Society of Women Engineers Scholarship Banquet

On April 25, the SWE-Baltimore-Washington Section (SWE-BWS) held its annual scholarship awards banquet at Alfio’s in Chevy Chase, Maryland. As I entered the restaurant, the host asked if I was with the beatnik group or the engineers, which left me wondering which group I looked like I belonged with.

We had a lovely four course meal with fettuccine, salad, tortolini (or was that the speaker), and spumoni. We were given only two forks. Don’t confuse me about fork etiquette.

Our keynote speaker was Michelle Tortolani, President-Elect for national SWE. Michelle is Senior Director of Repeater Operations at XM Satellite Radio, headquartered in Washington, DC. She talked about the importance of educating the next generation of engineers and SWE’s role in their education and in informing public policy to make that education possible.

Earlier that day, Michelle met with Senators Stabenow, Kennedy, Mikulski, Durbin, and Reed. She recommended that more science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses be required for high school graduation. Hands-on activities should be integrated in course curriculums and STEM after-school activities should be promoted.

This year, SWE-BWS awarded a scholarship to a college freshman, Synthia Mariadhas, an undergraduate research assistant working on the biomechanics of disc degenerative disease. We also awarded four scholarships to graduating high school seniors Jasmine Sae Park, Kara Graber, Theresa Sweeney, and Erin Dale. Erin completed an internship at the NASA Langley Research Center where she wrote “Socioeconomic Benefits of Improved Hurricane Forecasting.” She presented her paper at the International Space Olympics in Korolev, Russia, and won ninth place (out of 300).

Theresa Sweeney, Jasmine Sae Park, Synthia Mariadhas, SWE-BWS President Kimberly Fick, Kara Graber, Erin Dale, and Michelle Tortolani

This article will appear in the June issue of the SWE-BWS newsletter.

Tour of the Capitol Visitors Center - Under Construction

WASHINGTON, D.C.
I had heard rumors that the construction going on around the Capitol was actually to protect our Congresspersons with ground-to-air missiles, incase terrorists come to attack. So I went with the National Capitol chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers on a tour of the construction site for the Capitol Visitors Center.



ASCE tour group





On the way in, we all shook hands with the former Architect of the Capitol, Alan Hantman, who retired in February. "I was six feet tall and had hair before this project began," quipped Hantman.




Tour guide, Tom Fantana, shakes hands with Alan Hantman.



The Visitors Center was built with thirty-five million dollars worth of American stone, mostly granite, marble, and sandstone, to match the old building. Over fifty thousand truckloads of soil were removed from the site. The federal government wasn’t too concerned about what the contractors did with the soil, as long as they didn’t sell it on Ebay. Most of it ended up under the Springfield (Virginia) interchange.




Walls of granite from Culpeper, Virginia



The new Capitol Visitors Center will house display cases of important documents and kiosks with interactive web sites for citizens to look up their Congresspersons to find out what legislation they are working on. There will also be videos and other interactive demonstrations that visitors can learn from. "It will give a better sense of how our democracy works," says Fontana. The idea is to reach out to the public beyond what the current statues and other artwork can show.



Future site of important documents





The video auditoriums were designed to be flexible. Incase Congress decides to use the auditoriums for other purposes, such as meeting rooms where Congress will vote, some walls can be moved, the electrical outlets were placed in the floor, the seats can be removed, and the room was wired for internet, phone, and voting mechanisms.

As far as I could tell, there were no missiles installed, but there were blast-proof doors. They also installed a chem-bio contaminant detection system. In response to the anthrax scare, the air intake vents were situated on the roof of the Capitol, instead of near the ground. Incase of attack, the air handling units will purge the contaminated areas of poisoned air. Showers with detergent will flush the toxic substance off of anyone in the building and the wastewater will be contained in a 15,000-gallon tank.

And no government building would be complete without the item that can’t be used for its intended purpose.



Don’t drink the water








This article will appear in the next newsletter for the National Capital Section of ASCE.

