posted May 15, 2012 5:32 PM by Jamie Krakover
SWE members and their guests turned out in a big way to support ending
the domestic abuse of women by filling two tables at the Annual Trivia
Night Benefit for Women’s Place at St. Gerard Majella Parish Center at
Ballas and Doughtery Ferry Roads in Kirkwood, MO. The event offered a
fun-filled evening of trying to figure out the answers to questions
which ranged from being able to identify vintage candies to knowing the
name of one of the two Los Angeles Streets in Tom Petty’s “Free
Falling”. Between the rounds there were silent auctions, raffles,
50/50 drawings, door prizes, lots of bonding and lots of snacking. One
important lesson we learned from the evening is that you probably
shouldn’t override your friend’s answer unless you are really, really
sure that their answer isn’t correct or that you are okay with never
living down that the answer you should have used was Mulholland Drive.
Still humming that song? I’m not telling you the other street name –
you’ll just have to figure it out.
- Lori Prothero |
posted May 15, 2012 11:36 AM by St. Louis SWE
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updated May 15, 2012 7:51 PM by Jamie Krakover
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A general membership meeting was held April 14, 2012 at Urban Eats and general SWE business was discussed while members had lunch. After the meeting, several members stayed to play board games. Wits and Wagers challenged not only the player’s abilities to guess unknown trivia quantities without going over the actual number, but also how to bet using Las Vegas style odds on the ranges from answers of other contestants for the right range. Fortunately for some players, myself included, you couldn’t actually lose more than you started the game with – a very non-Vegas ending to the game.
The next game had players draw pictures to represent a secret phrase on the next page of the flip book and pass those pictures to the next person who would attempt a guess on the following page of what the picture depicted without seeing the original phrase. Then the following person would only see what was guessed and have to draw what the guess said and so on until the book came back to the original owner. At the end, it was funny to see how the concepts had evolved due to drawing skills or strange thoughts of the person feeling the pressure of time. A drawing of the entire cast drawing of the “Wizard of OZ” password was reduced to just “ruby slippers” which turned into diamond ring – on account of not having anything but black ink! I still think I was at a disadvantage!…um- Fortunately, there were no winners or losers and fun was had by all. The final game for the last four remaining players was Survival. Essentially the game was about getting ones people from an island that was constantly eroding with every turn to the safety of a harbor. The only problem was that the seas were full of seamonsters, sharks, and whales! If that wasn’t enough, you had to worry about sharks in lakes!
- Lori Prothero |
posted May 14, 2012 11:36 AM by St. Louis SWE
On Saturday May 5, SWE members enjoyed Cinco de Mayo at Chevy's in Olivette with a panel discussion on Making the Transition to Supervision. The discussion was led by SWE member June Jeffries, Section Chief of Environmental Engineering, US Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District. June is also President of the Creve Coeur Toastmasters club. Members were challenged to "be the change you want to see in the world", and were encouraged to begin preparing now for leadership roles at your organizations so that we can all begin to benefit from having more than 7% of engineering managers as women (2006 US Bureau of Labor Statistics). A good way to improve your leadership and communication skills is to learn by doing, at your workplace and at volunteer organizations like SWE. Another effective way to learn and practice leadership and communication skills is available to you by joining a Toastmasters International club. Go to http://www.toastmasters.org/ to find a club near you, or feel free to contact June Jeffries at june@bluestemridge.com. |
posted Apr 22, 2012 12:58 PM by St. Louis SWE
On Monday, April 16 about a dozen SWE SLU student members, professional members and guests toured Proctor and Gamble's St. Louis plant downtown. The two and half hour tour was organized by Jessica Schupp, the SLU SWE student counselor. We learned about the Cascade powder making process as well as the Febreze and Mr. Clean packaging processes.
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posted Mar 27, 2012 6:28 PM by Jamie Krakover
SWE members enjoyed a great tour of locally owned artisan pottery studio and shop Mississippi Mud this Saturday. We watched pottery being thrown on the wheel and painted. We learned about the geological and mechanical properties of clay, the chemistry of glazes, and the thermodynamics of kiln firing. And, of course, we saw lovely functional pottery and gorgeous works of art.
The tour was followed by lunch at Princivalli's Cafe. Issues discussed ranged from the advisability of outreach to 200,000 Girl Scouts (verdict: favorable) to the advisability of cheddar cheese on pizza (verdict: unfavorable).
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posted Mar 10, 2012 8:22 AM by St. Louis SWE
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updated Mar 10, 2012 8:22 AM
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A panel discussion on making the most of your early technical career was
held February 26, 2012. The panel was a joint event with the SIUE
collegiate SWE section, held on the SIUE campus, and presented by
Michelle Aikman of Skilled Assets. Professional members on the panel and
in the audience shared their experiences and answered students'
questions about starting a career, especially in an uncertain economy.
Of the 19 people that attended, including the panel, 12 were SIUE
students and 6 were professional members. A student's parent also
attended. |
posted Feb 25, 2012 1:53 PM by Jamie Krakover
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updated Feb 25, 2012 1:54 PM
]
On February 18, 2012, ten St. Louis SWE members met are St. Louis Bread Company to discuss the section, its current progress, how much its grown, and our up coming events. We have a lot of fun things planned for the spring and hope to see lots of members at our activities!
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posted Feb 25, 2012 1:49 PM by Jamie Krakover
A social event to kick-off the new year was held on Fri., Jan., 20th at Bailey's Chocolate Bar, 1915 Lafayette Square. Despite bad weather, four professional and two collegiate members attended.
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posted Jan 4, 2012 5:58 AM by St. Louis SWE
On Saturday, Nov. 5th, 2011 about two dozen SWE members and guests toured Ameren's 839 megawatt Meramec Power Plant, a coal-fired power plant in south St Louis County. The 90-minute tour was organized by JoAnn Thee, a SWE member and plant employee. The tour was followed by lunch at a local restaurant.
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posted Sep 18, 2011 4:09 PM by St. Louis SWE
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updated Jan 22, 2012 11:51 AM
]
SWE members met at Fitz's in the loop to discuss issues and tips of being a female in a male dominated work environment. Michelle led us through some activities to discuss the pro's and con's as well as how to handle certain situations. We all shared some great advice and stories. A summary of what was discussed as well as some additional interesting articles and resources are attached below.
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