Willamette Valley Section SWE e-News December 2017
Post date: Dec 18, 2017 7:31:26 PM
Welcome to our third edition of our SWE e-Newsletter where we’re compiling relevant announcements and information for you. If you have anything you’d like to include in a future e-Newsletter please contact Joani Curtis (joan.curtis@hp.com).
In this Newsletter
SWE 2018 Engineer's Week Banquet
Please mark your calendars for the 2018 Engineer's Week banquet, held on Monday, February 26, 2018, at 6:00pm at the CH2M Hill Alumni Center on the OSU campus in Corvallis, Oregon. Click here to learn more.
Scholarships
There is still time to apply for the three WVS-SWE Scholarships! Find details here on how the girls you know can apply.
OSU Fermentation Sciences Tour
WVS-SWE has arranged for a tour of the OSU Fermentation Sciences Department on Saturday, February 1, 2018. Learn more about this opportunity, including how to RSVP here.
WE Local is coming to Portland
WE Local is a regional SWE conference coming to Portland April 6-8, learn more and how you can participate here.
Forest Fires Panel Discussion Recap
A summary of the discussion and links to more information if you missed this event. Check it out here.
Facebook Page
Did you know that Willamette Valley SWE has a Facebook Page? Please like the page to get updates on events! We will endeavor to keep it updated with current events and interesting SWE articles. Check it out: Willamette Valley SWE Facebook Page
Volunteer Opportunities
GradSWE Mentorship Program
Girl Scouts Science in Action Workshop – January 20, 2018
Reviewing Scholarship Applications – January / February 2018
Learn more here.
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SWE 2018 Engineer’s Week Banquet
Please mark your calendars for the 2018 Engineer's Week banquet! The banquet, sponsored by Willamette Valley Section of SWE, will be held on Monday, February 26, 2018, at 6:00pm at the CH2M Hill Alumni Center on the OSU campus in Corvallis, Oregon. A networking hour will be from 5-6 pm in the lobby, followed by dinner, awards, and our keynote speaker. We are excited to host Michael Foss, a senior manager for Logistics Optimization, Compliance, and Controls at Amazon Transportation Services. Michael is responsible for leading global logistics optimization. In this role he provides leadership to new launch sites and to ensure operations and activities are conducted safely, ethically, and with the highest level of integrity.
WVS-SWE Scholarship Announcement
Do you know a female, high school senior who wants to major in engineering in college? Encourage her to consider applying for one of the following 2018 WVS SWE Scholarships:
Georgia-Pacific Scholarship
HP, Inc. Corvallis Scholarship
Society of women engineers (Willamette Valley Section) Endowment Scholarship
Three $1250 scholarships will be awarded based on academic achievement, school/community involvement, and work experience.
APPLICATION PROCESS: For an application go to https://goo.gl/aLzbJ9
APPLICATIONS DUE: JANUARY 24th, 2018
QUESTIONS?
MAIL: Society of Women Engineers—Willamette Valley Section
PO Box 576, Corvallis, OR
97339-0576
Attention: Scholarship Chair
SWE-WVS Tour: OSU Fermentation Sciences Department
The Willamette Valley Section has arranged to tour Oregon State University Fermentation Sciences Department, located in Corvallis, Oregon. During this tour, we will learn about the science of fermenting beverages (beer and wine) as well as fermenting cheese from the experts. Dr. Lisbeth Goddik will lead the tour of the creamery. Dr. Thomas Shellhammer and his research group will give us a tour of the pilot research brewery, and Dr. James Osborne and his research group will give us a tour of the research winery.
Dr. Goddik is a Professor in Food Science & Technology. She holds two professorships: the Paul & Sandra Arbuthnot Professorship and the ODI-Bodyfelt Professorship. Her research program is based on the Dairy Processing Extension Program. It offers the opportunity to provide an in-depth investigation of specific challenges facing the dairy industry.
Dr. Shellhammer is the Nor’Wester Professor of Fermentation Science and is an internationally recognized expert in hops chemistry. His lab studies the contribution of hops to beer flavor, foam and physical & flavor stability. During the 2008-2009 academic year he conducted research and taught brewing science at the Technical University of Berlin as a Fulbright Scholar and Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. Since 2007 he has served on the Board of Examiners for the Institute of Brewing and Distilling in London, England.
