Facilitate & Encourage Women to Become Engineers
UTK SWE is wholly funded by corporate contributions, and we would not exist without your support! There are many ways you and your company can get involved with us. SWE hosts activities and events throughout the year that sponsors can be a part of, such as general body meetings, Evening with Industry, Tomorrow’s Engineers Today, SWE week, and our mentoring program. If you are interested in hosting an event and/or becoming a sponsor, please contact our VP of Fundraising at utkswe.fundraising@gmail.com
General Body Meetings
These are usually held every two weeks. They are sponsored by a company who provides food for the meeting and presents to our general body about topics such as internships or interview skills to help develop our section professionally. Please contact our president at utkswe.president@gmail.com to sponsor a general body meeting.
Evening with Industry
This is our section’s main fundraiser. It takes place the night before the Fall Engineering Expo and allows companies to meet our members in an informal dinner setting. This year, we are partnering with the National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, allowing our sponsors to meet an even more involved and diverse group of engineers. For more information on this event, please contact our VP of Fundraising at utkswe.fundraising@gmail.com.Evening with Industry is a professional networking event that allows students to meet and have dinner with company representatives that will attend the University’s Engineering Expo. Evening with Industry is also a fundraiser for our section of the Society of Women Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers where companies pay a fee to host tables for the dinner. At the end of the event, company representatives can set up a table with information for a mini job fair in order to meet the students at the event who did not sit at the company’s table.
This year, for our Fall EWI, we had ten companies in attendance alongside 94 students. In the Spring semester, we had sixteen companies in attendance and 25 students. Representatives were able to share professional advice, their own experiences in their positions, and speak about the opportunities available at their companies. Students were also able to engage with the representatives in a less formal and time-sensitive environment than the Engineering Expo. Overall, this events offers students the opportunity to expose themselves to new companies and people, as well as to provide them with opportunities for internships and Co-ops.
Tomorrow’s Engineers Today
This is our largest outreach program of the year. It allows students in elementary and middle school to learn about STEM and build their interest. We hold this TET in the spring. In the fall, we offer the opportunity for high school students to attend. Sponsoring this event goes to t-shirts, lunch, and the materials needed for experiments. For more information on this event and other outreach events, please contact our VP of Volunteering and Outreach at utkswe.outreach@gmail.com.
Check out more information on TET and our other Outreach & Volunteering events!
SWE Week (SWEek)
This is our biggest recruiting event for freshmen and transfer students. It takes place the second week of school and includes an event for everyday of the week. Generally, we kick it off on Saturday with a cook out where lunch and white t-shirts are provided. We usually follow lunch with ice breakers and answering questions about classes and campus. Later in the week, we have a tie-dye event where cook out attendees bring their white t-shirts and tie-dye them. We also include an mentoring program orientation event where we introduce potential mentees to our mentoring program. This event keeps our SWE section going by helping us grow larger and recruit more members every year. Sponsorship of this event goes towards t-shirts, food, and supplies for events. For more information, please contact our president at utkswe.president@gmail.com or our VP of Special Events at utkswe.events@gmail.com.
Check out more information about SWEek!
SWEeties Mentorship Program
Our program is a huge, award winning part of our SWE section. A favorite among our members, this program pairs incoming freshmen or transfer students with a mentor. Mentors then help their mentees with different goals each semester and compete for superlatives and win prizes for completing goals together. Sponsorship of this program goes towards supplies for events and the prizes that help motivate participants to complete goals. For more information on this program, please contact our SWEeties Communication Chair at utkswe.sweeties@gmail.com.
Read more about our award winning mentorship program!
WE National Conference
We also attend national conference in order to network, learn valuable skills, and attend the career fair! We also have students who apply for the Collegiate Leadership Institute where they complete an application process, and if selected participate in virtual seminars throughout the year. Additionally, they can attend conference for more in person CLI events! If you are interested in sponsoring any portion or a specific student to attend the next national conference, please contact our president at utkswe.president@gmail.com.
Read more about WE National Conference as well as about our CLI participants!
