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WiE Newsletter - September 2020 - ISSUE 11
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Front and Center
News from the Director
As we begin the Fall school term, it is nothing like any I have experienced since I began my college career! The pandemic forcing us to online learning has made all of us think deeply about our courses, revise, revisit and recreate. Changes go far beyond offering class instruction that harnesses all of the power of the virtual world – simulations, breakout rooms for group work, recordings for students who are half-way around the world. There is a lot to become familiar with – not used to, as I hope this does not become the new normal.
The WiE Center, too, has been impacted by the move to virtual. We are thinking about how to harness technologies to provide our students, especially our newest students, with the access and support that the Center has become known for. In mid-August we participated in a ladies’ night for incoming students. I was invited to make a presentation about the Center and one of our internal Board members, Professor Kim Roddis, was on hand to welcome the students as well. The event, moderated by many of our upperclasswomen, was well received and I believe it went a long way toward calming some nerves as students prepare for the opening of school.
The Black Lives Matter movement is also dominating our news and our thoughts. GW's main campus is just blocks away from the Black Lives Matter Plaza, where protests continue to remind us of challenges endured by people of color. You may be interested in a series hosted by NCWIT (National Committee for Women in Technology) titled “The Color of Our Future: An Online Conversation Series on the Empowerment and Inclusion of Black Women & Girls in Tech." A few takeaways from the series include:
- While all women remain underrepresented in computing education, there is a critical shortage of women of color (including Black women) earning computing degrees across the post-secondary computing landscape, only three percent of bachelor’s degree earners are Black women, and only two percent of doctoral degree recipients are Black women.
- Black women students and faculty may experience isolation. In a class there could be 100 people, and there’s just that one Black female student in a class. That is not a fun place.
- Near-peer role models can also make a big difference in supporting people from underrepresented groups in computing majors.
Our first round of mentoring has been taking place this Summer. We have 9 mentoring pairs, who have provided feedback through surveys about any ways to fine-tune the mentoring process. We are now expanding the program and are ready for additional mentors and mentees to participate. Let us know that you want to help. Mentors can be alumni at any rank – recent grads to recent retirees are also welcome. We are especially in need of alumni from electrical engineering and civil engineering.
Remember to stay physically distant and socially connected, and wash your hands.
Shelly Heller
WiE Center Director
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The WiE Job Search Resources
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| Job Hunting? Get Ready to Ace the Interview
As a woman engineer, you may be met with challenges as you seek your next internship or job. When writing your resume and cover letter, understand the language and terms that will help you capture the attention of a recruiter. Check the WiE Resources section, which offers specific advice for the job search, including search strategies, security clearance FAQs, and securing professional references.
- Tell me about yourself
- Why have you chosen this particular field?
- What is your major weakness?
- How do others describe you?
- Give an example where you showed leadership and initiative.
"WiE" are here to support you!
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Improving Nitrogen Removal Processes - GW Grant
Dr. Rumana Riffat (CEE) and a team of researchers from academia and Water Resource Recovery Facilities have received a three-year, $999,670 grant from the EPA STAR (Science to Achieve Results) program. The team is led by Water Research Foundation, and partners include GW, Columbia University, Northwestern University, DC Water, and Hampton Roads Sanitation District. Dr. Riffat’s (GW) portion of the award is $250,000. The project is aimed at improving full-scale applications of shortcut nitrogen removal processes by increasing nitrite availability for anaerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria (anammox) in mainstream systems together with biological phosphorus removal.
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Simulation Models Help Scale up COVID Testing
Dr. Erica Gralla (EMSE) and colleagues from the University of Maryland and Polytechnique Montreal are developing models to help COVID testing labs scale up operations and remove bottlenecks, so that more people clan be tested and results can be provided more quickly. The discrete event simulation models being developed represent the sequence of steps in COVID sample collection and testing, enabling what-if scenarios to show the performance benefits or detriments from changes in process (e.g., batch sizes, sample collection standards, assays) and in regulations. The research is funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through Grant GBMF9634 to Johns Hopkins University to support the work of the Society for Medical Decision Making COVID-19 Decision Modeling Initiative.
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ATTEND ONLINE:Women in Engineering: Charting the Path to LeadershipA CVP & GW Speaker SeriesOctober 7, 2020 - 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
WiE is participating with GW Alumni and CVP in this important discussion on leadership.
Approximately 20% of undergraduate engineering degrees are awarded to women, but only 13% of the engineering workforce is female. It is estimated that nearly 40% of the women who earn engineering degrees either quit or never enter the profession.
With a panel of women engineers at every stage of their careers, we will discuss the potential factors behind these percentages and how to improve the outcomes going forward. The speakers will share their career experiences and provide recommendations for young women entering the workforce, as well as leaders looking to increase the percentage of women engineers in their workplace. Topics to include: how to find your engineering-based career path - technology leader or corporate leader and what successful mentoring looks like in corporate and government organizations.
All attendees will receive a copy of "Charting a Path to Leadership for Women in Engineering - Top Tips on Leadership" as a complimentary takeaway.
Moderator: Lisa Brown, VP of Operations, CVP
Panelists:
Andrea Norris, Director, Center for Information Technology, and Chief Information Officer, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Maria Roat, Deputy Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Office of the Chief Information Officer
Sonja Lemott, Chief, PEO Engineering Division, Program Executive Office (PEO), Defense Healthcare Management Systems (DHMS)
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GW Gen-Cyber Camp Goes Virtual: A 60-Second Video Review
In keeping with the times, the GW Gen-Cyber Middle School Girls Cybersecurity Day Camp went virtual during the week of August 10, with 30 excited girls participating. Treasure hunts, coding, and protecting devices and networks were all part of the learning agenda with our instructors, who flawlessly managed shifting the program to a fully virtual event. GW is proud to host the Gen-Cyber Camp for a fifth year through a grant awarded by the National Security Agency.
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What We Are Reading(...and listening to)
I am still walking for exercise and I am currently listening to Jon Meacham’s The Soul of America. For me, it is eye opening, as most of my formal education focused on STEM issues and I have truly the basics of American history and civics. In this time of unprecedented challenges – a COVID pandemic, economic insecurity and protests for racial equality, the book cites time after time where the country was challenged and yet the arc of history moved toward a better nation.
Notice this Chapter 4 quote from Abigail Adams to her husband John Adams as he prepared to help draft the “rules” for the new country: “I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.” I suggest you check the book out – I learn something new on each walk.
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In the August 12th issue of Scientific American there was a depressing report on the impact of the pandemic on women, especially women in STEM fields. The report notes “there are many possible explanations for why the pandemic is impacting women more than men in science. But particularly compelling is the fact that, in a society that still embraces a gendered division of domestic labor, women with children may have been affected disproportionately by school closures and limited access to childcare."
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