Atg Logo Vector
Single Article Template

Fresh Beginnings

A New Version Of Our Conference Tradition
[social_warfare]

Anne Perusek headshot

It’s customary to make determinations at the start of the year, to move beyond the shortcomings, problems, and issues of the past. But what about matters that are beyond one’s personal sphere — how do we change those? An individual’s determination may not seem adequate compared with complex problems such as threats to the natural environment, the climate crisis, lack of environmental stewardship, and related issues.

Our cover story, “Women Engineers Work to Restore the Soil, Water, and Skies,” looks at the contributions made by women engineers across disciplines to solve these problems head-on. Encompassing bioremediation, civil, and aerospace engineering, these women are making a difference every day, both through their work and outreach efforts to inspire a new generation of potential engineers. While one person alone may not solve complex, systemic issues single-handedly, the efforts of many determined individuals working together can and will. Fresh beginnings are indeed possible.

Another feature, “Judith Resnik’s Living Legacy,” marks the 35th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger tragedy. A senior member of SWE, Dr. Resnik was a member of the crew who perished and is memorialized through the SWE scholarship in her name as well as the prestigious Resnik Challenger Medal. We take a look at the contributions being made by some of those scholarship recipients, what receiving the scholarship has meant to them personally and professionally, and the fundraising drive to boost the annual award amount.


While one person alone may not solve complex, systemic issues single-handedly, the efforts of many determined individuals working together can and will. Fresh beginnings are indeed possible.


Our third feature, “SWE Stories, Tales from the Founders’ Families: Focusing on Philadelphia,” is the second and final part of our two-part series. To cap SWE’s 70th anniversary, we reached out to the known adult children of the founders to find out what it was like to have a mom who was also an engineering pioneer at a time when few women worked outside the home. With Philadelphia and New York being the main locales, we focused on families from each city in separate stories — part one appeared in the Conference 2020 issue.

Our WE20 recap includes remarks from SWE Achievement Award recipient Jayshree Seth, Ph.D., as well as an overview of the event. As our first-ever virtual annual conference, it can’t be overstated that planners and participants had many opportunities to “Practice Curiosity,” which was the theme of the event as well as for this SWE year. The conference was a record-breaking and highly successful event, despite the challenges presented by the global pandemic. That the conference programming remains available until November 2021 is an added plus.

And please log onto our online edition for digital-only exclusives. To read the news story “Brilliance: An Equal Opportunity Trait” and “Soft Skills Prove Powerful for COVID-era Job Seekers,” a complement to this issue’s Career Pathways article, plus “Ask Alice,” our Q&A column focusing this time on self-care, please visit https://alltogether.swe.org/swe-magazine/ 

Anne Perusek signature

Director of Editorial & Publications

anne.perusek@swe.org

Author

>