame engineering careers for students and how we can change our image to make engineering a more attractive career. Also, I have a Career Toolbox piece published in this one and you can view it online here. It's targeted at the collegiate level and based on my own experience.

I think the magazine is a big benefit of SWE membership. If you have time to read it, I think you'll find it is at the top tier of technical society magazines.

Welcome to SWE FY09!

2008-08-18T19:45:00.002-04:00

Hi All! The SWE year begins in July, so welcome to Fiscal Year 2009! As your new section president, I'd like to encourage everyone to join us at our Kick Off Picnic for SWE ladies, supporters, friends, and family, and free for all. Visit http://www.swe.org/regiong/southohio/ for more details.

Your FY09 Officers have been working hard to put together a great plan for networking, professional development and outreach this year. Keep an eye on your virtual and real mailboxes for updates and information, and check back at the website for highlighted events. If you'd like to be more involved in South Ohio SWE or have questions, please email us at southohioswe@gmail.com

What's the real reason for the gender gap in STEM fields?

2008-06-07T10:04:00.004-04:00

I am continuously fascinated by research about why so few women are in engineering. It is a perplexing issue. Here is a new look at why women & men make different career choices.

"The survey data showed a notable disparity on one point: That men, relative to women, prefer to work with inorganic materials; women, in general, prefer to work with organic or living things. This gender disparity was apparent very early in life, and it continued to hold steady over the course of the participants' careers.
Benbow and Lubinski also found something else intriguing: Women who are mathematically gifted are more likely than men to have strong verbal abilities as well; men who excel in math, by contrast, don't do nearly as well in verbal skills. As a result, the career choices for math-precocious women are wider than for their male counterparts. They can become scientists, but can succeed just as well as lawyers or teachers. With this range of choice, their data show, highly qualified women may opt out of certain technical or scientific jobs simply because they can."

I personally believe that because engineering jobs developed in a male-only environment and women were not clamoring to get in (because of the above sited reason), women often feel like they are not a good fit and therefore it continues to be a male dominated environment.

Updates

2008-05-18T08:03:00.002-04:00

In April we held the Art Trek Networking Night at the Cincinnati Art Museum. This has been a really fun event for us for the past two years. The theme was "Murder Mystery" night - the premise being that several of the museum's portraits are haunted and one of the ghost portraits is the murderer. The mystery is solved by visiting each suspect portrait and learning about their history. As engineers, most of us probably aren't visiting the art museum as much as we might like, so I have found this to be a great way to get to know the museum better.

In May, we held a "Dress for Success" Networking night. We collected a ton of professional clothing to benefit Dress for Success and some of us got a few new things from CAbi. Personally, I really like the CAbi clothing. It fit really well and had some unique designs. I'm sure I'll be sporting my new jacket at some future SWE event.

I also attended the Spring meeting of the SWE Magazine Editorial Board. It is always a treat to hear what's going on in the world of engineering from the very well informed group we have on the Board. I will be writing a Toolbox article for the Fall issue, so keep an eye out for that. Our main topic of discussion was to come up with 5 issues facing women engineers. It was a great discussion and I would like to continue it in our section meetings.

Also, if you haven't visited www.swe.org recently, it has been completely revamped lately and "SWE Communities" has been added. It is like a Facebook or MySpace for SWE. You can start a private (restricted to SWE members) blog, join SWE discussion groups, set up a SWE contact list, chat, and generally stay updated on SWE topics of interest to you. You need to have a login to the SWE site (aka current membership) in order to use it.

During the Editorial Board meeting this video was played and I thought it was interesting enough to be passed on:

Valerie Young on the Impostor Phenomenon

2008-04-25T20:17:00.004-04:00

On April 15, South Ohio SWE was fortunate enough to host Dr. Valerie Young, who gave a workshop on the Impostor Syndrome (http://www.impostersyndrome.com/). We had a great turnout of over 80 women from local area companies and diverse backgrounds and career paths. The energy of Valerie's discussion and the audience's response was phenomenal.

One of the things that personally surprised me was how much I laughed during the evening, and how universal the concepts of the Impostor Syndrome seemed to be. Valerie accurately depicted some of the crippling feelings I've had, and both validated my feelings while keeping the atmosphere light and entertaining. It's refreshing to admit that while I have aspects of my perfectionist/superwoman tendencies that are integral and important to who I am, it's also important to recognize that I cannot do everything and that doesn't make me less of a successful person. I would highly recommend participating in Valerie's workshops to anyone who gets an opportunity.

Podcasting

2008-03-16T08:05:00.002-04:00

There are a number of interesting science and engineering-related podcasts available these days. I find these a great way to stay connected with the world outside my work. A few that I have been listening to:

The Smithsonian Institution's Prototype Online: Inventive Voices

This show features interviews with inventors and engineers. Past shows have featured Deanne Bell & Nate Ball, the hosts of PBS' Design Squad, and Chuck Hoberman the inventor of the Hoberman sphere and other collapsible structures.

NPR: Health & Science (weekly)

Features the highlights of NPR's science & medicine reporting for the week. Often includes reports on new inventions, breakthrough studies, and environmental issues. Highly informative, thorough reporting.

WNYC's Radio Lab

Funny, informative & innovative look at "One Big Idea". Recent shows have included: Stress, Sleep, Time, Space, The Wright Brothers, & Laughter

This Week in Science

Hosted by a neuroscience Ph.D and an amateur physicist at UC - Berkeley, this show covers a wide array of science news in a weekly one hour show.

To find these and more, I recommend going to the iTunes store (although for most you can go directly to their website as well) clicking on Podcasts and going to the "Science and Medicine" category. Note that all of these podcasts are free and you can download past episodes individually as well as subscribing to new ones.

Survey says...

2008-02-28T22:16:00.004-05:00

Thanks to all that responded to our recent SWE Event survey. We are so glad to get your feedback about how we are doing and what we can do better. Some key results from the survey were:

Lots of great comments about our past events, which will help us decide what to do again. Ultimately, we would like to have a calendar of annual events and as we determine what people enjoy doing with SWE. Some past events that were considered among our very best - Duke Energy plant tour, Pottery painting, Chocolate Tasting, the Spa night, Art Trek and the Golf Scramble.
Typically our events are held on weeknights and this seems to work for most respondants, however there was interest in holding a few weekend events. We will be having a picnic on Saturday, June 7th. In addition, we will look into hosting a brunch on a Saturday in the coming months.
The majority of our members are spread all over the greater Cincinnati area with a few in Dayton. This does present a challenge when planning SWE events, but we hope you will take advantage when we are in your neighborhood! We need to work harder on involving our Dayton-area members, and we need a little help making contacts there. We are planning to hold a SWE Information Session in Dayton on Tuesday, March 25th. Please spread the word!
Networking continues to be a popular SWE activity, and we will maintain a regular monthly Networking night. We would also like to occasionally incorporate professional development topics as part of these events. Based on the feedback we have received, our upcoming professional development events will include Financial Planning, Speed Mentoring, Authentic Leadership, Giving and Receiving Feedback, Impostor Syndrome Roundtable, and What Else Can I do with My Engineering Degree. Events are being updated on our new calendar at http://www.swe.org/regiong/southohio/events.htm. You can send yourself a meeting notice for any event you are interested in attending directly from the calendar.
Tours are also a popular, and we got some great suggestions. SWE will be doing a Backstage Tour of the Aronoff Centre this summer (when there are fewer shows there). It was also suggested we arrange a tour of L'Oreal or Avon. If anyone has contacts within these companies, please let us know.
There was a lot of interest in mentoring students and low-income women in professional job skills. We will attempt to launch these programs this summer.
South Ohio has not had strong representation at Regional and National SWE conferences, and a large percentage of respondents expressed interest in attending. This summer, we will be sending out information about the conference and discussing how to get your employer to send you to the conference during a Networking night!
For those who have women's network groups at your employer, we hope that you find SWE to be a valued addition to that support network and spread the word about SWE to your co-workers. For those who do not have a women's network, or many women at all in your area, South Ohio SWE wants to fill that gap, and make engineering a more inclusive environment for all.

If there is any SWE initiative you are interested in helping with, we are preparing our committees list and accepting nominations for next years officers. To help more members contribute to SWE, we are looking for volunteers to plan a single event as part of a committee next year. Please contact me at Bianca.McCartt@swe.org if you are interested in volunteering for a committee or officer position.

