Region Collegiate Senator. Liberty Schmidt. University of Texas at Arlington

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1 Region Collegiate Senator Liberty Schmidt University of Texas at Arlington My name is Liberty Schmidt, I am dual majoring in mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington and intend on graduating in the fall of I have held a variety of positions within my SWE section at UTA including: president, vice president, secretary, and outreach chair. On the regional level I have been a SWE Future Leader and had the honor of being one of region C s region collegiate representatives this year. I am also the secretary of my school s American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as the conference chair for the AIAA Region IV Student Paper Competition. I am running for the region collegiate senator because I hope to be a part of making a change for SWE. The Society of Women Engineers, on both the regional and collegiate level, have helped me ensure that I am following the right path, and this is why I want to give back in any way that I can. As RCR I have been lucky enough to be involved with helping the collegiate sections in region C in any regard they may need, as well as, putting forth new initiatives to help our region grow. I hope to continue being involved and help our region and SWE as a whole by being region C s region collegiate senator this next year.

2 Region Collegiate Representative Victoria Lee The University of Texas at Austin My name is Victoria Lee, and I am a second-year student at The University of Texas at Austin, pursuing double degrees in biomedical engineering and computer science. When I am not in class or doing research, I enjoy learning languages, playing various instruments (piano, violin, Chinese zither), singing, and volunteering. My first exposure to SWE was through a week-long residential summer camp hosted by the section at The University of Texas at Austin after my seventh grade year. I met my very first female engineer role model at this camp. She was a biomedical engineering student and an inspiration to me. After the camp, I made a note to myself that I would join SWE wherever I ended up going to college because I wanted to be a part of the power and impact of the organization. I did not know at the time that I would become so involved with the very collegiate section that inspired me to become an engineer. After a year as an active member of SWE, I served as the Project Lead of the new Virtual Outreach Project that I proposed to our section s Community Affairs Coordinator. I led a group of fifteen members to produce YouTube videos about engineering to reach K-12 students who may not be able to physically attend our section s outreach events. This semester I was selected as the new Outreach Chair, and I now oversee the Virtual Outreach Project as well as plan community service events with non-profit organizations. In my new position, I am working on laying the groundwork for a Virtual Outreach team that will be able to last long after I have graduated. My strength is my ambition. I am rarely satisfied with sticking to the status quo, and I enjoy being at the cutting edge of anything that I do. Thus, as RCR, I would seek to constantly improve the region. For example, one issue that I have noticed during my two years as a collegiate SWE member is that no one

3 really knows what goes on at the region level until they attend a conference, and unfortunately, sections are usually only able to send a limited number of attendees. I myself only found out about the opportunities to be RCCE, RCR, and RCS at last year s region conference, but I was still not fully aware of all the other opportunities available until I joined the Region C Mentoring Committee this past December. One of my ideas to combat this issue is to create an introductory video about the Region C leadership team and about what goes on at the region level to show to SWE sections; I would work closely with section presidents to ensure that all collegiate members know who their RCRs are. I would also work closely with the FY17 RCCE to make the collegiate blog more of a portal for communication, and I look forward to building a sense of community amongst collegiate sections by continuing and improving the University Sister Program. In particular, I am interested in helping to improve smaller sections through collaboration with larger sections, who would be recognized through awards since I believe that Outstanding Collegiate Sections should not only provide excellent programs for their members but also help to grow SWE beyond their individual section. Finally, I would serve as a fresh pair of eyes for all sections to bring their ideas to, as a source of motivation to constantly grow, and as a promoter of collegiate interests at the region level.

4 Region Collegiate Representative (RCR) Robin Stewart The University of Texas at Austin Hello, my name is Robin Stewart and I am a fourth year Mechanical Engineering major at the University of Texas at Austin. I am a part of the SWE Region C Section, and have been a part of the UT collegiate officer team since my freshman year. I am running for RCR because I am interested in learning more about SWE at the regional level and feel that RCR would be a good introduction to regional officer positions, roles and responsibilities. I have learned a lot about the collegiate level of SWE, which is why I now feel ready to move on to the regional level of SWE and learn more about it. Currently in SWE, I am VP Internal, which means I coordinate our general meetings and oversee our social media and academic affairs. In the past I was VP Executive where I coordinated our trip to the WE14 society conference and regional conference as well. This role is where I developed my initial interest about the regional level of SWE as I worked with one of my chairs to apply to the society and regional awards. Lastly, I was Community Affairs Coordinator where I created and planned a high school day camp with the support of two chairs. These leadership roles in addition to my three-term co-op with a medical devices company have given me the experience and interest in running for RCR.

