Happy Spring! A lot has changed in the last month, and the majority of us are adjusting to attending classes online, catching up with friends and family over video and spending lots of time at home. If you’ve found you have more free time in these last few weeks, we’re here with some suggestions for how to fill it! We’ve asked our professional and collegiate SWE members to recommend some of their favorite online and print resources related to engineering. We hope you find something that can help you fill some of your time and further spark your interest in engineering!
Put on your headphones and take a walk while listening to any of these great podcasts:
- “I have really been enjoying the NPR podcast “How I Built This with Guy Raz.” The interviewer, Guy, talks with different entrepreneurs on how they founded their world-famous companies like Panera, lululemon, Wikipedia OtterBox and more! You’d be surprised how often engineering comes into play!”
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- ~Haley Antoine, Safety and Crashworthiness at Toyota Motor North America
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- “I was featured on a “STEM on Fire” Podcast (#73: INNOVATION PROGRAM MANAGER AT NIKE), and now I enjoy listening to all the unique people & careers in STEM!”
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- Jill Murfin, Innovation Program Manager at Nike Inc.
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- “Houston We Have a Podcast:” The Official Podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.
- If you’re interested in medicine and its history, try “Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine.”
- “Science Friday” offers entertaining and educational stories on all realms of science and technology.
- Turns out that many of our discoveries were discovered by mistake. Learn more about these stories with “Undiscovered.”
- “Science Vs” brings fact-checkers to the healthcare, science and technology rumors.
- SWE also has a series of podcasts featuring interviews with incredible SWE Women!
Check out these Instagram accounts:
- “I really enjoy following the #womeninengineering hashtag on Instagram because it is inspiring to see other successful women in the field achieving their goals!”
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- ~Elizabeth Jones, SWE President at Arizona State University
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- @womenwhoengineer features women from around the world and the various engineering problems they are tackling.
- Don’t forget all of the SWE Instagram accounts! Check out @swenext and @swetalk.
Curl up in your PJs and give one these awesome books a read:
- The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman is a great read for anyone interested in being a better designer.
- Interested in learning more about our universe? Try Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
- In Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Mary Roach delves into all aspects of space travel and its impact on humans in a funny and educational way.
Check out one of these websites next time you find yourself perusing the internet:
- Engineer Girl offers tons of resources for girls interested in engineering! You can find interviews with engineers, contests and plenty of information on different fields of engineering.
- Hour of Code offers many 1-hour introductions to computer science using some of your favorite characters and games. Try swapping an hour of Netflix for one of these tutorials!
- Create your own videos and games using Scratch. Try creating something to bring your friends and family together remotely!
YouTube is a great resource for all sorts of interesting science and engineering content:
- “[Forensic engineering] videos” provide depth to what I consider when looking at engineering projects, and they actually train me to think about the science and engineering behind everyday items.”
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- ~Sarah Dafoe, Architectural Engineering Student and SWE Member at CU Boulder
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- Mark Rober used to be an engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, but now he makes YouTube videos to answer your pressing science questions and give you DIY projects.
- Dianna Cowern’s YouTube channel, Physics Girl, teaches you about the physical sciences through experiments and demonstrations.
- Jess is a Conservation Engineer (RiverTechJess) and makes videos about engineering challenges related to the environment and documents her path to finding her engineering specialty.
- You may have heard of the toy GoldieBlox, but did you know they also have a YouTube channel? GoldieBlox makes weekly videos featuring amazing engineers, DIY projects and answers to your engineering questions.
Do you have a question for our women engineers at SWE? We’d love to hear from you! Send your questions to swenext@swe.org. We’ll answer you directly, and your question may become a future SWEet Wisdom column!
Related content:
- SWEet Wisdom March 2020: Advice for College
- SWEet Wisdom February 2020: Being Part of the SWE Community
- My Experience at SWENext DesignLab San Diego
- Constance & Nano at C2E2 2020: A Super Recap