Gaithersburg Girl Scouts Build a Better Future

GAITHERSBURG, MD
On Sunday, April 22, thirty Girl Scouts participated in Engineering Day, an event designed to enable the girls to earn their "Build a Better Future" badge. Earning the badge is one step required to become a Cadette, one of the higher levels of Girl Scout rank.

The Baltimore-Washington Section of the Society of Women Engineers volunteered to help the girls with four experiments - making slime (a polymer), building the tallest tower out of straws, connecting circuits to make a doorbell ring, and using marbles as ball bearings to reduce friction.

While playing with her slime, 11-year-old Katie Mullineaux observed, "You could even do a project in science class with this."

After the Scouts completed their experiments, Lei Zhou, a member of the Society of Women Engineers, talked about how she decided to become an engineer. Zhou explained that she couldn't say much about her government job because it's secret, but she was able to tell stories about what her engineer friends work on, such as face cream, video games, and airplanes. She concluded by performing a math trick with playing cards, giving the Girl Scouts a homework assignment to figure out how the trick worked.


Gaithersburg Girl Scouts show off their towers made of straw. Back row: Colleen McAleer, Jackie Talbert, Emily Nelson, Mary Beth Parshall, Taylla Smith, Katherine Hurley, Ashleigh Murray, Colleen Cain. Second row: Carolina Roa, Alexa Simon, Kim Oyefusi, Tess Murphy, Anne Parkinson. Kneeling: Aurora Simon, Rebecca Reily, Camille Murphy, Bridget Cassidy, Shannon Bernier, Diane Miller, Katie Mullineaux. Sitting: Ali Gargulinski, Natasha James, Katya Feerrar, Julia Willingham.

Girl Scouts Shannon Bernier, Katie Mullineaux, Diane Miller, Carly Tomes, Bridget Cassidy, and Katya Feerrar play with their slime while SWE member Lisa Schaefer looks on.

A version of this article appeared in the Gaithersburg Gazette on Wednesday, May 2.

Young Role Models in the Media

On April 8, the Washington Post Magazine printed an article about Kailyn Cage. Miss Cage was the Junior Achievement Youth Entrepreneur of 2006 and has planned a business and engineering curriculum to reach her goal of designing vending machines.

Teens and their parents need to see people like Kailyn Cage in the media. As girls enter high school, they become more aware of gender roles and cultural expectations. Girls often choose not to go into technology careers because they aren't exposed to any role models in those fields and adults expect them to conform to their perceptions of what girls are supposed to do.

I hope to see more teen and adult role models featured in all sections of the Washington Post, and less space devoted to the less admirable role models who permeate popular culture.

Urge Congress to Improve Math and Science Education

By 2010, one in four new jobs will be technically oriented. However, women still lag far behind in earning science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees and working in STEM-related professions.

Every Thursday while Congress is in session, the Lobby Corps for the American Association of University Women (AAUW) visits either the Senate or House, depending upon the hot topic of the week, to talk to Hill staffers about AAUW's position. We first meet for a briefing by AAUW staff on the status of the bill, then split up into pairs, each hitting up about 6 to 8 offices. The offices to visit are determined by the AAUW staff based on the Congresspersons' positions on the bill. In the upcoming weeks, AAUW will be keeping an eye on a STEM education bill.

Reps. Bart Gordon (D-TN) and Ralph Hall (R-TX) recently introduced the 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act (H.R. 362). This bill attempts to improve STEM education across the nation by implementing recommendations found in the National Academies' report, Rising Above the Gathering Storm.

This report states that U.S. advantages in science and technology have begun to erode and discusses the need to improve math and science education. H.R. 362 will have an impact on teacher preparation by providing teachers with professional development and will improve student achievements by strengthening math and science curriculums. In addition, H.R. 362 authorizes scholarships for students majoring in STEM fields who commit to teaching K-12 science or math.

I realize that politicians can only do so much - coersion through laws and encouragement through allocation of funds - toward ensuring the technological superiority of our future generations. The rest of the burden lies on business, media, and every adult who impacts a child's life. I hope some day soon business leaders will have incentive to care about something beyond their golden parachute, media outlets will have incentive to portray adequate role models, and adults will see the importance of science literacy.

