To stimulate women to achieve their full potential in careers as leaders and engineers, expand the image of the engineering profession and demonstrate the value of diversity.
The UW-Platteville Chapter of SWE holds monthly chapter meetings to discuss activities, listen to guest speakers, and participate in company tours. Watch your e-mail and mailbox for reminders and locations. The upcoming meetings for the semester are found on the SWE website :
For all SWE social activities, meet in the Women in Engineering Mentor Center. This is also where the SWE office is located. The SWE Chapter is active in Homecoming, Engineering Expo, Women in Engineering Career Days, and other university/college sponsored events. The Chapter enjoys collaborating with other student groups and providing outreach to elementary, middle, and high school students.
Many of the SWE members connect on a daily basis through interaction in the Women in Engineering Mentor Center. It is also used as a group and individual study area for anyone looking for a place to study.
Dubuque School Visits
In the spring semester, the SWE chapter presents an interactive, hands-on project related to engineering to over 500 fifth grade students in the Dubuque schools. Students present in groups of two and have a lot of fun working with the Dubuque students.
This event, presented by the Girls Scouts of Green Hills Council, the Society of Women Engineers and the UW-Platteville Women in Engineering Program with a grant from Lockheed Martin, introduces high school girls to careers in engineering and technology. Throughout the weekend girls work in teams to create a balsa wood tower that is tested on an earthquake simulator. Girls do research to determine how to build their tower and work as a team to create the tower. They also prepare a presentation to be given explaining the design of their tower. The weekend also includes presentations from professional engineers and engineering societies on campus and other engineering activities. The full weekend events will be held at the Pioneer Farm, with girls staying in the Cooper Living and Learning Center. The single day in December will be spent on the campus of UW-Platteville and presentations will be given there.
Through the support of several grants and local businesses, the Society of Women Engineers in conjunction with the Women in Engineering Program offer a set of tool workshops to both current and prospective female students. The college students are invited to attend several tool workshops throughout each semester. The students have the opportunity to learn about and use various tools. After the college students are comfortable with the tools, they have the option to give similar presentations at local schools to young women in 7th-12th grades. As an incentive for our students to perform the outreach activities, students are paid $8.00 per hour for preparation, travel, and presentation time. The sponsors of this program are: UW-Platteville Opportunity Fund, UW-Platteville Assessment Activity Fund, Heiser Hardware of Platteville, Weygant's Appliance, Inc. of Platteville, Sears, Cooper Tools, Stanley-Proto, Parallax, Inc., Dubuque Racing Association and Alliant-Energy.
April 18-20, 2008
The weekend will be filled with more than 10 hands on activities relating to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Girls will get to explore various aspects of careers and opportunities in STEM fields while participating in these activities. In addition to participating in all these hands-on activities, girls will take part in evening recreational activities and will take a trip to the UW-Platteville campus. This event is sponsored by the UW-Platteville Women in Engineering and Women in Industrial Technology Programs. Activities will be led by UW-Platteville students from these programs.
The activities and discussions of the day are designed to introduce young women in grades 8 - 12 to the engineering profession. The program is facilitated by professional women engineers and current UW-Platteville engineering faculty and students.
The Women in Engineering Mentor Center was recently funded by donations from Alliant-Energy and Madison, Gas & Electric. This Center provides a location for women students in the college to network, study, access computers and high technology equipment. The Center also contains an office for the Society of Women Engineers and houses resources such as books on leadership and business, on-campus literature, interviewing, networking and other topics. The Mentor Center has a sink and running water, and ample storage room for the many outreach programs offered by the program. Additional resources and plans are currently planned to include scrapbooks from previous years, recognition of women alumni and current students.
Mentor Center Open House for the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science students will be on Monday, October 22, 2008 and Tuesday, October 23, 2008 from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. Come and meet the Director of the Women in Engineering Program, Tammy Salmon-Stephens, as well as some of the Women in Engineering Program Assistants and members of the Society of Women Engineers. Learn about some of the activities first-hand while enjoying some refreshments and the company of other EMS students.
The College of EMS offers a peer mentoring program. The idea of the program is to pair individuals with less experience in Engineering, Mathematics, and Science with those who have more experience in hopes of providing friendship, guidance, and support. Pre-College students may be interested in email mentoring opportunities.
The Director of the Women in Engineering Program along with college engineering students visit grade, middle, and high schools to present interactive demonstrations to encourage students to consider engineering as a profession. Contact Ms. Tammy Salmon-Stephens, salmont@uwplatt.edu, or call 1-608-342-1563 to inquire about a visit to your school or after school group.
The Director of the Women in Engineering Program works with both prospective and current students to assist them in a variety of areas such as career development, prioritizing, networking, course selection, resume development, internship and co-op opportunities, and other miscellaneous issues.
To set up a campus tour, please call our Prospective Student Services toll free at 1-877-897-5288 to setup a visit. The Director of the Women in Engineering Program and/or a women in engineering student would be happy to meet with you during lunch. To make an appointment during lunch, please inform the visitors center that you would like to do so.
The Admissions Office hosts several different programs for parents and students to come and visit the campus. Please choose from these options: