A Letter from SWE-PPS President

Dear SWE-PPS:

It was great to see those members and friends at the holiday social at the Stagecoach Inn last month. The holiday season can be so hectic and it was lovely to spend a snowy evening relaxing and catching up. Many thanks to Beth Blakney and Connie King for organizing the event. Thanks also to Carole Passmore for sharing giveaways from the SWE national conference.

Now that the holidays are over, I'm looking forward to the first SWE-PPS networking event of 2005! I hope you'll join me and area members of the American Association of University Women and Colorado Women's Bar Association for “high tea” at 1 pm on Saturday, January 22nd. The event, in Gaylord Hall ( Worner Center ) at Colorado College , is another excellent opportunity to invite your female coworkers or friends in other professions to see what amazing women are members of SWE!

Don't forget about the Colorado Springs Engineering Week dinner on Friday, February 18th; details about the event will be distributed over the email list this month. Also this spring SWE-PPS will be revising our bylaws to comply with national SWE bylaws changes; contact me or Carole Passmore if you have questions or are interested in helping with the effort.

Best wishes for a happy and successful 2005!

Angela Howard
Pikes Peak Section FY05 President

Section News

Tea and Dessert Social with
Society of Women Engineers - Pikes Peak Section
Colorado Women's Bar Association - El Paso County Chapter
American Association of University Women - Colorado Springs Branch

All bright and talented women know that "It's not WHAT you know, but WHO you know". Networking is so key for professional development that many companies offer counseling and courses on how to do it. What better opportunity could we offer for advancing your personal network than "High Tea" with the most dynamic women in town. Be prepared to expand your contacts, meet new and interesting women, and enjoy a classic tradition.

Time/Date: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm, Saturday, January 22, 2005

Location: Gaylord Hall, First Floor of Worner Campus Center at Colorado College, 902 N. Cascade Avenue (northwest corner of Cascade and Cache La Poudre), Colorado Springs, Colorado. You are welcome to park in the Colorado College lot located on the southeast corner of Cascade and Cache La Poudre. There may also be street parking available on nearby streets.

Beverage/Food: Tea and dessert pastries such as mini éclairs, cream puffs, fruit pastries and chocolate cake will be served.

Price: $3.00 per person

RSVP: By 5:00 pm, Wednesday, January 19th please call Connie King at 633-4421 (office) with your name, number of attendees, and your telephone number.

Please note that a reservation is a financial commitment. We have to guarantee the number of people attending the social. If you make a reservation and do not attend, you will be billed.

Engineer Activities

The Professional Engineers of Colorado are hosting the Bridge Building competition on January 29th at the Citadel Mall. Contact Guenther Polok for more information or to volunteer at 266-6466 or gpolok at ndc-sbc.com.

Another favorite event is MATHCOUNTS, being held on February 5th at Colorado College. Proctors, graders and people to discuss engineering disciplines are needed. Contact Mike Bartusek for more information at either 266-5212 or mbartusek at adpcivil.com.

The Pikes Peak Regional Science Fair is Saturday, March 12th at UCCS. If you wish to be a judge on behalf of SWE-PPS, please contact Connie King at 633-4421 (office).

SWE-PPS Holiday Social Recap

Engineers' Week Dinner and Activities

The Colorado Springs engineering community will be celebrating National Engineers' Week at our annual dinner on Friday, February 18, 2005 . The speaker will be Dr. Frank Kreith, P.E. speaking on “Fuel Cell Vehicles: Promise and Reality”. Dr. Kreith is nationally known and his speech should be fascinating!

The “E-Week” dinner will be SWE's February activity and we would like a strong SWE presence! This event is open to spouses and non-members and is a perfect opportunity to introduce your supervisor or co-workers to the vibrant engineering community in Colorado Springs .

A new feature at the dinner this year will be the Order of the Engineer Ring Ceremony. For more information, visit: http://www.order-of-the-engineer.org/

Other E-Week activities include “Introduce A Girl to Engineering” Day on Thursday February 24 th , a re-engineered fairy tales contest, and the 38th Colorado High School Bridge Building Competition which will be held on Saturday, February 26, 2005 .

For more information, visit: http://www.eweek.org/ and http://www.pec.org/bridgebuild/index.cfm

Certificates of Merit

It is time to start thinking about our Certificates of Merit Awards program to high school girls. Each year we distribute about 150 certificates to local HS girls excelling in Math and Science. This requires sending letters to the schools, getting names back, printing the certificates and then getting them back to the schools. Finally, we are often asked to make presentations at award assemblies. Anyone wishing to help with ANY part of this process, should contact Brenda Wolfe at 386-0212(w) or brenda.wolfe at metso.com.

I am not one to make resolutions for a new year, but I am one to set goals. In fact, for the last eight years, I've been a member of a business group called Samurai in which we support each other in meeting our goals.

In Samurai, we identify visions for every area of our life, including business. Each person creates their own business declaration and a two month goal. On a weekly basis, each person fills out a promise sheet weekly and the first promise on the list must contribute towards the two month goal. In that way, you use the "swiss cheese method" to nibble away at your projects and goals.

Writing down goals and plans to achieve them can be very powerful. The revenue projections in my business plan for 2004 was within 4%. I know of one woman who has a construction company and 2004 was the first time that she ever created a plan. She hit her revenue target exactly, and did 3 times the business of the prior year.

I've even heard of people who write down goals at the beginning of a year, put them in a drawer, and find the paper at the end of the year to discover that many of their goals had been fulfilled.

I wish you the best for this New Year of 2005 and, if you really want to accomplish something this year, write it down. You never know what you'll have by the end of the year.

Diane Howe
SWE-PPS Newsletter Editor

P.S. For more on goals, check out this article in the CNN Business section entitled "10 New Year's Career Resolution".

- January 22, 2005
- February 18, 2005
- March 4-5, 2005 (Region i Conference)
- June 11, 2005, 11:30 a.m.

Region i Conference
The 2005 Regional Conference will be held in Lawrence, Kansas on March 4 & 5. Watch here and your email for details.

SWE-RMS to Host 4th Annual Mini-Conference
The 4th Annual Mini-Conference for Students and Professionals will take place Saturday, January 29th on the CU-Boulder campus from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Theresa M. Szczurek, PH.D, President and CEO of Technology Management Solutions will be the keynote speaker.

More information available at the SWE-RMS website.

From the Professional Development Corner
When someone is deciding on graduate school, there are some things that every student must look at. He or she needs to figure out which schools have the desired programs, how good their classes and instructors are, and how to pay for tuition. For the part-time student, there are a few additional considerations that need to be taken into account before settling on a school <More...>

SWE National Conference
The National Conference is being held in Anaheim, CA on November 3-5. The topic is "Women Engineers Leading Global Diversity". All these details can be found at http://www.swe.org/2005.

SWE-News
Find out more goings-on at the national level by reading the newsletter at: http://www.swe.org/e-newsletter/ .