Dealing with "impostor" feelings

2008-02-03T01:41:00.000-05:00

I've been talking to people about the Impostor Syndrome since Betty's visit to our section and several people have asked me what to do if you fit the profile. Dr. Valerie Young, who teaches a course called "How to Feel as Bright and Capable as Everyone Seems to Think You Are" has come up with 10 steps to overcome the Imposter Syndrome. We will consider incorporating more on this at one of our professional development meetings.

The Imposter Phenomenon & Me

2008-01-22T22:40:00.000-05:00

Betty Shanahan, SWE's CEO and Executive Director paid a visit to our section this evening, giving a talk on the impostor syndrome and women in engineering similar to one I wrote about in October 2006. Back then, the data she presented really resonated with me and my own experiences, so I asked her to come speak to our section on the same subject. She gave us a little homework assignment to read The Impostor Phenomenon (of which South Ohio now owns several copies), to give a little background on her talk. Just like the first time, I found myself really identifying with all that she had to say. The bare bones version is that women in engineering have a tendency to underestimate their own talents, press themselves harder than their male counterparts, and have an acute fear of failure. Being in a profession dominated by a white male culture, leads to feelings of alienation and not fitting in. Together, this results in a higher attrition rate of women in engineering in college and as professionals.

At this evening's meeting, I talked a little bit about how much of myself I saw in the Imposter Phenomenon, and I'd like to share some examples of how these characteristics manifest in me. One of the biggest things I struggle with is a sense that I have to work really hard at what I'm doing to be good at it. If I'm not devoting all my time and energy to my work, I must be doing a mediocre job - just enough to keep people from complaining. It is tough to shake this feeling, even when my co-workers are telling me they are impressed with how quickly I get things done. I tend to think anything that comes naturally to me isn't very hard or not of value to others. I have an acute fear of failure because I am worried that if I do something to diminish someone's respect for me, then they won't take me seriously. This results in agonizing over small mistakes, like offering the wrong hand when someone once tried to shake my hand while standing on my right side. When I have to talk about my own weaknesses or failings, I almost always "get emotional" because I really struggle to expose myself in this way. Then, there is the constant struggle to be the "Superwoman" who needs to turn in stellar work, decorate a beautiful (and clean) home, regularly cook dinner, be a professional level equestrian, throw great parties, attend every SWE event, and spend quality time with her husband in order to have not failed in some way. It also shows up in small ways, like over-editing e-mails (and blog posts) until I am sure they are exactly what I intend. The result is that I end up being quite stressed most of the time and I don't give myself much credit for the things that I do. What the Impostor Phenomenon teaches is that all of these fears are within my control to counteract. The key is to be aware of the Impostor tendencies and begin to recognize my own strengths, forgive my weaknesses and accept that other people do value my contributions.

There is actually a lot more to this (and to Betty's talk), and I'm sure others who attended had different take-aways. I'm really hoping that we can continue discussing this at our SWE meetings and via the blog.

Where does your power come from?

2007-12-11T22:00:00.000-05:00

This evening we visited the Duke Energy coal-fired power plant at Miami Fort Station. Driving up to it in the evening darkness, you could see the stacks from miles away and with the flickering of the aircraft warning lights it looked pretty darn impressive.

Originally built in 1925, the facility has been recently updated with lots of new environmental equipment to clean the exhaust and convert by-products of the process into useful materials (like gypsum that goes into drywall and the fly ash, that is used in asphalt). Everything was on the scale of gigantic, from the stacks themselves, to the enormous scrubbers that were recently completed and the great big 525 MW GE turbines. The entire site covers 25 acres and produces enough power for about 12 million 100-watt lightbulbs. We saw coal being loaded off the barges, the wastewater treatment plant, coal firing in the burners (very hot!!!), the turbines and the big control room of Unit 8. The people at Duke who stayed late to show us around were great, and we all learned a lot about the process and the business of converting coal to electric.

Wow! That's Engineering - Take Two!

2007-11-08T20:10:00.000-05:00

This past weekend (November 3) South Ohio SWE hosted about 75 middle school age girls for the second round of it's Wow! That's Engineering event, hosted at the University of Cincinnati. Wow! is a program sponsored and supported by National SWE to encourage young girls to pursue careers in engineering, math or science. The event was again themed Island Adventure, leveraging ideas and activities from the first Wow! run.

Our fantastic volunteers led the girls in activities, including building a mechanical ladybug decoy, creating the SWE signature lip gloss, learning computer programming concepts through a pirate treasure map adventure, and the wild design lessons of packaging a banana from a heavy smash.

