Children's Book, Written by SWE-D Member Patty O'Brien Novak

Check out Patty's book, which can help introduce children to the wonderful world of engineering!

Upcoming Event - Networking Happy Hour

Event: Networking Happy Hour
Date: August 16, 2012
Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Location: Uptown Grille, 3100 E. West Maple Road, Commerce Township, MI 48390
Parking: Parking lot
Cost: Everyone pays for themselves
Point of contact: Faith Kurily faith.kurily@swe.org

Other info:
http://uptowngrille.com/

Please RSVP by August 15.

Enjoy socializing and the summer evening with fellow SWE members.  Uptown Grille has drink and food specials too.  All are welcome, and feel free to bring friends!

NPR - How Stereotypes Can Drive Women to Quit Science

An interesting perspective on stereotyping, and how that could potentially affect the gender disparity in STEM careers.

The Glass Hammer - The New Debate Over Having it All

This article is a great counter-point to The Atlantic article "Why Women Still Can't Have It All".

Upcoming Affiliate Event - NSBE Mix & Mingle

Event: NSBE / SEEK Detroit Mentors & Staff Appreciation Mix & Mingle
Date: July 27, 2012
Time: 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: Bookies Bar & Grille (3rd floor), 2208 Cass Ave, Detroit, MI 48201 (2 blocks behind the Fox Theater)
Parking: Metered parking on the street
Cost: Free refreshments & non-alcoholic beverages will be served
Point of contact: Shani Allison r4aepr@nsbe-ae.org

Other info:
Please show your Detroit support and help us thank NSBE-SEEK Detroit Mentors & Staff for running Detroit's 1st SEEK program.  Sponsored by NSBE Region IV Alumni Extension Board and NSBE Detroit Alumni Extension.

http://www.nsbe.org/seek/default.aspx

SWE-D Member Dawn Tilbury awarded SWE National Distinguished Engineering Educator Award

Please pass on your congratulations to SWE-D member Dawn Tilbury.  Her bio is below:

Dawn M. Tilbury received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, summa cum laude, from the University of Minnesota in 1989, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1992 and 1994, respectively. In 1995, she joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she is currently Professor, with a joint appointment as Professor of EECS. She is Deputy Director of the US Army Tank-Automotive Research and Development Engineering Center (TARDEC) sponsored Automotive Research Center.

Dr. Tilbury has received numerous awards for her teaching, research, and service activities. She won the EDUCOM Medal (jointly with Professor William Messner of Carnegie Mellon University) in 1997 for her work on the web-based Control Tutorials for Matlab. An expanded version, Control Tutorials for Matlab and Simulink, was published by Addison-Wesley in 1999. She is co-author (with Joseph Hellerstein, Yixin Diao, and Sujay Parekh) of the textbook Feedback Control of Computing Systems. She has won the University of Michigan’s Teaching Incentive Award several times, as well as the university Department of Mechanical Engineering’s Excellence in Teaching Award and the ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division’s Education Award.

She received an NSF CAREER award in 1999, and is the 2001 recipient of the Donald P. Eckman Award of the American Automatic Control Council. She was a member of the 2004-2005 class of the Defense Science Study Group (DSSG), and was a member of DARPA's Information Science and Technology Study Group (ISAT) from 2005–2008. Her research interests include distributed control of mechanical systems with network communication, logic control of manufacturing systems, reliability of ground robotics, and dynamic systems modeling of physiological systems. She belongs to ASME, IEEE, and SWE. She was a member of the IEEE Control Systems Society Board of Governors from 2005–2008, and is currently Chair of the ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division Executive Committee. She was elected Fellow of the IEEE in 2008.

RIP Sally Ride

Today, many of us female engineers and scientists lost a hero, a role model, someone that inspired us to pursue the STEM careers that we are in today.  Sally Ride passed away at the the age of 61, from pancreatic cancer.  Here is a good article from the New York Times talking about her career, and how she wound up as the first female astronaut from the US.

I was five years old when she first went up in the Challenger.  I did not understand the significance of her achievement at that time, but I certainly do as an adult.

Harvard Business Review - Less-Confident People are More Successful

This blog from the Harvard Business Review discusses the benefits of having "less" confidence in the workplace.  This is clearly counter-intuitive to what we are told, that we should always ooze confidence, whether we actually have it or have to "fake" it.

Upcoming event - Royal Oak Book Club

Event: Royal Oak Book Club
Date: July 22, 2012
Time: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: The Oakland, 201 9 Mile Road W, Ferndale, MI 48220
Parking: Metered (quarters only!!!) Free on Sundays
Point of contact: Jessica Makae jessica@themakaes.com

Other info:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Night-Circus-Erin-Morgenstern/dp/0385534639

Discussing Erin Morgenstern's "The Night Circus".

Upcoming event - Photography at the Detroit Zoo

Event: Photography at the Detroit Zoo
Date: July 11, 2012
Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Location: Detroit Zoo, 8450 West 10 Mile Road, Royal Oak, MI 48067
Parking: $5 per vehicle
Cost: $14 admission for adults
Point of contact: Christine Cabrera christine.cabrera@gmail.com

Other info:
http://www.detroitzoo.org/

Join the SWE-D Photography Club as we walk through the zoo to get some great animal photos!

Upcoming event - Motor City Maker Faire SWE-D booth - NEED VOLUNTEERS!

Event: Motor City Maker Faire SWE-D booth
Dates: July 28-29, 2012
Times: 9:30 AM - 6 PM
Location: The Henry Ford, 20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn, MI 48124-4088
Parking: Free
Point of contact: Ashley Prescott ashley.prescott at gmail.com 

Other info:

http://www.makerfairedetroit.com/

http://www.thehenryford.org/makerfaire/

Note: you can purchase tickets to attend the event seperate from volunteering

The Motor City Maker Faire is an annual DIY tech and crafting festival at the Henry Ford.  The exhibits range from goofy to useful: from a life-size game of Mousetrap, to do-it-yourself 3D prototyping - but either way there's a lot of science and engineering in evidence, and a great opportunity for SWE outreach.  Last year's SWE booth was a great success with lots of interest from kids, parents, and teachers - we even won a MakerBot Industries "Awesome Award."

We're still looking for more volunteers to help host our booth.  This includes talking to kids/parents/teachers/prospective members about SWE and engineering careers, running a slime-making activity and scavenger hunt, and selling SWE swag.  Booth volunteers who work a minimum shift will receive free one-day admission to the Faire, compliments of SWE and The Henry Ford.

To volunteer, please let us know your availability via the following Doodle link by July 15:

Volunteer HERE: http://www.doodle.com/7g87qqg3t5wx4qpr

Finally, if you're an electronics or mechanical hobbyist, and you have something you've made that you're willing to show off under SWE's banner, please contact me!