First-Year Recruiting Event, SWELL Program, Professional Development Opportunities!

Happy First Day of Classes! 🥳🍀

Jan 21, 2025

First-Year Recruiting Event

Monday, January 27th @ 7-8pm

Calling all first year students!! Looking to learn more about SWE? Stop by Barr Hall on Monday, January 27th for cookie decorating and mocktail making while learning more about our community of women in engineering!!

Journal Decorating & Bookmark Making

Tuesday, January 28th @ 7-8pm

Join us for SWE's Journal Decorating & Bookmark Making Event on Tuesday, January 28th! A great way to start off the new year and destress with your friends! Please RSVP here. You can only attend if you RSVP. If you cannot attend after RSVPing, please message Vidushi Jindal on Slack. Thank you and hope to see you there! :D

SWELL Program

Due Monday, January 27th @ 11:59pm

We will be continuing the SWELL Program this semester and reopening the form for those who are interested in being a mentor. This form is only for those who didn't sign up for the Fall semester or were not able to successfully complete the SWELL Program in the Fall.

During the program, you will be paired with an underclassman and are required to meet at least 3 times to discuss classes, extracurriculars, career paths, etc. This is a great way to share your experiences, meet new people, and make a friend!

Please fill out the SWELL Mentor Sign Up Spring 2025 if you are interested in acting as a mentor for an underclassman by January 27th at 11:59 pm. Feel free to message Alyssa Katwala via Slack for any questions/concerns!

Note: Please stay posted for the SWELL Mentee Spring 2025 form.

SWE Night

SWE Night is an event where SWE hosts admitted women in engineering for a day of activities, student panels, and networking. This year, it will take place on April 4th and will include an overnight stay for the girls! If you would like to help the SWE community grow and are interested in being a volunteer for the event, please fill out the SWE Night Volunteer Interest Form 2025.

If you live on campus, please consider hosting 1 or 2 girls overnight from April 4th to April 5th. Filling out this form is just to gauge interest and is not final.

Intramural Sports Sign Up

Next semester, SWE will be hosting intramural teams for futsal and flag football! Futsal is a type of soccer played on a hard indoor court (typically a basketball court) and is played with 5 players on each team. SWE will play in a B league, so rather than being competitive, our goal will be to have some fun and get active! No experience is required, and anyone that would like to try out futsal is encouraged to play with us by signing up via this form!
Time Commitment: 1 hour per week.
Dates: Feb 2 - March 15th (1 game per week)
Location: Futsal is typically hosted in the Cook gym or CA gym.
Cost: $40 per team ( this will be split among all team members)

SWE will also be hosting a women's flag football team in the spring season! Flag football follows rules of football but does not include any contact or tackling and is played in a 7v7 style. If enough people sign up, SWE can have a women's league to ourselves, and we will be playing against each other for fun! No experience is required to play, and everyone is encouraged to sign up via this form!
Time Commitment: 1 hour per week.
Dates: Mid March to Mid April (1 game per week)
Location: Busch or CA, depending on availability
Cost: $40 per team (this will be split among all team members)

Professional Development Opportunities

NSF I-Corps Fellowship - Info Session

Tuesday, January 28th @ 12-1pm

Please join us on Tuesday, January 28th (12-1pm ET, online) to learn more about the NSF I-Corps Fellowship Program. Registration for the Info Session is free and open to all.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nsf-i-corps-fellowship-info-session-tickets-1138945138569?aff=oddtdtcreator
For innovation-minded post-docs, grad-students, and undergrads, especially from underrepresented groups, from 2-year or 4-year institutions of higher education in the Northeast Region, the I-Corps Fellowship offers:

An immersive educational experience to learn about innovation and entrepreneurship at the Northeast I-Corps Hub
An opportunity to join an I-Corps team that is exploring the commercial potential of their proposed innovation and participate in customer discovery research as a co-Entrepreneurial Lead
A chance to expand your skill set, grow your network, and build confidence by contributing in a meaningful way
A $1,000 NSF-funded stipend for completing the I-Corps Fellowship requirements

Join us for this engaging Info Session to learn about the I-Corps Fellowship Program, where you can explore the dynamic world of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Northeast. Discover how you can make an impact and get matched with a team. The Info Session will also feature a panel discussion, where alumni of the Fellowship program will speak firsthand about how the experience has positively impacted them academically, personally, and professionally.
We welcome applications year-round and are eagerly seeking dynamic candidates to join our teams for Spring 2025.

2025-2026 SWE Scholarship Applications

Due Friday, January 31st

SWE scholarships support women pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees in engineering, engineering technology, and fields related to engineering. Scholarships are available for all undergraduate student and graduate students with majoring related to Engineering or Computer Science. Applications generally require a personal statement, resume, and recommendation letter(s). Please see this link for more details on scholarships available, particularly those listed under the Collegiate/Graduate Scholars section and Society Selected Scholarships section.

HackRU

February 1st-2nd

Rutgers HackRU is hosting our bi-annual 25-hour hackathon, on February 1-2 at the Busch Student Center. Registration is open to all university students! Visit hackru.org for more details and please let us know if you have any questions at info@hackru.org or need additional details.

HackHERs

February 8-9th

FemmeHacks 2025

February 7-8th

UPenn’s Women in Computer Science chapter is inviting you to participate in FemmeHacks 2025! FemmeHacks is back in person at Levine Hall (3330 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104) for its 11th year on Feb 7-8th, 2025! And we would love to see you and your students there. FemmeHacks is a collegiate hackathon hosted by Women in Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania and is meant for students in the greater Philadelphia area. Our event is a great way for women* of all skill levels to learn new programming skills, network with each other, and collaborate in making awesome apps.

We aim to inspire, teach, and empower young women in the Philly tech community by hosting educational workshops and providing a fun environment where they can create lasting bonds.In recent hackathons, we’ve had a hacker-to-mentor ratio of 4-to-1. We’ll also be handing out FemmeHacks swag, such as t-shirts, to all eligible participants. We also have an abundance of in-person workshops this year, such as arts and crafts stations and more! Please see their website for more information and signup via this link. Feel free to reach out to pennfemmehacks@gmail.com with any questions.

2025 UMN MRSEC Summer Research Opportunities

Due Saturday, February 15th

The University of Minnesota MRSEC will provide up to 25 full-time summer research positions to undergraduate students during the summer of 2025.

Program Benefits:

$6000 stipend; food, on-campus housing, and travel paid
$1000 research supply fund
Independent research project
Professional development activities: oral and poster presentation practice, scientific ethics, seminar series, graduate application instruction
Hands-on access to shared instrumentation facilities
Visits to industrial partners and academic/national labs
Travel grants for post-participation conference attendance
Exposure to wide variety of research projects and diverse participants

Program Dates: June 2 - August 8 2025.
Application Deadline: Feb. 15, 2025.

This program is open to undergraduate students in all science and engineering majors*, including (but not limited to):

Chemical Engineering
Chemistry
Electrical Engineering
Materials Science and Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Physics

Students in all STEM majors are encouraged to apply.

*All participants must be citizens or permanent residents of the US or US territories

Additional information and applications for all of our programs can be found on their web site at http://www.mrsec.umn.edu/ehr/#summer.

If you have any questions, please contact:
Phil Engen
Education & Outreach Director
Materials Research Science & Engineering Center
University of Minnesota
mrsecehr@umn.edu