Annual SWE Events and Programs!
Check out all of our great events below for opportunities to get involved in outreach, conferences, education, networking, bonding, recruiting and service events!
Outreach
City of Waco STEAM Day: This event put on by the City of Waco Public Works Department gives students of all ages in the community the opportunity to interact with professionals in the local Science, Technology, Engineering, Architecture and Mathematics industries. As volunteers, SWE members are able to serve as points of reference for questions as well as aides in interactive activities. We participate in this event on behalf of both our regional counterparts in SWE and the Baylor School of Engineering & Computer Science.
Girl Day @ UT: Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (Girl Day) is an international event celebrated during Engineers Week each year. Students and their parents or educators are invited to the University of Texas for an afternoon of engineering fun. Baylor SWE assist with the event by hosting one of many workshops at the event. For example, Baylor SWE taught girls the basics of circuitry by using electrically conductive play-doh.
University High Mentors: Promoting an interest in STEM among young girls early on helps empower young women to pursue careers in STEM. In an effort to help with this and assist our community, Baylor SWE mentors high school girls in the engineering division of the University High School. By bonding with them, taking them on facility tours, and answering their college and career questions, we strive to provide them with strong female role models who can empower them in those important years of their lives. Our aim is to show those young students the possibilities they have available to them as they prepare to graduate and look towards college.
Girl Genius STEMfest: This event, held annually, is similar to Girl Day @ UT and is on TSTC’s campus. However, this event is hosted in conjunction with the girl scouts of Central Texas. It is a day filled with hand-on workshops to empower young girls in STEM related fields.
Mayborn Museum Complex: Each year, our SWE members mentor high school females in the area who are interested in STEM careers. One of our educational and bonding events is visiting the Baylor Mayborn Museum for engineering related lectures and a fun filled tour. The museum has exhibits ranging from bugs to trains and boats. You can even calculate your acceleration as you run from one end of the room to the other! It touches many different areas of STEM and finds an entertaining way to teach.
Conferences
National Conference: The SWE National Conference, held annually in October, is an incredible opportunity for our members to network, hear from professional speakers, and find mentors. Members who attend have the opportunity to connect with other chapters as well as employers and job opportunities. The conference is a great way to hear from inspirational women in engineering and meet like-minded and intelligent women from across the nation.
Regional Conference: Each year our chapter has the great opportunity of attending the Region C Conference for SWE. All general members have the opportunity to attend and take advantage of professional facility tours, educational workshops, a career fair, networking, keynote speakers and much more. Each year we have an excellent experience and learn a lot. The conference has proven to significantly benefit attendees’ professional skills. The opportunity to connect with other sections, possible mentors, and companies has even earned our members internships and jobs.
Education
Wings & Wheels: Organized and hosted by Baylor SWE, this event is geared towards educating both men and women in engineering and computer science about the importance of equality and how to include men in the conversation about workplace discrimination. Through small group discussions led by faculty members, students discussed classroom and workplace experiences while enjoying Hot Wheels and Buffalo Wild Wings.This discussions helped students discover ways to create a more encouraging environment. This event was incredibly successful with over 70 male and female attendees and we intend to host the event annually.
Women's History Month: SWE works annually with Baylor's Office of Multicultural Affairs to host organize women's history month events across campus. Events include faculty panel discussions, Rosie the Riveter Ice Cream Social hosted by SWE, Women in STEM educational events, women of color educational events, and much more.
Ladies & Legos: Baylor SWE provides volunteers and assistance with the Baylor Engineering and Computer Science hosted event, Ladies & Legos. "The Ladies and Legos program is a fun and casual way to bring together women at different stages of their academic and professional careers to talk about their experiences in the classroom and workplace. Many women in STEM fields to not have an arena to discuss the unique challenges women face in male-dominated industries. These opportunities to create dialogue encourages gender diversity in the workforce and empowers women to succeed." See the video below or website for more information.
Engineering Week: In conjunction with the other student organizations of Baylor ECS, SWE assists in organizing engineering week events that are intended to build community with the engineering discipline and celebrate the accomplishments and field of engineering. Events and activities include 3D printing training, faculty student ultimate frisbee games, and student org truss building competitions.
Professional Development
Information Sessions: Baylor SWE hosts monthly information sessions in conjunction with our general meetings. Corporate sponsors and speakers, professional female engineers, and Baylor alumni come talk to us about their work and professional experiences. After this students have the opportunity to ask questions, connect with the company and enjoy refreshments. These information sessions are sometimes more than once a month if we have enough speakers. We are always in search of speakers for our monthly information sessions. All sessions are held in the evening (Monday-Thursday) in Rogers' School of Engineering and Computer Science.