The girls had a great time and came away with a positive impression of engineering. A big thank you for all who helped make this day possible!

SWE in Nashville

2007-10-28T10:08:00.000-04:00

Last week was the 2007 National Conference in Nashville, where our section was well-represented with 8 South Ohio members in attendance.

Personally, much of my time was devoted to activities to help with GE recruitment and meeting with the Editorial Board. Working with the Editorial Board is always interesting, as the team is very diverse and has a broad range of information to share. I learned about the existence of the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST) which compiles data "about the human resources of the U.S. in the fields of science, engineering and technology." I also learned about SWE's plan to implement Web 2.0 tools to create a new resource for members. Since South Ohio SWE has been one of the first SWE sections to launch a blog, I have been asked to write an article for the magazine on the value of blogging. If you as a reader/member have any feedback on how this has been of value to you, I would love to have your comments!

In other South Ohio news, our 2nd Wow! That's Engineering event is this Saturday and we have registered over 80 girls! Registration is full, but we are still looking for a few extra volunteers to help with activities and serve as role models. Please contact swewowcincy@gmail.com if you are available to sign-up.

We are also hosting a Wine Tasting on Tuesday, November 13th starting at 7 pm. This will be a casual event. If you are able to attend, please send an e-mail to asha.belarski@ge.com for location information. In addition to sharing a bottle of wine with your fellow women engineers, we might get into a discussion of the book "The Impostor Phenomenon" by Pauline Rose Clance. SWE has purchased copies of this book for our members to borrow in advance of Betty Shanahan's January visit to South Ohio. Betty is going to talk about "Technical Women in Industry: Trends and Promising Practices" and recommended the book as a good companion read to her talk. The book jacket description is:

Do you secretly believe that you don't really deserve success, that at any time you could be "found out" for the failure you really are? Does success make you feel guilty, fearful, or anxious? Do you have a hard time accepting praise or compliments? If so, you may be among the 70 percent of successful people in America who suffer from what Dr. Pauline Rose Clance and her colleague Dr. Suzanne Imes have identified as "The Impostor Phenomenon" - feelings of chronic self-doubt hidden behind a mask of success. Here at last is help: case histories, quizzes and exercises to help you learn how to enjoy what you have earned in life without feeling like a fake.

There is a quick test in the book to see where you fall on the Impostor Scale and it has conveniently been posted online here.

We hope that many of our members will have the opportunity to read the book before Betty's visit in late January, so please let us know if you would like to borrow a copy.

Meet the Co-Social Chair

2007-10-05T11:31:00.000-04:00

Hi! My Name is Asha Belarski and I am one of the co-chairs for the social commitees this year.

I have been a member of SWE for 1 year. I am a 2004 Univeristy of Pittsburgh Grad (Go Panthers!) and was a SWE member during my college years. I took a few years off but I am back!

I currently work at GE at a process engineer in assembly and in my spare time enjoy spending time with my husband, Justin, my dog, Yoda (seen above), sports and the arts!

As one of the social chairs I would like to see SWE members have fun while networking, participating in activities and bettering our community. So come out and join us!

Meet the Vice-President

2007-10-01T20:40:00.000-04:00

Greetings! My name is Suzy, and I have been a member of SWE for three years. I am a 1991 graduate of Wright State University (WSU) where I obtained my Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. After graduation, I was employed as a test engineer at ITT Automotive where I discovered my technical writing prowess. Currently, I am employed as a technical writer/editor at WSU and have plans to start my own technical writing/editing business soon.

In addition to being an active SWE member, I also serve as the counselor to WSU’s collegiate section of SWE. Four of our student members and I are looking forward to attending the SWE National Conference in Nashville, TN, this October as this national conference will be an exciting first for all of us.

The reason I joined SWE was to start networking with other women engineers, and it turned out to be much better than I expected! Not only have I made many wonderful friends, I have also had outstanding opportunities to tour different engineering companies and to promote engineering to middle-school- and high-school-age girls within the Cincinnati-Dayton region.

On a more personal note, I am happily married to my husband of 26 years who, fortunately for me, shares my passion for cats. We share our home with two adorable felines, a tuxedo cat named Caomh (pronounced Keef, a Gaelic name) and an almost-all-black cat named Livia, who bring such fun to our lives with their ever-changing antics.