I plan to be on this planet for around 60 more years, so I'm concerned about the long-term future of our nation. But in the short term, H.R. 362 might be helpful.

Please urge your Congressperson to support this important legislation by sending them an email.

A version of this article appeared in the May newsletter for the Vienna, VA, branch of the American Association of University Women.

Public Policy Beyond Control by the Government

No matter how much work is done in Washington through laws and regulations, women will continue to struggle with equality if the popular culture continues to teach the next generation to pigeonhole women into stereotypical roles. According to a recent study by the See Jane program, a project of Geena Davis, children’s television perpetuates gender stereotyping in the roles, occupations and personality characteristics displayed by male and female characters.

Gender portrayals seen on television can have a strong impact on children. Studies of children’s television exposure indicate that heavy viewing predicts traditional sex-role attitudes, such as girls believing that females are less competent than males, or boys believing that household chores should fall along stereotypical lines. In terms of occupations, children who are heavy television viewers may believe that they have a smaller range of occupation choices based on their gender.

Gerry Laybourne, Founder and CEO of Oxygen Media says, “One of the things TV does best is breaking down stereotypes. When we make an effort to show girls who are popular for their ideas, their initiative, their brains and not just their looks, we see the difference it makes for both boys and girls.”

Television is a major presence in the daily life of most young people. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation national survey found children ages 8 to 18 spend a daily average of 3:04 watching television, compared to 2:17 with parents. Alvin F. Poussaint, Harvard Professor of Psychiatry, states, “The early exposure of children to less stereotyped gender roles will contribute to less sexism and improved relationships between the sexes, as well as a balanced approach in rearing male and female children.”

Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space and CEO of the biotech company she founded, says that too many adults exhibit "belligerent ignorance" about the sciences and their relevance. When adults refuse to promote science literacy, children notice. Dr. Jemison believes that media should make STEM careers more visible and appeared in a 1993 episode of Star Trek to help make it so. “Women today are very absorbed with what’s being shown to them in the media. It’s a bombardment now that many of the roles girls see are very highly sexually charged and dependent upon looks.”

Perhaps it is time for women's organizations to do some lobbying in Hollywood.

A summary of this article appeared in the May newsletter for the Vienna, VA, branch of the American Association of University Women.

The Electronic Leash

SO. CAL.
The annual technical meeting of the Institute of Transportation Engineers was held in San Diego on Mar. 25-28. I went along as the trailing spouse, touring the city with David, my favorite ex-coworker who moved from Northern Virginia to San Diego four years ago.

Some of the VDOT managers at my husband, Randy's, level had been refusing for some time to accept the Blackberries that had become standard issue for the managers. But Randy received one anyway just in time for our trip to San Diego.

Having a Blackberry means that Randy can read email from his boss at any time of day. Dinner at David's house, message from boss about an inside joke. Strolling the beach, message from the Federal Highway Administration about being intentionally left out of the loop on communication with the local congressman. That was the one message Randy was glad to receive immediately. The poor pawn at FHWA thought he was getting away with something by sending Randy a message while he was out of town. Instead, Randy notified his staff, his boss, and his boss's boss within seven minutes of the original email and they were able to foil FHWA's attempt to give VDOT information too late to do something about it.

Email during work hours is reasonable. The conference was a work event so during the down-time, like throughout a boring session, the ability to read and send email was a welcome time-saver since it's something that would have to be addressed back at the office where there would be other pressing issues to tackle. But if anyone expects their very important, yet non-emergency, employees to pay attention to their demands all weekend or at two in the morning, they're delusional. I can guarantee you that although there may be traffic emergencies, there are no traffic engineering emergencies during non-business hours. Luckily Randy's boss is reasonable and does not expect immediate responses while Randy is asleep. But I have known bosses who are not as considerate toward their employees.

What some bosses don't realize is that unlike dogs, employees have the free will and ability to remove the leash whenever they wish. Randy had the sense to leave the Blackberry in the car during dinner at nephew Tom's house and when we went out to dinner with my mother-in-law.

One nice thing about having constant access to email and phone while on vacation is that as we drove up the coast, we were able to get messages from brother-in-law Kevin so we knew what time he would be home to greet us. We also received the mass email about Aunt Margie's funeral in Orange, CA, in time to attend. We even wished we had a camera on the Blackberry so we could send pictures of the house where Grandma Ditty used to live to my father-in-law.

The house that Grandpa Ditty built.


One of several properties built by the Dittberners in southern California in the 1950's.

But for all the irritation and all the convenience that an electronic leash can bring, we shouldn't take for granted the ability to communicate with whom we want when we want. There are many people who wish they could send an email or phone message across the globe, but have access only about once a month. Such as nephew Brad who called from Iraq at seven in the morning, just before Randy and I left for our flight back to Virginia.

Media Perpetuates Stereotype of Engineering as "Boring"

I was very disappointed with the "Making It" column in the Post Magazine on Sunday, February 18. Christine Bowles, an engineer-turned-photographer was described as "bored with one job after another." It seems that the author succumbed to the stereotypes of engineers, reinforcing those stereotypes as a result.

The column made it sound as though when Bowles has a problem she runs away from jobs. But the issue is likely much more complex. Some female engineers feel dissatisfied, or "bored," with their careers because there still are barriers against integration into the work culture in many work environments. It is common for managers (not just in engineering) to have their own agendas and to keep information about what is happening at higher levels in the company from their staff. This is often a bigger disappointment to female engineers because the profession attracts highly intelligent women, such as Bowles, who expect to be able to cultivate opportunities to make an impact in their field.

It is important now more than ever that the American public begin to see engineering as a highly respected career -- as the Asian and Middle Eastern cultures have for ages. It is even more important that American managers ensure that the work is important and fulfilling for their engineers because the United States is quickly becoming a country of inferior products. I hope Bowles uses her engineering knowledge to communicate the importance of technology to the masses through her art.

Rewards are for Beauty Pageants, not for Preventing Global Warming

Recently a Washington Post article featured Jamie Ginn, a chemical engineer. Ms. Ginn is working on a computer model of a biorefinery to make fuel products out of corn.

I was pleased that they profiled an engineer that does not fit into the old stereotype of a nerdy guy with a pocket protector. But instead of achieving notoriety for her important work, Ms. Ginn was featured in the Post because she was Miss Delaware. Ms. Ginn has even had an "acceleration in her career" because of the pageant, not her work. Unfortunately, women are still judged in the workplace for their looks, and their technical contributions are marginalized.

Ms. Ginn was asked by the pageant judges whether global warming or terrorism was a greater threat to our nation. She replied, "They're interrelated." The article didn't state exactly how they were interrelated, however I have a hypothesis. Many terrorists are educated as engineers in countries that value engineers and their work. Meanwhile, the engineers in the U.S. that are creating alternate sources of fuel, so we won't need their oil in the future, are being pulled away to work on pageantry.

SWE and WETA Pledge Drive

ALEXANDRIA, VA
On March 6, several members of the Baltimore-Washington Section of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE-BWS) answered phones for the pledge drive for our local PBS television station, WETA. In return, SWE-BWS got their logo broadcast on PBS during the pledge breaks. A few friends sent me email saying they recognized me in the front row when the live camera showed all the volunteers participating in the telephone bank. My fifteen seconds of fame.

Volunteers were treated well throughout the evening. Each of the coordinators expressed their profuse gratitude for having SWE-BWS come to volunteer. They provided cheese and crackers, fruit, cookies, soda, hot chocolate, and coffee. At the end of the evening, there was a raffle for a $100 dinner at a swank restaurant downtown. I was still taking pledges after everyone else was off the phone, so I didn’t pay much attention to the drawing. But at some point, one of the volunteer coordinators placed a sheet of paper in front of me while I was working on my last phone call. When I got off the phone, I realized it was the $100 certificate!

I was pleased to have the opportunity to get SWE's logo on public television and to interact with the volunteer coordinators because I feel it is important for SWE to publicize women engineers. The general public needs to be aware of the capable problem solvers that women can be. We are great role models that deserve the attention of the next generation more than most of the role models young people are usually exposed to in the media.

This article appeared in the May issue of the SWE-BWS newsletter.