AWE and SWE—One in the same?

When you first arrive on campus as a female engineering student, you start to hear these acronyms. SWE, AWE, APO, BE, MEAM, ESE…the list goes on and on. However, two of them are more similar than the rest. SWE and AWE at first appear to be pretty similar organizations. SWE—the Society of Women Engineers—sounds pretty similar to AWE—Advancing Women in Engineering—so they must be pretty similar, correct? The foundation of each organization, to help women in engineering, is similar but the organizations themselves each have their own unique features. As a member of both the Advancing Women in Engineering Student Advisory Board and the Society of Women Engineers’ Executive Board, I have had the opportunity to see both organizations from an internal and external view. 

Senior Design Project—The Culmination of My Engineering Curriculum

After three years of mostly lecture based classes, senior design allows students to apply the immense amount of knowledge they have gained to a hands-on project of their choice. As a bioengineer, my senior design team was really interested in making a medical device. After teaming up with the Simulation Center at Penn, we decided on a challenging and intellectually stimulating project. To give a little background, the Simulation Center at Penn is one of the best simulation centers in the country and is dedicated to training physicians and students on medical procedures with the goal of improving patient safety and satisfaction, all while increasing physician efficiency. After discussing with our advisor at the Sim Center, we decided to create a reusable ligating loop with delivery system.