Mission Statement
Provide numerous outreach opportunities that foster volunteering and education in the engineering and science fields in order to inspire girls and women from all diverse background and life stages to consider engineering as a highly desirable, meaningful, and rewarding career.

Vision Statement
Outreach is the top priority for the professional section of SWE-MN, thus reaching hundreds of potential engineering "students" and their parents and educators.

For interested outreach groups, download the Volunteer Request Form.

If you are interested in joining the committee and volunteering for Outreach Events, please email Lesley or Kalyani at outreach@swe-mn.org.

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October 2009

Calling all SWE-MN members; Committee members needed!
Are you looking for an easy way to get more involved with SWE-MN? Are you interested in volunteers, helping plan events, or giving back to the community? If so, then the Outreach Committee is just for you!
Email (outreach@swe-mn.org) the Outreach Co-Chairs for more information or to be added to the Email Distribution List!


Upcoming Events
People of Science - Interested in visiting Twin Cities' classrooms and enriching the science education of 4th graders? If so, please consider becoming a part of The Bakken Museum's People of Science program. Training is required. Next Training Date: Thursday, 10/1 at the Bakken Museum near Lake Calhoun, 3 to 5pm or 5:30 to 7:30pm. Email: vaughn@thebakken.org. Website: www.TheBakken.org.

SWE-MN Girl Scout Patch Day - November 14th, 2009 - We may not be selling cookies, but we are working with Girl Scouts! Please join us as a volunteer for SWE-MN's annual Girl Scout Patch Day. We are in need of volunteers as experiment leads, group leaders, floaters, and more. Please see the calendar for more details. Training will be held on Monday, October 26th. To volunteer, please email Sara at volunteer@swe-mn.org. Questions, please email Lesley/Kalyani at outreach@swe-mn.org.

IEEE Education Talk at The Bakken Museum - November 15th, 2009 - "Inquiring Minds - Using materials to engage learners", 5:30pm - 7:30pm. RSVP and questions to tc-education@ieee.org. What is the difference between "hands on" and inquiry science education? Learn about the Best Practices for Science Education by being a student again in this fun and interactive program presented by The Bakken Museum Educational Staff. Based on training for science teachers, learn about research based methods of engaging students' interest in science. This program won the 2008 Tekne Award for Innovation Collaboration with the Minneapolis Public Schools.

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September 2009

Welcome FY10 SWE-MN Outreach Co-Chairs
Lesley Wyckoff is returning for a second year as an Outreach Co-Chair! She is currently working as a mechanical engineer at Stratasys in Eden Prairie designing 3-D Printers. She is originally from Memphis, TN and found herself in Minnesota when she attended the University of St. Thomas. She graduated in May 2007 and has been a SWE-MN Professional ever since. Lesley currently lives in Uptown and loves it. When she is not busy with SWE, she enjoys being outdoors, traveling, going out for coffee, and spoiling her 6 month old niece!

After a year of involvement with Outreach activities, Kalyani Mallela is an Outreach Co-Chair for FY10. She is currently working as a Software Engineer at Boston Scientific in Arden Hills validating the LATITUDE system from the end user perspective. She is originally from India (a warm place) and found herself here in Minnesota (totally opposite) when she attended University of Minnesota for graduate school. She has been a member of the SWE-MN professional section since 2008. She currently lives in Blaine and is still getting used to being a new homeowner! When not busy with SWE activities, she likes to cook, knit, read and above all chat with friends.

Summer 2009 Outreach Events
Even during the busy summer months, SWE-MN Outreach was still busy with 4 successful outreach events. In June, SWE-MN volunteered at the University of St. Thomas with the STEPS camp where several SWE-MN members participated in a panel discussion with the 40 8th graders and then performed Egg Mobile with everyone. In July, SWE-MN teamed up with Girls Inc at their Summer Discovery Leadership Youth Camp. We introduced the 4-6th graders to all the different engineering disciplines and then performed Egg Mobile (it’s one of our favorite and most popular experiments!).
Also in July, SWE-MN linked up with the Shakopee Science Girls Camp at two of their Summer Camps that were held at Normandale Community College. SWE-MN held an information/panel discussion as well as performed Invisible Forces and Lego Gears with the girls. SWE-MN Outreach reached out to almost 150 girls this summer! Special thanks to our volunteers who gave their time and energy to SWE-MN Outreach this summer. We couldn’t have done it without them!
Thanks Summer Outreach Volunteers: Sara, Anita, Allison, Diane, Holly, Erin, Janell, and Lesley!

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And THANK YOU to our sponsors for their great and generous support this year for FY09: