SWE - Fall 2007 - (Page 70) Report from WEPAN 07 Imagining BY BETTY PREECE, SWE EDITORIAL BOARD THE FUTURE OF ENGINEERING T SWE member Walter McFall provides SWE information to Betsy Willis from Southern Methodist University . Outgoing president Beth Holloway, left, and new president, Kimberly Douglas, share a moment during the conference. he Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates Network, otherwise known as WEPAN, met June 10-13 at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort at Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The conference theme, Imagining the Future of Engineering, was inspired by the location. Several hundred WEPAN members, advocates, and representatives of industry, government, and academia participated in workshops, panels, discussion groups, posters, outreach, and networking. A trip to the Kennedy Space Center provided an interesting post-conference experience. Pre-conference workshops were held on Sunday on subjects ranging from: “Writing Effective Proposals,” by Bevlee Watford, to “Building Effective CorporateUniversity Relationships” by Tricia Berry. An outreach program, “Imagining Your Future with a Community of Women in STEM,” was held for two- and four-year college and graduate students and faculty, who were introduced to WEPAN by Beth Holloway, outgoing president. The student track included Carol Muller presenting Mentor Net, Charlene Stinard on transitioning to a four-year university, and a SWE leadership module on conflict resolution. In the faculty track, Karen Zukel explained WEPAN resources for faculty, Tricia Berry gave hints for effective proposal writing, and Janet Fornari led discussion on issues for STEM. The Central Florida SWE Section assisted and provided input in the student track. All participants then joined the welcoming reception for first-time conference attendees. The conference program officially began with the opening reception on Sunday evening. The initial keynote session on Monday morning presented Leah Jamieson, Ph.D., dean of engineering at Purdue University, on Changing the Face of Engineering: Emerging Opportunities. Dean Jamieson discussed some of her innovative commitments to the success of women in science and how women can take advantage of these opportunities. The luncheon speaker, Jocelyn Scott, travels throughout the world in her position as managing director of DuPont facilities engineering and construction. Her experiences formed the basis for her talk entitled, “It’s A Small World After All: The Challenges of Engineering Today.” She offered the audience the suggestion made to her years ago: “Be hard like water.” The meaning is that water is fluid and fills the container but it can wear away Attendees listen to keynote speaker. even rock in time — and you can fit the situation or persevere to succeed. Monday evening was food, friends and fireworks at Disney Epcot. In spite of unrelenting heavy rain, the WEPAN group stood outside and watched the extensive light, sound, and fireworks show. Plastic ponchos Disney provided kept some rain off but many poured water out of their shoes. The Tuesday morning plenary session was part of the corporate track to promote better collaboration between academia and the corporate world. A panel consisting of Jan Cuny, Ph.D. University of Oregon, Sheila Lange, Ph.D., University of Washington, Laurel Haak, Ph.D., Discovery Logic, and Karan Watson, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, were led by Daryl Chubin, Ph.D., AAAS, in exploring “The Welcoming University: How To Make Institutional Change.” Highlights of the Tuesday luncheon were the report of WEPAN activities for the year by Executive Director Diane Matt and the awards presentations. The 2008 WEPAN national conference will be in St. Louis, June 8-11 with the theme Gateway to Diversity. For information on the conference visit www:wepan,org. The contact for information on submitting abstracts is Barbara Bogue, proceedings editor, bbogue@engr.psu.edu I Annual Awards WEPAN FOUNDERS AWARD to Sherry Woods, University of Texas Austin, for her significant contributions to WEPAN through long-term service and leadership. WEPAN BREAKTHROUGH AWARD to Raytheon Company for creating a work environment that enhances the career success of women engineers of all ethnicities. WEPAN WOMEN IN ENGINEERING INITIATIVE AWARD to University of Wisconsin-Platteville to recognize an outstanding program or project that serves as a model for other institutions. This program is the only formal women in engineering program in Wisconsin. WEPAN NATIONAL ENGINEERING WEEK “GIRL DAY” AWARD to Kansas State University’s GROW program for significant contributions to Introduce A Girl to Engineering Day. WEPAN BETTY VETTER RESEARCH AWARD jointly to Barbara Bogue, Pennsylvania State University, and Dr Rose Marra, University of Missouri for their significant contributions to research-based practices and instruments. 70 SWE FALL 2007
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