SWE Outreach

Introduce a Girl to Engineering
During Engineers Week, or E-Week, SWE holds its annual “Introduce A Girl To Engineering Day”.  The event is a nationally recognized effort to expose and encourage young females to consider a career in Engineering. SWE members host local girl scouts and their chaperones for a tour of the engineering building including hands-on learning experiences. The 50+ girls participate in a structural engineering competition which promotes creativity and team participation; a visit to labs representing mechanical, civil and electrical engineering; and an informative video and presentation.  All participants receive certificates. This is one of SWE-UNF’s proudest events.

Nease Visit
SWE’s outreach efforts this year included a trip to Nease High School to speak with the introduction to engineering class.  Our main focus was to answer any questions the students might have and give a general overview of what an incoming freshman could expect as an engineering student. We were able to represent all three disciplines offered at UNF. Our plans for the upcoming year include more experiences like this at local area schools. We hope to continue to play an important role in K-12 engineering outreach programs.

Egg Drop Competition
The annual Egg Drop Competition is co-sponsored by SWE and ASCE. This year two Duval county elementary schools, Sallye B Mathis and SP Livingston, were participants in the Egg Drop Competition. Guests included the Chief of Academic Services of Duval County Schools, the principles of both elementary schools and our very own UNF mascot Ozzie!!! SWE members participated by assisting in the egg launch and demonstrations such as: the quick sand machine; floating cement; bananas and liquid nitrogen; bottle rockets; a trebuchet; and diet coke and mentos! The Egg Drop Competition was a great community outreach activity and demonstrated the FUN of engineering to area elementary school students.

Club Fest and Explore a Major Fair
Every semester, SWE-UNF sponsors a booth for Club Fest in the fall and Explore a Major Fair in the spring. Current SWE members offer advice and help for students interested in pursuing a science related major.  Representatives can have a more personal one-on-one conversation with the students. Student attendees are eligible for free giveaways. This is a good recruitment and information opportunity for our fellow college and pre-college students.

Shadowing Program
The Mentoring program pairs freshmen and sophomores with juniors and seniors.  Students can ask their mentors any questions that they might have regarding classes, teachers, student services, places to go, etc.  The program allows younger students to gain insights into the job search and graduate school application processes.  In addition, the mentor and mentee pairs often form a friendship that extends beyond the program. SWE organizes events for the mentors and mentees throughout the year and highly recommends that the pairs continue to meet outside of SWE. SWE-UNF is proud to participate in this School of Engineering program.

N.E. FL Regional Science Fair
In 2008 SWE-UNF presented a scientific calculator for the highest scoring middle school student project, and a graphing calculator to the highest scoring high school student project. SWE-UNF feels this activity was a great success since we were able to raise the funds for the calculators in addition to the other activities we had budgeted for the semester. We were glad to help budding female engineers get the tools they need to be successful students. The event promotes the importance of math, science and engineering to students in our community.