5 Region Collegiate Representative Naomi Beltrand Collegiate Section: Currently I am the President of the Collin College Section, but I am transferring to the University of Texas at Dallas next fall and will be a member in that section. I am Naomi Beltrand and the current President for the Collin College Section. I have elected to run for region collegiate representative because I would like to be involved with SWE on a region level. In my present role I have been able to witness the amazing opportunities and career help that SWE can offer. As a SWE Region Collegiate Representative I feel that I could help the presidents and their sections through the experience I gained at Collin. I know how to increase membership from 20 members to 85, how to work with professionals in the industry to plan events, and how to establish funding to attend conference. I joined SWE my freshman year. As President, I have boldly approached engineers, companies, and professional SWE sections and members about supporting events. Our section enjoys great success with resume building workshops, interview seminars, and an All Girls Summer Robotics Camp. I work with other officers to bounce ideas for new events, make our existing events successful, and succession planning for future Collin College SWE members. Furthermore, because of my past experiences, I will lead initiatives to reach out to girls in small private or home schools. In my current position, I plan to invite the private and home schools, with which I have connections, to join our summer camp in Furthermore, I am looking into the possibility of starting a committee in SWE that is composed of collegiates representing every college in the local Dallas Section. These collegiates would contact local engineering companies and ask them for donations on behalf of all the collegiate sections in the area. This money will then be divided between the schools to allow all of them to attend the national and regional conferences in SWE. Ultimately, I would prefer this board to service all the colleges in Texas with SWE sections with funds for the national and regional conferences.

6 Regional Collegiate Representative Bita Behgooy The University of Texas at Dallas My name is Bita Behgooy and I am a junior Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Texas at Dallas. I am currently on a co-op with Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America (TEMA) in Erlanger, KY. This year, I am also one of the SWEFLs of Region C. By being an active SWEFL on the RCT, I had a great pleasure networking with SWE collegiates, professionals, and the regional executives. With the National SWEFLs I went through multiple trainings to become an effective leader during conference calls and webmaster meetings. This way, I further expanded my knowledge and understanding of SWE as an organization more than ever before. I developed yearly goals in collaboration with the Future Leader team and RCT in order to target various projects. This helped me strategize my annual SWE objectives and also determine some of the overlapping goals between the two teams. For example, one project within the RCT we tried to focus on was the involvement of collegiate section presidents and executives in developmental discussions. I was able to utilize such plan through the President s Facebook group and by promoting the Sister-Buddy program. For this reason, as a prospective RCR, I would dedicate my efforts on this program and allow more involvement for our collegiate outside of their local sections. I got a better perspective of the potentials of my position when I joined the Collegiate Leadership Institute(CLI) at WE'15 in Nashville, TN. At CLI, I had the opportunity to meet the executives who organize the National SWEFL program and become knowledgeable with resources they provided such as mentoring and other guidelines to further enhance our careers as engineers and develop skills as

7 a SWE leader. Taking initiative, I expanded my abilities in my regional responsibilities. I took the lead in assisting the RCT with the President's call after the national conference in November I have been involved with SWE for three and a half years; however, this year I was able to truly deepen my passion for this organization due to the position I held. As a SWEFL in the RCT, I have knowledge on the internal relations and responsibilities of various Region C officers. Within the past years, I have been able to pursue my futuristic goals in SWE and truly be resourceful to my SWEsters. The RCT was the prefect stage to be on because it is where, with good leadership and team work, we can move Region C forward and maintain it as one of the shining regions of SWE.

8 Candidate Position: Candidate Name: Collegiate Section: Region Collegiate Representatives (RCR) Jessica Montgomery University of Arkansas My name is Jessica Montgomery and I am running for a RCR position in Region C. I currently attend the University of Arkansas (U of A) as a junior Mechanical Engineering student and have been actively involved in the U of A SWE section (C050) since my freshman year. Within the U of A SWE chapter, I have acted as the Vice President since Spring This year I have played the role as the FY2016 Region C Conference Vice Chair and helped plan and host the conference, starting with the bid reconstruction and presentation at the FY2015 Region C Conference in Austin, TX. Outside of SWE, I am actively engaged in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) on the chapter and national level. Within the U of A chapter, I am the Outreach Coordinator and am responsible for and supervise all university relation projects including advertising and funding applications. I am also a member of the growing ASME Petroleum Division Collegiate Council and am on a database team within that group.