Job Fair Preparation: Baylor SWE strives to provide its members with the best opportunities for jobs and internships. This event is an opportunity for SWE members to learn about the companies that will be attending the Fall STEM Fair at Baylor. Through exposure to the company’s mission, product information, etc. we hope to better prepare our members for interviews, job fairs, and networking.
Facility Tours: Baylor SWE has set up facility tours at local engineering companies and facilities to give our members a taste of the professional world. They get to see offices, work sites, facilities and much more. In addition, we take mentees from our high school mentorship program on these tours. It’s a great way to expose our members and interested young women to the professional world and engineering. It allows both groups of students to consider what type of a workplace they would want to be in and what types of opportunities there are. This helps garner interest and questions about engineering as a profession. The facility tours are also an excellent networking opportunity for our members.
Social & Networking
Rosie the Riveter Ice Cream Social: This fun event is an annual part of the Baylor Women’s History Month. The Social is a celebration of female accomplishments in STEM fields and a fun environment for people to learn about SWE while enjoying a sweet treat. We talk to attendees about our organization, members, and about famous women engineers. This event attracts students from across campus and helps empower women in the STEM fields. Also, it provides a social atmosphere for women engineering majors to meet fellow female classmates.
Easter Egg Hunt: This is an annual event beginning Spring 2015. SWE receives funding and sponsorship from a company to provide Easter Eggs filled with candy and information. This year, there were enough eggs to hide and display on all three floors of Rogers Engineering building as well as outside! The ultimate goal was to collect the most eggs by the end of the day. Baylor Engineering gear was awarded to these winners.
Rogers Goes Outside: This Ultimate Frisbee Tournament is an annual event and tradition at Baylor’s Roger’s School of Engineering and Computer Science. Each of the college’s ECS organizations, including SWE, collaborate to plan and host the tournament. Clubs and students form teams, sport team t-shirts, enjoy a cookout, and compete against each other in short matches as a great study break the week before spring finals. It’s a fantastic way for members to represent their organization, get to know other engineering majors, and have fun.
Galentine’s Day: In the month of February, we host a fun team building and bonding event for our SWE members. Instead of Valentine’s Day, we celebrate women in STEM fields and empower our members to grow as leaders and engineers. We play team building games, talk about what it means to be a woman in engineering, and help members get to know each other.
Bake Sales: Once a semester SWE hosts a Bake Sale in order to fundraise for SWE conference expenses. A variety of cookies, brownies, and cupcakes are baked, decorated, and sold in the Rogers Engineering building. This is not only a great way to raise money from hungry, sweets craving students, but it is also a good chance to visit with both familiar and unfamiliar faces in the engineering department. We generally sell our T-Shirts alongside the baked goods. These Baylor Engineering shirts have proven to be very popular among the Baylor Engineers in the past.
Recruiting
Late Night: Late night is an all campus event where students explore campus and the many campus organizations. SWE representatives participate in an effort to recruit new members and raise awareness about our organization. The event includes many major-specific organizations, social service groups, and Greek life. This is a great event for reaching out to new students about how to get involved at Baylor and in SWE.
Fall/Spring Premiers: The Fall and Spring Premiers are campus wide events where organizations represent themselves and answer questions for over 100 prospective seniors in high school. SWE specifically targets those students interested in engineering by presenting at the Rogers School of Engineering and Computer Science. This is a great way for SWE to reach out to future students early on and talk to them about SWE and what it means to be an engineering student at Baylor.
Beach Bash: Beach Bash, an Engineering college sponsored event, is an organization fair where students from the Baylor ECS community come to enjoy a lighthearted evening with food, games, corporate representatives, and club recruiters. SWE representatives utilize this opportunity to reach out to potential new members in the ECS community. By informing new and existing students about our mission, yearly events, and organization, we are able to raise awareness, empower women in STEM and increase our section’s membership. This type of informational recruiting shows new members how a society like SWE can benefit them in several ways as they start to get glimpse of the professional world.
Service
Steppin’ Out: Steppin' Out is a Baylor-wide program that encourages all students and organizations to participate in a day of service in the greater-Waco community. We participate once a semester as a section in an effort to help our community and foster unity among our members. Steppin' Out is one of the largest community service projects on American college campuses and is nationally recognized for its commitment to service.
Relay for Life: This is a cancer fundraising event that helps our community fight back against cancer while raising awareness and money. At Baylor, SWE encourages participation in the on-campus event. The night of the event, different organizations walk laps all night long demonstrating that "Since cancer doesn't sleep, neither will we!" There are snacks for sale at the event as well as games such as pie throwing and dunking booths. Entertainment is provided with our local improv group, a movie display, and sunrise Zumba.