Dr. Osborne is an associate professor and Enology Extension Specialist in the Food Science and Technology. His expertise and research interests include Wine Microbiology - Malolactic fermentation; Microbial spoilage of wine; Wine yeast-bacteria interactions; Problematic alcoholic and malolactic fermentations; Acetaldehyde metabolism by malolactic bacteria and its enological consequences.
When: Saturday, February 3, 2018 from 10 am – 1 pm Where: Oregon State University, Wiegand Hall Cost: FREE to SWE members; $10 for non-members RSVP by Thursday, February 1, 2018 to Yelda Turkan (yelda.turkan@oregonstate.edu).
WE Local PDX
Date: April 6-8th, 2018
https://welocal.swe.org/portland/
SWE has moved away from small regional conferences and into hosting larger regional conferences called WE Local conferences. One of the 5 for 2018 is being hosted in Portland! Many members will be attending. Watch for registration announcements.
There are opportunities to be involved in WE Local PDX beyond as a general attendee. These include:
being a conference speaker
volunteering for the conference
sponsoring the conference with your company (we have specific Portland SWE contacts if your company is interested)
Please see the conference website for details on how to get involved with WE Local PDX!
A Panel Discussion on Forest Fires Kicks off this Year’s Professional Development Events
On November 29th the Willamette Valley SWE Section organised a well-attended panel discussion with the theme “Forest Fires in Oregon”. The panel featured two OSU researchers, Dr. Brenda McComb, Emeritus Dean and Professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems & Society and Dr. James Johnston, Research Associate in Forest Engineering, Resources & Management, along with Kyle Proctor, an OSU graduate student in the Department of Biological and Ecological Engineering who was caught in the Eagle Creek Fire in September this year. Prior to the panel, the SWE section hosted a reception to recognize the OSU College of Engineering for their ongoing support of our activities and members, and Scott Ashford, Dean of the College of Engineering received a certificate of appreciation from our Chair Amy Welter.
Kyle Proctor shared his experience of getting caught in the fire in the Colombia River Gorge for over 24 hours along with around 130 people in August earlier this year. He urged everyone to always be prepared when going out into the forest and to always bring enough food and water, and clothes or an emergency blanket for the cold night. From Brenda McComb and James Johnston we learned some surprising facts around fires, for instance that the forest fires this year were not the worst in the past 5-10 years; and that the smokiest months of the year are actually not in the summer but during the cold winter months of December-February due to homeowners who have no choice but to resort to wood to heat their homes.
For those who are interested to learn more about forest fires, Brenda McComb recommended a TED Talk recorded in Bend, OR (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edDZNkm8Mas) To learn more about what you can do around your own home and property, please visit firewise.org.
Volunteer Opportunities
Mentorship Program:
This past year GradSWE started a mentoring program to connect undergraduate and graduate students to professionals both in academia and industry based on common interests. This mentoring program facilitates one-one mentoring pairs. In the first year we had 20 people sign up for the program, including six WVS SWE members: Liney Arnadottir, Patty Kellar, Buvana Venkataraman, Cindy Dahl, and Betty Coulman.
This year in winter term we are iterating a second round of the mentoring program. Based on feedback from the first year participants we will be incorporating a meet and greet event for participants and establishing more concrete guidelines and goals for the mentoring pair. We are actively looking for more mentors, particularly from industry. If you are interested in being a mentor to a graduate or undergraduate SWE member in this program email Phylicia Cicilio at ciciliop@oregonstate.edu, and feel free to ask last year’s participants about their experiences.
Girl Scouts:
SWE will be hosting a 'Science in Action' workshop on January 20th at the HP Corvallis site. Volunteers are needed to help set up and work with the girls. Please contact Dana Algaier (dana.algaier@hp.com) to volunteer or for more information.
Scholarship Review Committee:
We need help reviewing applications for the WVS-SWE Scholarship. Please contact Debbi Friedrichsen (ambitious.engineer@gmail.com) to volunteer or for more information.
