Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Josie E Rewald Memorial Scholarship


Introducing the Josie E. Rewald Memorial Scholarship Campaign: An Endowed Scholarship to Aid Women Pursuing Technology via Community College



Josie E. Rewald Memorial Scholarship Fiscal Year 2018 Status: $0 out of $5000 goal

Still need: ~$20,000 to meet final program goal of $25,000 for endowed scholarship.



In September 2016, our dear friend and SWE Life Member, Josie E. Rewald, passed away un-expectantly. Everyone who knew Josie is saddened by the passing of a wonderful leader and mentor in SWE Detroit and at General Motors (GM). Josie was committed to excellence, and her record of accomplishment during her career was stellar. She was very interested in mentoring students and early career engineers, in particular women. She served as a mentor to many at GM and SWE Detroit, as well as those in and outside of her community. 



SWE Detroit wants to honor Josie’s commitment to engineering and to the education of aspiring engineers. Our idea is to raise $25,000 in 1-2 years to create an endowed scholarship, the Josie E. Rewald Memorial Scholarship. After one year of interest, the endowment would provide an annual $1,000 scholarship to deserving young women entering a community college to pursue a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). The scholarship would be a first for the Society and enable support to young women who may not be able to start their path into engineering directly via a university or college.  To make our goal a reality in a short amount of time, Pat Hillberg, Josie’s husband, has seeded our efforts with $5,000 and has agreed to match up to $10,000 additional for the scholarship. Thus making our goal to raise $10,000 over the next 2 years.  To see our status, check out our updates on the SWE Detroit Online Blog (http://swedetroit.blogspot.com/). 



SWE Detroit would select the candidates with our local process and SWE Headquarters would support administration by validating our recipient(s) are entering programs which articulate into accredited institutions with an engineering program and sending the check to the school.


Separate from SWE Detroit’s Member Solicitation Program, the following categories created based on Josie’s favorite hiking trails* will be used to acknowledge the support of those who wish to contribute to the scholarship. The suggested donation amount is $200 each year to reach the $25,000 needed for an endowed scholarship. You may choose to make a single contribution or multiple contributions. We will send out reminders each year. Contributions will be tracked and your level will be determined based on accumulated contributions received by SWE Detroit.

Kalalau Trail $1000 +
Jackson Hole $750 to $999
Mount Roberts $500 to $749
Dog Mountain $250 to $499
Highline Loop $50 to $249
*See information about the hiking trails and their significance to Josie & Pat in the images below.


Our programs and services are enhanced and energized by your support of SWE Detroit and SWE’s mission. Remember that your donation is fully deductible under US Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3). Please contact us via email at swe_detroit@swe.org if you have any questions.


To donate online go to www.swedetroit.org and click on the “Donate” button or by mail, send a check to
Society of Women Engineers – Detroit, PO Box 2978, Southfield, MI 48037 and place in the comments or
memo section “Josie E. Rewald”.




To donate via check: mail the check to Society of Women Engineers – Detroit, PO Box 2978, Southfield, MI 48037 and place in the memo section “Josie E. Rewald”.



If you have any questions, are interested in supporting the SWE Detroit SWE 4 Life Program, or creating your own endowed program to build a pipeline or legacy to benefit SWE Detroit Programs, please contact Lisa Purvis, Jenny Partlan, Anne Kamenju, or Jennifer Morikawa at swe_detroit@swe.org.




Tuesday, October 17, 2017

WIE/SWE Professional Development Workshop: Soft

Workshop Overview


The Soft Skills workshop is intended to help participants develop and improve interpersonal, group, team and leadership skills.  The workshop is targeted at those, who are in anticipating to be in roles at engineering/technical organizations, business, industry, academia or volunteer organizations.  However, anyone interested in further developing these skills in dealing with people and working within any type of organization will benefit from the workshop.  The format for the workshop includes the presentation of the core material and interactive participation; using exercises, case studies and open discussion.


A printed copy of the notes will be provided to each confirmed attendee. There is a small fee ($25) to cover costs of refreshments and the printed material. Registration is final only after fee is pre-paid.  This event is limited to the first 20 registrants, so sign up early!


