The Society of Women Engineers National Conference (WE22) took place in Houston, TX this past October!
This years theme was “A World of Opportunity Awaits”
The conference featured three amazing keynote sessions, tons of breakout sessions, and a two day career fair with around 160 companies!!
“This year was the first time I was able to attend the SWE National Conference in-person. WE22 was an incredible experience from keynote and breakout sessions packed with encouraging, distinguished women in engineering to the huge career fair. The three keynote sessions were so inspiring and really spoke to the theme “A World of Opportunities Awaits” through the keynote speakers sharing their experiences as women in engineering and what opportunities they took to get to where they are today. The huge career fair hosted some of the biggest companies in the industries and I was able to talk, network, and interview for some of the biggest aerospace companies including Raytheon Technologies, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Boeing, and so many more. The different breakout session included Tech Talks where I was able to learn more about the products companies make and hear from some of the women who worked for the company and how they took advantage of the opportunities they were given to lead them to where they are today.
As the NIU section president, I was invited to attend the WE22 Collegiate Leadership Networking Event and was able to connect with several other SWE chapter presidents from across the country! It was a great experience to learn from and network with other SWE chapters and share what NIU has been doing for events.
WE22 was an amazing experience and I am so glad I was able to attend in-person and share the experience with some of the other NIU SWE executive members. WE22 had an amazing impact on my personal and career goals as an engineer.”
- Courtney
“Being among the few women in a classroom can make engineering feel daunting, and being a part of SWE has helped me find a place where being a woman in engineering feels encouraging. This feeling was only amplified in The Society of Women Engineers National Conference, where everywhere I looked there was a powerful woman engineer standing, and showing the 14,000 attendees what it means to be an engineer regardless of your gender. This empowerment was only the beginning to what became a memorable week, as the different talks gave me a glimpse of what the field was like, and how relatable all of the speakers’ experiences were. Finally, the Career Fair allowed me to talk to the biggest companies in the industry, as well as gain experience in networking. From the Career Fair and networking I was able to land two interviews with CSL Behring and ITW. Overall, this experience fueled me to keep working towards my goal of becoming an engineer and breaking into one of the most rewarding and empowering careers.”
- Maria
“My biggest fear has always been getting a job out of college. Because of this, everytime I have a job interview, my anxiety goes into overdrive. At the WE22 conference I had so many interviews (both planned and impromptu) that I am no longer scared of job interviews. I have learned to appreciate my worth and my skill set, and I have gained enough practice with job interviews that I have begun to look forward to future interviews instead of dreading them. I have an internship lined up for next summer, and I received multiple offers for different internships because of the WE22 conference. This conference has been invaluable to both my personal and professional development, and I would not change this experience for the world”
- Jade
“WE22 was a amazing opportunity for so many reason. The ones I found most impactful was the sheer amount of resources for learning, whether that be about different engineering field, new technologies, companies both large and small and anything else a woman in stem could dream of."
- Jacki
See you in LA for WE23!
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