Women in Engineering@SU College of Engineering

HIS section of the College's site was created because engineering needs more women who can bring innovative ideas to the field. Here you will find profiles of alumni from the College who are currently making a difference in the industry through their engineering careers. We've also compiled links to other organizations and web sites that focus on women in engineering.

Commencement 2004

Industrial engineering grads
Kristi Iem, Samantha Corcoran, Laura Bernstorf, and Kim Neises

Also, please be sure to visit our scholarships page, where you'll find information about our annual Wallace Invitational for Scholarships in Engineering (WISE) for incoming freshmen, which is held each November. WISE is a day-long event that combines a scholarship competition with tours of the College's facilities, lunch with WSU President Beggs, and panel discussions regarding our programs.

Females competing in WISE who have an ACT score of 26 or above (math and composite) automatically receive a $1,000 Boeing Scholarship that may be renewable for three additional years.

SWE Scholarships—Each year, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) awards more than 100 scholarships, from $1,000 to $5,000, to full-time students pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees in accredited engineering programs, such as WSU’s. The application deadline for the scholarships for incoming college freshmen is May 15, 2004. These scholarships are not part of the WISE competition. You can find an application form, as well as more information about SWE, on their website: www.swe.org.

Letters @ WSU Engineering

"...I particularly want to share with you the impact the Lego Mindstorms program has had on some of our girls. Middle school is often an age when students begin to think that math and science are for boys; in fact, anything mechanical is for boys. If we are truly concerned about the number of girls who fail to enroll in upper-level science classes in high school, then this is the age when we need to encourage our girls to participate. This year, twelve of our eighteen students were girls, and their enthusiasm for building, constructing, and pre-engineering science seems to be strong and growing. Both years I have taken teams to this competition I have had parents comment to me how much they appreciated this experience for their daughters."

--John Fast, Principal
Goessel Elementary School
Goessel, KS

Alumni Voices

Joan Wagner
B.S., Industrial Engineering ('99), M.S., Industrial Engineering ('04)
Industrial Engineer
Metal-Fab, Inc.

My education at Wichita State, with the challenging coursework and leadership opportunities, has prepared me for my career. The coursework at WSU was relevant to what I am doing now. Almost every in-major class had a real world project which made it easy to transition to the real world. I now am working in an environment where I am responsible for constantly finding cost savings, justifying new equipment, and training and developing the manufacturing workforce in new skills, most notably a major 5S initiative. With all of the challenges and changes that occur with my job, I can say that my WSU education has prepared me for anything.

Kimberly N. Ernzen
B.S. Aerospace Engineering ('95), M.S. Aerospace Engineering ('99)
Manager, Propeller Aircraft Group
Raytheon Aircraft Company

Attending Wichita State University was one of the best decisions I ever made. Not only was the educational experience second to none, but the opportunities it has afforded me during my career have been exceptional. From the professors to the facilities, WSU offers an educational experience that prepares you for the real world. Not only does my degree from WSU speak to the rigorous technical requirements I met, but its reputation speaks volumes to employers. As an alumnus of WSU's College of Engineering, I know I have a degree I can be proud of.

Kimberly Ernzen was recently honored by The Wichita Business Journal as one of Wichita's "40 Under 40."

Kristina L. Boger
B.S. Aerospace Engineering ('02)
Aeronautical Engineer Associate
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company

Finding an engineering position within one of the industry's leading aeronautics companies has been a direct result of the education, experience, and confidence I obtained while earning a degree from Wichita State University. Among the factors contributing to this success were the leadership, advice, encouragement that flowed freely from the staff and faculty to the students, both before and after graduation. These unique one-on-one relationships are undoubtedly the most memorable part of my WSU education. Another major factor that contributed to my success was the amount of exposure to practical, hands-on training I was able to accumulate while I was a student. I began working at the NIAR Composites Lab as part of a project that the Engineering staff encouraged me to become a part of. This project led to a student position in the lab, which ultimately paved the way for my current employment in a structural test lab at Lockheed Martin. I consider myself lucky to have been a part of these unique opportunities while obtaining a degree from WSU.

Links

Society of Women Engineers
Formed in 1950, this professional organization now boasts an international membership of more than 15,000 women and men and is located in 78 areas of the United States and Puerto Rico. SWE Student Sections have been chartered at more than 270 colleges, universities, and engineering institutions throughout the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Society of Women Engineers--WSU Chapter
Find out about WSU-SWE membership, scholarships, and upcoming events.

Women in Engineering Organization
One of the most comprehensive sites we've seen for women in engineering, WIEO's web pages are dedicated to fulfilling the "need for a unifying resource where people can go to find out more about women in engineering and programs in their area and across the country."

Association for Women in Science
Job listings, scholarship information, and morea valuable resource dedicated to "achieving equity and full participation for women in science, mathematics, engineering and technology."

Women of NASA Icon Women of NASA
A fascinating website in which you can "interact with the women at NASA who are enjoying successful careers in math, science, engineering, and technology. Women of NASA offers opportunities to find out about their education, career journeys, and current work via online profiles, live webchats, interactive video webcasts, and textbased forums. Young women give peer perspectives of working at NASA through their adventure journals, photos and videos."

MentorNet
MENTORING PROGRAM SUPPORTS WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING MentorNet is a national nonprofit organization whose goal is to provide support in the form of e-mail mentoring for women studying science and engineering. The program matches female students with working professionals who give advice and encouragement. Many women feel uncomfortable in a field dominated by male students and faculty. Participants in the programboth students and mentorssay that e-mail mentoring is effective, despite the perception that it is impersonal. E-mail allows students and mentors in different time zones to communicate at their convenience. One mentor said, "[Y]ou don't have to drop what you are doing ... and I can take time to think about my answer." MentorNet was started in 1997 by Carol Muller, who, as Associate Engineering Dean at Dartmouth College, was disturbed to see that women left science and engineering programs at twice the rate of men.
San Jose Mercury News, 10 June 2003
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/local/6053553.htm