More details can be found here, including the registration link: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/47762


Any questions or concerns, feel free to contact your fellow WIE/SWE member, Amanda Mohan (Amanda.fairbairn@gmail.com).  Hope to see you there!

Monday, October 16, 2017

IEEE WIE invites SWE to Cider & Donuts

IEEE Women in Engineering invites SWE members and their families to an informal networking fun event.

Where: Spicers Orchards, 10411 Clyde Rd, Fenton, MI 48430
When: Sunday Oct 22, 2017 from 1pm-5pm

Please RSVP to WIE Chair Tia Twigg @ te_reen@yahoo.com

Hope to see you and your family there!


Sunday, October 15, 2017

November Book Club!!

Event: SWE-D PD Book Club
Date: November 19, 2017
Time: 4:00pm
(NEW) Location: Berkley Common, 3087 Twelve Mile Rd, Berkley, MI 48072
Cost: Everyone pays for themselves
Point of contact: Niesha - nieshaamos@gmail.com

We will be discussing 'Born A Crime' by Trevor Noah

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

SWE D attending WE17

Are you attending Society Conference in Austin this October?  If so, please join your fellow SWE Detroit members for a networking breakfast on Thursday October 26 at Cannon and Belle, located in the Hilton Hotel.

Who:  SWE Detroiters attending WE17
Where: Cannon and Belle 500 E 4th St, Austin, TX 78701  
Reservation is under Taylor Browne/Society of Women Engineers
When:  Thursday October 2,6 2017 at 8:00 am- 9:30 am
Cost:  Each person pays for their own lunch

Please RSVP by October 2oth at https://goo.gl/forms/RTf6oLjjQKZ26LcP2




Clarkston High School Outreach November 4th

WE NEED YOU! And so does Clarkston High School

Event:  Clarkston High School Outreach
Date:    Saturday, November  4, 2017  
Time:    9:00 AM - 12:10 PM

Who:    
SWE-Detroit and Clarkston High School 9th-12th graders (approximately 35-50 students)

Location: Clarkston High School (6093 Flemings Lake Rd, Village of Clarkston, MI 48346)
RSVPApproximately 10-12 volunteers are needed. If you are able to volunteer for this event, please email an RSVP to Keerthi Biradavada (keerthi1861986@gmail.com) by 10/27/17

Point of contact: If you have questions, please email Keerthi. (keerthi1861986@gmail.com)

Other Info: Join SWE-Detroit and share your experiences in relation to engineering with Clarkston High School students. The event will open with a a simple pencil catapult engineering group challenge and then followed by speed-networking. Come share why you decided to be or support an engineering profession and answer questions with local aspiring engineering students.  Keerthi will follow-up with detailed instructions. No worries, the first 30 minutes of the about event time is allocated to answering any questions for the event prior to the event.

Monday, October 2, 2017

GEE Announcing Two Kick-Off Meetings!

The GEE 2018 committee is excited to announce two kick-off meetings!

Kick-Off #1
October 12th, 7-8pm
Novi Public Library

Kick-Off #2
October 23rd, 7-8pm
Rochester Hills Public Library

Food will be provided at both meetings!

Girls’ Engineering Exploration (GEE) is a full day event that allows girls in 4th – 6th grade an opportunity to meet female engineers and be exposed to exciting career paths through interactive demonstrations and hands-on activities. The girls will be able to experience the creativity, innovation, and fun that goes on in the field of engineering. The event is FREE for students, parents, and teachers!

Join us at either of the kick-off meetings to ask us your questions, enjoy some food, and find out about all of the ways you can be involved in this amazing and rewarding event!

The GEE committee chairs (Christine Henri, Elena Chiappa, and Monica Walker) can be reached at SWEDetroitGEE@gmail.com with any questions.

Rosie the Riveter World Record - Women, Men, Children Needed!

Rosie the Riveter World Record - Women, Men, Children Needed!
On Saturday, Oct. 14, the Yankee Air Museum in Belleville, Mich., will attempt to reclaim the Guinness Book of World Records for the most Rosie the Riveter re-enactors gathered at one time. About 2,500 “Rosies” are needed to return the record to Michigan from its current home in California. 

http://yankeeairmuseum.org/rosie-world-record/