The Cal Poly Society of Women Engineers (SWE) honored five women at its “Evening With Industry” awards banquet on January 21 with the 2011 Outstanding Women in Engineering and Technology Award. This year’s honorees were Anne Beug, Sarah R. Chang, Laura Dearborn, Anna Hopper and Jennifer Hughes.
Students and faculty that attended the banquet were joined by industry professionals from 32 companies including Yahoo, Cisco and Lockheed Martin, said Helene Finger, director of the Women’s Engineering Program.
In order to be considered for the 2011 Women in Engineering and Technology Award students must be nominated by a faculty adviser, Finger said. After initial nominations are made, students are then required to turn in a packet containing their résumé, transcripts, a letter of recommendation, a personal statement and a form detailing leadership experience. A committee comprised of faculty members from the College of Engineering then evaluates the nominees.
“To win the award you don’t have to be the student with the best GPA … the committee takes into account everything about the students,” Finger said. “We are really looking for individuals who are most likely to make a significant impact on the engineering profession.”
Jennifer Hughes, a computer science graduate student, said she felt honored to be included with a group of such amazing women.
“Of course I wanted to win, but I would have been happy for anyone,” Hughes said. “Every woman that was nominated was deserving of the award.”
Hughes founded Women Involved in Software and Hardware (WISH) as a sophomore at Cal Poly. She said she started the group because there was a need for a female support system within engineering majors. It was accomplishments like this that helped her stand out among the rest of the qualified candidates, she said.
“This award is different than other awards. It isn’t just given to the woman with the highest grades, it’s more based on what you’ve actually done,” Hughes said. “I founded WISH, I have been involved with a lot of outside research. I think that is more why I was recognized — because they saw my passion and potential.”
Anna Hopper said the award was special because SWE looked outside of its club members when choosing the recipients of the 2011 Women in Engineering and Technology Award(s). Hopper was involved with SWE early into her collegiate career, but as time went on she became more involved with the College of Engineering Ambassadors and less involved with SWE.
“If I had time to do it all, I would have,” Hopper said. “But, like we all know, we don’t have time to be involved in everything. Unfortunately something had to give, and I was more passionate about Ambassadors. It was cool, though, that the award was not exclusive to SWE members — that my accomplishments were still recognized and applauded is a great feeling.”
Award recipients were given $50 gift cards to El Corral Bookstore, but the recognition and satisfaction that comes with receiving an award like the 2011 Women in Engineering and Technology Award is the real prize, Finger said.
The award also helps to “break the stereotype” that people often associate with engineers in general.
“It’s critical that people see engineers outside of the typical engineer typecast,” Finger said. “People think all engineers do is math, that they are antisocial, that they hole up in dark spaces with their work. Really what this award does is help present engineers in general, specifically women engineers, in a way that says ‘we are passionate about what we do, we enjoy it, we want you to see how great it is.’ That’s the only way we will continue getting women to join the profession.”
More information about the award, as well as more specific information about the recipients, can be found online on the Cal Poly College of Engineering website.