Welcome Back BBQ

Each year the Colorado School of Mines SWE section host a welcome back barbecue during the first week of school. The barbecue is intended to introduce new women at Mines to our SWE section. The informal setting enables students to mingle with each other, Xcel engineers, and staff. Xcel energy sponsors the event each year, and they have been great partners with our SWE section. We hope to continue this partnership for many years to come, and thereby continue engaging women at Mines and introducing them to SWE.

Faculty Appreciation Ice Cream Social

Each fall semester, SWE holds a faculty ice cream social to show appreciation to the wonderful mines faculty and staff. Students nominate faculty from different departments, and then during the event, conversations and stories are shared between the students and faculty over lunch and ice cream sundaes. This is a great networking event which connects students with the faculty and staff who support them throughout the year.

Evening With Industry

Evening with Industry takes place each fall semester, before the fall career day, and is a chance for members to professionally network with company representatives before the career fair. This is a great way for members to develop important professional skills such as networking etiquette and professional dress. The 25th annual Evening with Industry, held in 2017, was our largest yet. With over 40 companies in attendance, Evening with Industry is a huge opportunity that SWE provides for our members’ professional development.

Networking Reception

The networking reception is an annual event held every spring, the night before the spring career fair. It is an opportunity for SWE and MEP members to talk with recruiters from companies that attend the Mines spring career fair. The small environment allows for more personal interactions between company representatives and students, allowing attendees to make memorable connections. This past year, the networking reception was one of the largest ever, with over 100 students and 43 recruiters in attendance. The additional interactions students get with the recruiters increases their chances of being remembered and scoring an interview for a job or internship. Both recruiters and students alike enjoy the event, find it extremely helpful, and noted it was a huge success.

 

Girl Scout Engineering Day

This past year, approximately 100 Junior Girl Scouts attended and participated in 10 different stem experiments with 58 SWE volunteers aiding the girls through each experiment. The SWE volunteers were able to serve as role models for the aspiring scientists and engineers. The girls left with souvenirs from experiments which included lava lamps, tie-dye squares, coding sheets, and asphalt cookies. Girl Scout Engineering Day is one of our signature outreach events and is an exciting and rewarding venue for our members to share the love of STEM with aspiring young scientists and engineers.

Girls Lead the Way Conference

This past year, the annual Girls Lead the Way conference welcome 200 high school girls to a full day event, introducing them to engineering, and the Mines campus. The day begins with breakfast, followed by major panels where women from Mines speak about their respective majors and answer questions. After the panels, the girls are broken up into smaller groups according to their interests, and attend their first hands on activity hosted by Mines faculty and students. Over lunch the girls get a chance to talk to volunteers from both Mines, and the Rocky Mountains SWE section. After lunch, the girls attended two additional science activity modules and an optional campus tour. Girls Lead the Way shows girls how women have overcome challenges, and grown into a strong leaders in STEM. The hands on experiences were overwhelmingly the most impactful part of the day, and left participants more aware of the wide variety of careers available to them, as well as more confident that they have the ability to succeed in pursuit of their passions

 

Math and Science Nights

Each year, the Colorado School of Mines SWE section participates in math and science nights around the city. Many of these include volunteer judging at science fairs, running STEM themed booths at school carnivals, as well as participating in events at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science which promotes STEM fields. SWE members feel aiding with community exposure to science and engineering professions is very important, and wholeheartedly enjoy the inspiring connections they are able to make at such events.

Continuum 

Each December and May, our SWE section hosts The Continuum, our graduation celebration. The Continuum honors the women graduates of Mines, past, present, and future. The event has been growing each year since its inception in 1999. Though new traditions have grown wth the event, the original tradition of awarding each graduate with a red rose has remained each year. In addition to remarks from President Johnson, the graduates also have the pleasure of hearing from a  keynote alumni each year. Following this speaker, graduating seniors deliver empowering speeches on how it feels to graduate as a woman from Mines.