9 Region Collegiate Representative Haley Barnes University of North Texas C082 My name is Haley Barnes, and I am the Vice President of the University of North Texas SWE section (C082). It is also my pleasure to serve as a SWE Future Leader and contribute to the Region Collegiate Team as well as shadow their administration. My experiences this academic year have only furthered my deep appreciation for Society of Women Engineers at a national, regional, and local level. SWE provided direction in my freshman year by encouraging me to volunteer in our philanthropic events, network with our professional Fort Worth & Dallas sections, and eventually run for Executive Webmaster, where I doubled the section s social media presence to recruit and retain our members. During my time as a VP and SWEFL, I have been able to serve my section and my region. For my section, I helped revise bylaws, promote new levels of philanthropy through women s health, propose and execute a recruitment campaign that won Most Creative New Member Campaign at the 2016 Region C Conference, and network our SWE section with our College s NSBE, SHPE, ASME, IEEE, and AEE organizations and societies. For my region, I have been allowed the opportunity to contribute to RCT conference calls and campaigns, order awards for banquet, and run two President Calls during my term. These experiences encouraged me to run for Region Collegiate Representative. Because of these shadowing and communication opportunities, I feel confident in my ability to serve as a RCR for Region C. If selected for this position, I would like to implement policy that will encourage every single collegiate group to be represented at region conference, so that each section across our four states are able to integrate once a year. In addition, I would like to create a regional philanthropy competition through collecting canned foods or women hygienic products to be distributed back to local areas. If selected, I also have the goal to personally or digitally meet each section within my term as RCR to increase communication from local to region teams.

10 Region Collegiate Representative AnneMarie Kovach Mississippi State University My name is AnneMarie Kovach and I am a junior majoring in Biomedical Engineering at Mississippi State University (C054). I am running for one of the Region Collegiate Representative positions to help maintain and improve the bridge that has been built between the collegiate sections of region C. I believe I have the communication skills to thrive in this position of leadership and teamwork. I would also bring a new perspective to the team since I am from an underrepresented state within the region. The position of RCR would allow me to gain knowledge that I can bring back to MSU for further improvement. I would like to keep my section updated and help them learn how the region runs as a whole so that we can all look at SWE more globally, rather than just locally. At the end of the term, I would like to have mastered the role so that I can successfully encourage more members, especially of smaller sections, to run for positions on the Region Collegiate Team. Presently, I serve as the Biomedical Engineering Departmental Officer in the MSU section. This position entails being a liaison between the main officers and the general members in order to communicate upcoming events and information. I am also responsible for recruiting new members within the agricultural and biomedical engineering department. Along with these duties I have assisted in kick starting our outreach program. This fall I led local high school girls at the first event of this program on a tour of our engineering buildings, and I oversaw the other educational activities that were done at the event. Currently, I am working alongside our outreach officer in leading a team of five other SWE members to plan our next event scheduled for April of this year. Being a part of SWE has given me an outlet for my

11 newfound passion for outreach in STEM. I am confident I will be able to grow in my current passions and discover new ones through the RCR position. Although SWE is a huge part of my education at Mississippi State, I have also been involved in undergraduate research since my freshman year at MSU. This opportunity has allowed me the chance to work with a variety of different people, ranging from professors to Ph.D. students and biomedical to mechanical engineers. On two of these teams, I have been called to take a leadership role. In both instances I gained experiences working with people of various backgrounds who think differently than myself. Through participation in MSU s SWE section and my undergraduate research experience, I believe I am an excellent candidate for RCR of Region C. I would love to take my passion for SWE to a higher level through a position on the Region Collegiate Team.

12 Candidate Position: Region Collegiate Representative Candidate Name: Kyndall Semones Collegiate Section: University of Houston Hello! My name is Kyndall Semones and I am currently the Section President at the University of Houston. I have been a member of SWE for 4 years and have had the privilege of serving as Events Coordinator, Treasurer, Vice President Internal and now President. Each officer position has taught me a tremendous amount about effective communication, different working styles, servant leadership, multi-tasking, conflict resolution, obtaining team buy-in, training new officers, creating long-term section development goals and helping upcoming officers realize their full potential. I have attended National Conferences in Houston and Nashville, the Region C Conferences in Dallas and Rogers, and even helped with the Region C Conference in Houston. I am running for Region Collegiate Representative because I want to help represent SWE members from other schools, speak for my fellow students in regional SWE matters and assist the sections with being the best student organizations they can be! This year, I utilized the RCRs for feedback about how to grow our section, how to tweek our officer structure and how to make our section events better. I want to be able to pass on this help to schools across our region and have a running diaglogue with the presidents to promote best practices and SWE excellence. I feel very comfortable speaking with the collegiate and professional members alike, so I will be able to work seamlessly with the other RCR and represent our schools when interfacing with the professional leadership. I also desire to stay involved in SWE on a regional and local level after my Presidency is complete. I want to give back to SWE because the people I have met through this organization have played such a huge role in my entire student experience and professional development! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Thank you for your time and consideration! Please pick me for RCR! klsemones@gmail.com;

