Focus, Flair, and Fun

As spring made way for summer, and then fall, one SWE year — FY21 — made way for another. We closed out the year with strong events, an updated diversity statement, a SWENext competition, momentum for the start of FY22, and more, including:

• Exciting virtual WE Local conferences in India and Europe
• The announcement of this year’s Women Engineers You Should Know in the spring issue of SWE Magazine
• The end of the academic year, graduations (with SWE Swag)
• A press briefing to discuss highlights from SWE’s annual literature review, generating interest in what research can tell us about the chronic underrepresentation of women in engineering, and insights on how to change this

June brought Pride Month, an updated SWE diversity statement, International Women in Engineering Day — accompanied by celebrations and acknowledgments on the part of SWE members and affiliates across continents — and the true start of summer.

And SWENext clubs tackled the question, “What new engineering field do you see emerging in the next 50 years?” To communicate their ideas, each club made a virtual creation that depicted what the world would be like with this new field. Winners were announced in late June. Congratulations to all participants!

At the start of FY22 (July 1), momentum toward WE21 began taking off. Conceived as a hybrid event, opportunities to participate either in person in Indianapolis, virtually, or some combination of both are doable options. And stay tuned — more information is on its way, from dynamic and inspiring speakers, to networking, professional development opportunities, and all the wonderful ways of connecting that annual conference offers.