Previous members of the SWE Chapter at Manhattan University attending the 2022 Conference in Houston, Texas.
@SWEMANHATTAN / INSTAGRAM
By Julia Ciampa, Staff Writer
On Oct. 24, five Society of Women Engineering (SWE) students from Manhattan University will embark on a trip to Chicago alongside professor of engineering and advisor for SWE Medya Fathi, Ph.D.
Each year, The Society of Women Engineers gather together to collaboratively discuss upcoming engineering breakthroughs, network with other engineers around the globe and attend insightful keynote panels to broaden their education on all things related to their field. The 2024 SWE convention’s theme is “Together We Rise” as this year’s convention aims to foster cultivating relationships within women in engineering, through sharing the stories of empowering engineering entrepreneurs.
The president of the SWE chapter at Manhattan University Gabriella Morelli has ensured that MU will continue to attend the conference this year, as her time spent at last year’s convention was a memorable experience.
“Last year’s convention was such a great experience, especially as a sophomore on the SWE executive board, as I was the social media chair,” Morelli said. “I believe that being able to attend this conference as a sophomore was such an enriching experience for me. Even though I wasn’t searching for an internship as a sophomore, I was still able to network and get a better understanding of what the career market looks like for engineers. To me, the most valuable part of attending this conference is the opportunity to attend different talks that address different engineering subjects.”
As the new advisor of SWE, Fathi will be joining the students on their trip. This will be her first time attending the conference as well.
“I am happy to be able to guide students through the career fairs at the upcoming conference, where they will be able to work on their resumes in a group setting,” Fathi said. “As their advisor, I will work to attract people from the engineering industry to meet our students. This will help students network based on their resume and communication skills. Also, the students will all travel together and be together throughout the conference, so this will also improve their teamwork skills. So it’s not just a trip, it’s actually working on their academics, networking, and gaining helpful skills for their future jobs.”
Another attendee of the upcoming conference, Gianna Rutigliano, finds that SWE not only supports the importance of academic development but also fosters the connection between women in STEM.
“I have truly enjoyed getting to know the women in engineering,” Rutigliano said. “Since SWE is entirely made up of women, I find it super amazing that all of these women can come together, and they will always want to help out no matter what. SWE is its own little community, and it’s so amazing.”
Rutigliano eagerly anticipates the conference, as this is her first time attending, and is confident that the SWE conference will offer students like her the opportunity to grow both academically and professionally.
“I believe that this conference can be used as a trial and error experience, where you can test your networking and public speaking skills,” Rutigliano said. “SWE has also assisted in [picking] exactly what division of engineering I like, because when I came into college I figured I liked math and science so I should just keep doing that. However, through joining clubs like SWE and having these opportunities, you can definitely gain clarity on what you really want to do in engineering.”
As MU SWE was provided substantial financial assistance from student engagement and student government to attend the conference, Morelli expressed her gratitude for the ability to attend once again.
“As the president of SWE, and on behalf of our organization, we are so grateful for the ability to attend this conference again,” Morelli said. “Registration for the conference alone is around 300 dollars, so we made sure that we asked for funding in advance so that we could get as many people to attend as possible. There’s really no other conference where you could be fully immersed in an environment like SWE’s conference, and it’s so special that MU students get to experience this opportunity.”
Fathi hopes that even more students will be eager to attend the conference next year as well.
“Students just need to believe in themselves, and remain confident in their abilities to network,” Fathi said. “I think that even if students feel nervous about the conference, once they see other people around them, this will help them to feel more comfortable and open to experiencing what the convention has to offer.”