Growth of SWE UTD
In the span of three years, the Society of Women Engineers has grown from a small-scaled club to becoming one of the most prominent engineering and computer science organizations at UT Dallas.
Alisa Thomas, senior electrical engineering major and president of SWE from 2018 to 2020, joined when there were only five officers and three events per semester.
“What I really did, or I tried to focus on, was building a solid foundation, so the club is able to do so much more and expand now,” Thomas said. “I saw my two years as setting the foundations and getting the very basics of the organization running. Getting a stable officer team, defining the roles really well, and setting expectations for everyone was that foundation.”
During Thomas’s presidency, SWE focused on industry events and professional development. Companies would host info sessions and inform people on the do’s and don’ts of resume building and networking. Medha Aiyah, senior computer science major and current SWE president, followed Thomas’s footsteps in increasing opportunities for SWE members through new initiatives. Having worked under Thomas as vice president, Aiyah said she learned a lot from her leadership.
“She’s very meticulous and organized,” Aiyah said. “She guided me to launch my vision. She helped me understand the UT Dallas rules and policies. I thought it was really nice working with Alisa.”
New programs have provided SWE members with resources to grow technical skills. SWE Match is a project-based program to help members develop technical skills, and Ladies in Tech Mentoring Program is a program designed to guide freshmen and sophomores by providing upperclassmen as mentors. Additionally, SWE now has four sponsors: AT&T, Xilinx, CBRE, and Capital One.
A gender focused hackathon was an additional program Aiyah said she wanted to form because of the existing gender disparity issues in technology. During the Fall 2020 semester, UTD hosted its first ever hackathon called WEHack for women and non-binary people.
“I participated in HackUTD, and it was a really great experience,” Aiyah said. “I learned so much, but one aspect which I thought could be improved was the number of women who attended HackUTD. I talked to a couple other girls in CS that year, and they mentioned how they were intimidated to participate in this event. I realized hackathons are for everyone, but we needed to start forming a more inclusive environment to make people more confident to participate in other hackathons.”
Furthermore, SWE’s addition of a marketing committee has enabled the membership, as well as its social media presence, to continue to increase.
“I think the growth has been absolutely crazy,” Thomas said. “A lot of it is owing to what a visionary Medha is. She stepped it up when she became VP, and she brought in these fresh ideas. She just kept bringing more and more ideas to the table. I think that really helped SWE grow in a different way.”
Aiyah said she was proud of the growth of the organization, especially when SWE UTD won the national SWE Mission Silver Award in 2020 and recognized for the opportunities the section provided to its members.
“I remember in freshman year, I told my roommates that SWE is a really great organization, but I wish I could see it grow,” Aiyah said. “Now, I’m able to see all of these programs come to life, and it’s really great to see the evolution of all of it.”
