SWE - Fall 2007 - (Page 19) VIEW FROM THE EXECUTIVE SUITE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CEO: Betty Shanahan Making Global Efforts for Local Empowerment SWE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: President/Michelle F. Tortolani XM Satellite Radio Inc. Medtronic President Elect/Virginia Connolly, P.E. Secretary/Fran Stuart Stuart Technical Servicess Treasurer/Linette Patterson Dell, Inc. T Directors/ Bernice Brody, Professional Development, IBM Semahat Demir, Ph.D., External Affairs Siddika Demir, Education, Bechtel Helen Patricia, Membership Initiatives, Kennametal Inc. Director of Diversity and Inclusion/Natalie Thompson Goldman Sachs & Co. Director of Regions/Nora Lin, Northrop Grumman Electronics Systems Speaker of the Council/ Melissa Tata Dell, Inc Collegiate Representative/ Angela Nickels FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact: The Society of Women Engineers 230 E. Ohio St. Suite 400 Chicago, IL 60611 312-596-5223 Fax 312-596-5252 http://www.swe.org E-mail: hq@swe.org Visit our Web site at: SWE (ISSN 1070-6232), Magazine of the Society of Women Engineers, is published quarterly with an extra issue in October by the Society of Women Engineers, 230 E. Ohio St., Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60611. Annual subscription rates: SWE members,$10.00 included in dues; SWE student members, $7.50 included in dues; non-members, $30.00. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: SWE, c/o Society of Women Engineers at the above address. Copyright 2007 Society of Women Engineers his June I was reminded once again that the passion to advance women in engineering and technology quickly transcends differences in language and culture. This time I was in Tunis, Tunisia, at the Global Colloquium for Women in Engineering and Technology, an event in which SWE served as program chair. Under the direction of New York Section member Anne O’Neil P.E., SWE was honored to take the lead in developing the overall program. Titled “Global Efforts for Local Empowerment,” the colloquium brought together more that 400 participants from 60 countries, with heavy representation from the Mediterranean, Middle East, Africa, and India. The World Federation of Engineering Organizations was the overall coordinator. In many ways, setting up a conference is business-as-usual at SWE, but the multi-cultural and multi-time zone dimensions of this project presented unique challenges and a few laughs. SWE members from the United States, Germany, and Nigeria participated in the colloquium, with member Lisa Frehill, Ph.D. and past president Peggy Layne, P.E. each presenting papers. I was gratified to meet the program committee members and speakers I had corresponded with via conference calls and e-mail messages. It became clear that regardless of differences in countries, cultures, economies, or governments, participants face similar issues, and that the colloquium offered a rich opportunity to share successes and strategies. Our gathering affirmed that we are part of a community committed to addressing the challenges of recruiting, retaining, and advancing women in engineering. The colloquium emphasized that women need to fully participate in order to address the global shortage of engineers, but the benefit of doing so extends to more than just numbers. Particularly in the developing world, women’s participation is essential to ensure that thoughtful leveraging of technology will lead to sustainable growth and improved quality of life for their communities. My key insight came from the informal observations of keynote speaker Johanna Levelt Sengers, Ph.D., and Peggy Layne as we enjoyed delicious Tunisian tea and dates. They pointed out that women would advance with greater numbers and influence in engineering and technology if they could engage the men dominating businesses, economies, and cultures to commit to gender diversity. The engineering professions, businesses, and economies have as much to gain from this as the women engineers, since women’s increased participation will enrich the engineering enterprise and enable technological development. All SWE members can take pride in our organization’s contribution to this global forum. For additional details on the colloquium, see Peggy Layne’s article on page 26 of this issue. Betty Shanahan SWE Executive Director & CEO SWE FALL 2007 19 http://www.swe.org
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