SWE - Spring 2009 - (Page 52)

SECOND PLACE To the Founding Women of SWE: By Kate Van Dellen This is a letter to the founding women of SWE to tell them how much I appreciate them standing up and together to create the Society. Connecting with friends at the Lava Lounge — a new gathering spot and feature of the SWE conference experience. I want to thank you for all your hard work, dedication, and perseverance in creating the Society of Women Engineers. I know you dreamed of future generations of women having doors opened through SWE. As that future generation, I want to share my story of success. SWE gave me the strong leadership foundation that employers dream about. As I took on more responsibilities in my local SWE section, from open house director, vice president, and then president, my opportunities grew. SWE gave me resources to be confident in interviews and navigate networking opportunities. SWE is the reason that I not only stayed motivated to finish my engineering degree, but is the reason I had three internships. That vital work experience led me to 11 job offers upon graduation, many of which were a result of posting my resume on the SWE Web site and the SWE national conference career fair in Nashville. I am on my second month of work as an engineer at Cessna Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas. I met Cessna at the SWE national conference career fair, and it was my only opportunity to have face time with the representatives because Cessna does not recruit at my university. Two years ago, I never even thought of looking for job opportunities outside of my home state of California. SWE gave me the chance to broaden my career choices. Cessna has proven to be an ideal match for me and I enjoy Kansas as well. SWE has been my family, and is a contributor to my success in a new state that is over 1,500 miles away from what I had called “home.” I found my mentor through the SWE database and she helped me apartment hunt and even planned a welcoming dinner for me. If it wasn’t for her, I would have been more 52 SWE SPRING 2009

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SWE - Spring 2009

SWE - Spring 2009 Heritage Club Contents President's Note View from the Executive Suite Editor’s Page Honoring Women’s History Public Policy Update First Lady: The “Second-Hardest Job in America” Bringing Science and Engineering into Public Policy At the Intersection of Engineering and Public Policy From Research to Reality Coffee Table Dialogues Membership Information & Calendar A&B Winning Essays from the Lava Lounge Engineering World: Issues • Events • Technology • People Point of View: Your Role in Public Policy Career Toolbox: Communicating with Congress; Finding Your Voice Corporate Partnership Council Media Shelf: Women’s History Opportunity Index SWE Scrapbook: Dressed for Success

SWE - Spring 2009

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