2007-10-01T19:13:00.001-04:00

Hi! My name is Leigh and I am co-webmaster for SouthOhioSWE. This is my 2nd year in this role. I was a member of SWE in college at the University of Kentucky and then took a break from it for a while. Now that I am back in Cincinnati I decided I wanted to join again.

These days I don't have much spare time because I am a stay-at-home mother. I have two wonderful children, Brady is almost 5 and Livia is almost 1 year. Needless to say, I rarely have spare time and I am always busy.

One more note, this is my first blog ever!

Membership Chair :)

2007-09-27T10:26:00.000-04:00

Hi, my name is Colleen Murphy. I have been involved with SWE for about a year, and am currently helping to recruit more women as the Memberhip Chair.

I am a local from the 'Nati (yea Westside :p). I went to school at the Ohio State University in Mechanical Engineering, and graduated in 2005. I still love to go back to football games to cheer on the buckeyes! After graduation, I moved back to Cincinnati for a job at GE. I work in the Control Systems group designing software for Marine and Industrial Engines.

In my spare time I love to ski (both water and snow). Many weekends are spent in Tennessee boating on Lake Norris. I also play a couple of intramural sports, including softball and soccer. At home I like to laze around and watch movies. I enjoy all different kinds, from scary movies, to musicals, and of course chick flicks.

I have definitely made new friends from joining SWE who have helped support me at work as well as personally. SWE is a great way to network, learn, and help the community. You can contact me if you want to get involved and become a member!

Meet the Secretary

2007-09-26T19:13:00.001-04:00

You can now put a name and face to the latest South Ohio SWE emails - Megan!

I originally hail from Warren, MI (just north of Detroit). I earned my undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in Mechanical Engineering, class of 2005. While at Notre Dame, I met my best friend, Mike, and we were married in June 2006 at my grade school in Michigan. We were also fortunate enough to do a study abroad while at Notre Dame in London, which deeply embedded a desire to travel more through Europe in us both.

I moved to Cincinnati shortly after graduation, and spent about two years working in controls software for GE - Aviation. (A mechanical engineer in software you say? Yes, it can be done!) Recently, I transitioned from software into GE's Advanced Mechanical Design group, where I work with the Advanced Structures group, doing preliminary design on the major components that hold the engine together - such as frames and ducts.

My interests have always been across the board, but I've been an avid reader all my life (I was literally the kid with the flashlight under the covers, avoiding bedtime.) Some of my favorite series include Harry Potter, Ender's Game, and Anne of Green Gables. I enjoy the arts - from visiting art museums, going to concerts and plays, and (when I get a rare moment) sketching a bit myself. Recently, I got a sewing machine and am trying my hand at some simple quilting. I'm also am a big musical geek - RENT and Wicked are current major players on my iPod.

Other than that, my free time is spent with my husband or hanging out with friends. We're also frequently seen traveling up I75 to visit my parents in Detroit or flying to Portland, OR to visit Mike's family. I'm excited to help spread the word about SWE and the great networking and fellowship opportunities we provide. If you have any input that could help our communications, let me know!

Introducing the South Ohio Officers of FY08

2007-09-26T11:07:00.000-04:00

To help you get to know our new officers a bit better, we will each post a short bio.

I was recently elected as the FY08 South Ohio President after being involved with the section for the past 3 years. I am one of the many GE folks in South Ohio SWE. In my current position, I am responsible for cooling design in turbine airfoils on a variety of engines. For more info on what I do check out some of my previous blog postings.

When I'm not doing things for GE or SWE (sometimes that seems like hardly ever) I love to spend time at the barn, riding my horse Mo. I like to cook (but not clean), and one of my favorite recipes to make is Gnocchi. My favorite reads are the New Yorker Magazine, SWE Magazine (of course!) and fiction like "American Gods" and "Harry Potter". Other interests include obscure rock music, movies, running (I've done the Disneyland Half Marathon two years in a row), NPR, mentoring, animals large and small, decorating, traveling... it could go on forever. I'm married and while I do not have kids, I do have lots of animals.

My reasons for staying involved with SWE are to make friends, learn and grow professionally, and help SWE benefit other women in engineering. I'm really excited about all we have planned this year, and I hope to meet lots of new folks in the process!