13 Candidate Position: Region Collegiate Communications Editor Zikra Toure Collegiate Section: University of North Texas My name is Zikra Toure. I am a member of SWE at the University of North Texas. I would like to become Region Collegiate Communications Editor to gain leadership experience at a regional level. I have experiences in managing communication media. I was the historian for Legends Hall Association at UNT and was in charge of managing their social media and keep members active and engage online. I am currently president of IEEE Computer Society at the University of North Texas where I plan Workshops and Speaker Series for our members, and I lead and train my officers and members to become leaders when I m gone by given them the opportunity to plan social events and service projects for the organization. With these, qualifications, I am positive that I will be a great candidate for this position.

14 Candidate Position: Region Collegiate Communications Editor Candidate Name: Rachel Scott Collegiate Section: The University of Texas at Austin My name is Rachel Scott, and I am currently a 2 nd year Petroleum Engineering student at the University of Texas at Austin, where I am currently the Historian for the UT SWE section. I would like to be the Region Collegiate Communications Editor because, in that role, I would be doing something I love for an organization I love. I know that the role involves updating the Region C Collegiate Blog, Facebook page, and other social media. Blogging has been a hobby of mine since high school. I ve created four blogs of my own using WordPress two personal blogs, and two for creative team projects. Last year, when I attended the Region C conference for the first time, I found out about the RCCE position and since then, I try to read the blog as often as I can and I regularly think of the blog when I come across an interesting article that applies to collegiate women engineers. I also enjoy working with social media to publicize events and post relevant information. As Historian of my section, I led UT SWE s transition to an official Facebook page, and I have since acquired significant experience managing a Facebook page. As part of my role, I also work with Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat to document our events. And, all of this has been really fun for me. My interest in Publicity and Communications stems from my graphic design background. Last semester, as the Outreach Chair for my SWE section, I led the publicity

15 campaign for our first ever Middle School STEM Camp by designing the logo, flyers, and T-shirts for the event using Adobe Creative Suite software. Outside of SWE, I m currently the Creative Director of Vector, the student-produced engineering magazine at UT-Austin. As Creative Director, I mentor a team of 6 graphic designers and facilitate discussions with a team of 30 writers, photographers, graphic designers, editors-in-chief, and staff advisors to produce four issues of Vector each year. I have even worked professionally as a graphic design/product marketing intern for Drillinginfo, an Austin-based software and data analytics company for the oil & gas industry. Finally, I would like to be RCCE because SWE has meant a lot to me throughout my short time at college. SWE was the first organization that drew me in and made feel like I was truly part of something in college, and throughout the past year, my experiences in SWE have helped me find my voice as a leader and accomplish goals I could have never even dreamed of a few short years ago. My experiences attending Region C conferences, Society Conference, and UT s Corporate Advisory Board meetings have opened my eyes to all of the possibilities that remain for me within SWE, especially at the Region and Society levels, and helped me realize that I want to be involved with SWE at a deeper level throughout my collegiate career and my professional career. I would like a chance to experience SWE and grow as a leader within SWE beyond my section, and I believe serving as RCCE will allow me to accomplish that goal.

16 Region Collegiate Communications Editor Ann Scheliga University of Texas My name is Ann Scheliga, and I am from the University of Texas collegiate section. I am running for RCCE for the opportunity to become involved with SWE beyond the section level and to learn more about other sections in our region. I enjoy connecting with people and think this would be a great opportunity to further improve my professional soft skills. I am currently social chair for my section, which has given me experience managing events and working with others. I am also a fundraising chair for one of UT s American Society of Civil Engineers projects. For this project, we publicize fundraising events online, so I am not only familiar with social media for personal use, but also with using it as a tool to connect and coordinate members. I am an excellent candidate because I have experience with many of the duties of RCCE and the passion for SWE to take on my role with enthusiasm.

17 Region Collegiate Communications Editor (RCCE) Amanda Metzler Texas Tech University My name is Amanda Metzler and I am the current President for the Texas Tech University section of SWE. I have also served as secretary and historian for my section. I was first drawn to SWE by its welcoming members at a general meeting my freshman year. But I soon found that my passion lies with our many outreach events we hold each year. I became an active member and was invited to discover the wonderful land of SWE National and Regional conferences. I know that without SWE my collegiate experience and future professional experiences would not be the same. I am running for Region Collegiate Communications Editor because I want to give back to the SWE community. SWE gives its members many resources to help them succeed and I want to help reach more members with those resources.

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