Students at WVU Tech are gaining access to new opportunities through the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) club on campus.
The Society of Women Engineers WVU Tech chapter (SWEWVUIT) was approved for its national charter in July, a product of the hard work of students and faculty and a lengthy application process, which included a certain number of active members, submitting finances, and letters of support to the national governing body. This is only the second chartered SWE club among colleges and universities in the state.
The Society of Women Engineers WVU Tech chapter (SWEWVUIT) was established by students who wanted community among women in STEM fields.
Mia Valenzuela, a senior mechanical engineering major from Phoenix, Arizona, and President of the club, has been involved since her sophomore year, since its inception.
“The club was put together with a math major, me, and a computer science major who is our treasurer, and we just started pulling our friends and finding like-minded individuals,” Valenzuela said. “It felt good for us to be interconnected with other women in STEM on campus. Especially on a smaller campus, there’s a smaller sample size of women, and to be able to get together and support our community and support each other was really empowering, but also fun,” she said.
“Being an official chapter allows us access to a lot of their opportunities,” says Winnie Fu, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and one of the club’s advisors.
“They have scholarships for students, and grants that we can apply for some outreach activities. They do national conferences every year and huge career fairs, the biggest I’ve seen for any professional organization,” says Gifty Osei-Prempeh, Ph.D., Professor of Chemical Engineering. Osei-Prempeh is also a co-advisor and national member of SWE.
“Dr. Gifty was already a part of SWE and had participated when she was in college, so it helped to already have an advisor who was familiar with the process of creating the organization,” says Valenzuela.
They typically hold fundraising events once a semester to help cover membership costs and are involved in outreach events both on and off campus.
“We like to do volunteer work. One of our big events is Engineering Day at the Clay Center in Charleston, or if robotics is hosting a competition on campus, we will help out,” Valenzuela says.
One major project for the club is volunteering with SWE Next, a program that encourages 6th-12th graders to pursue STEM fields.
“We are trying to get the next generation involved, and we’re trying to organize
a professional dinner where we can network and really get connected with alumni,”
she says.
“Our most important thing is that we want professional networking for the students,”
says Fu.
For more information about SWEWVUIT or other student clubs and organizations on WVU
Tech’s campus, visit
students.wvutech.edu/student-organizations.
For more information on SWE, visit
swe.org.