By Jonathan Moniz, Staff Writer
Welcoming back alumni from UMass Dartmouth’s College of Engineering, the Society of Women Engineers hosted “Women Engineered” on October 13, a forum for women in the engineering field.
Organized by co-presidents of the Society, Nassika Dabel, a junior in Mechanical Engineering, and Melissa Pijoan, a senior in Software Engineering, the purpose was to provide networking opportunities and advice for women entering the engineering field, as well as how to proceed with their collegiate careers.
Pijoan explained how they had “resurrected the Society again this year” through organizing events such as the panel for Women’s Engineered.
Both Dabel and Pijoan commented on how they loved the community atmosphere the society brought, saying, “It’s a group with similar interests and minds.”
Women Engineered consisted of two segments, starting with a one-hour opening session dedicated to networking and introducing the headlining forum guests. Many of the students and panelists, as well as members of the society, went around and sampled hors d’oeuvres while talking with the guests there.
Taking place in the Library Grand Reading Room on the first floor, the room was set with chairs facing the panelist’s table, which had chairs and nametags marked for the guests themselves.
The first guest was Pamela J. Lisiewicz, the Director of Strategic and Corporate Planning for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, as well as a UMass Dartmouth 1980 graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.
Another guest, the Director of Cloud Services for the Chief Technology Office at Harvard University, Melanie McSally, also graduated from UMass Dartmouth as a Quality Engineer in 2003.
Third was Nicole Pelletier, a mechanical engineer who works at Nordson EFD and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2014. She was also the lead for her Capstone Senior Design Team which was sponsored by Raytheon.
Faith Ball, the Site Engineering Senior Manager for Lockheed, Martin graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1983. An associate scientist at Neograft Technologies, Inc. Danielle M. Czarnowski graduated magna cum laude in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering.
Rola H. Hassoun, an environmental engineer who works on civil and environmental projects in CDM Smith’s Water Services Division in Providence, Rhode Island. Hassoun graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, currently studying for a Master’s degree at Northeastern University.
The event began with panelists taking their seats on the upper stage. Pijoan, moderated the first section of the forum, which was a set of pre-prepared questions for the panelists
The first question asked the guests what engineering means to them, with Director Liesewicz answering the first question. She said that she thought engineering first and foremost was a “noble profession, as engineers have the public trust” to design public transportation and accommodations for them.
The questions continued, with one of the questions heavily focused on the unique challenges faced by women in their field.
Panelists were often asked to tackle different questions, and many of them built off of the answers of the other, engaging with their own experiences but also tying it back to the students for the panel. While answers in the specifics often reflected the engineer’s own backgrounds, many of their answers were more universal, such as focusing on building resume’s and careers.
For the first year students, Ball stated how she thought they were “making a great choice” and to “work hard, it’s incredibly challenging, but to stick with it.”
Panelists also talked about the importance of college and community in particular, with Hassoun stating, “Get involved as much as you can because you don’t know when it will help you in the future.” Business staples, including networking and interpersonal skills were also highly underlined for their importance, regardless of field.
When asked about the challenges faced by women, all responded with unified messages of solidarity and how positive and open the field was coming, with Liesewicz noting the increasing amount of women in the field, saying “I didn’t fit in. And that’s okay.” Noting how she worked hard to build credibility and gain experience was what truly made her grow in the field.
After much call and response from the audience, the event was turned over to answer their own questions, with the event ending in positive reinforcement from the Society of Women Engineers.
Faith Ball, the Site Engineering Senior Manager for Lockheed Martin, graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1983.
An associate scientist at Neograft Technologies Inc., Danielle M. Czarnowski graduated magna cum laude in 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering.
Rola H. Hassoun, an environmental engineer, works on civil and environmental projects in CDM Smith’s Water Services Division in Providence, Rhode Island. Hassoun graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, and is currently studying for a Master’s degree at Northeastern University.
The event began with panelists taking their seats on the upper stage. Pijoan moderated the first section of the forum, which was a set of pre-prepared questions for the panelists.
The first question asked the guests what engineering means to them, with Director Liesewicz answering the first question. She said that she thought engineering was a “noble profession, as engineers have the public trust” to design public transportation and other accommodations.
The questions continued, with one of the questions heavily focused on the unique challenges faced by women in their field.
Panelists were often asked to tackle different questions, and many of them built off of the answers of the other, engaging with their own experiences but also tying back to the students for the panel.
While answers in the specifics often reflected the engineer’s own backgrounds, many of their answers were more universal, such as focusing on building resumes and careers.
For the first-year students, Ball stated how she thought they were “making a great choice” and to “work hard; it’s incredibly challenging, but…stick with it.”
Panelists also talked about the importance of college and community in particular, with Hassoun stating, “Get involved as much as you can because you don’t know when it will help you in the future.”
Business staples, including networking and interpersonal skills, were also highly underlined for their importance, regardless of field.
When asked about the challenges faced by women, all responded with unified messages of solidarity and how positive and open the field was becoming.
Liesewicz even noted the increasing amount of women in the field, saying, “I didn’t fit in. And that’s okay.” Instead, she worked hard to build credibility and gain experience, and that was what truly made her grow in her field.
After much call and response from the audience, the event was turned over to answer their own questions, and the event ended in positive reinforcement from the Society of Women Engineers.