SEPTEMBER LUNCH MEETING!

Hi all,

We will be meeting for lunch on Friday, September 15th at Jakers.

See you there!

April Lunch Meeting

What: April Lunch Meeting
Where: Iron Horse
When: Friday, April 14 @ noon

Please RSVP to Molly Skorpik at mskorpik@m-m.net

See you there!

Officers Positions Available for SWE Big Sky

The newly forming section of SWE Big Sky needs to elect officers! Positions and the associated duties are listed in this article. Please familiarize yourself with the positions, and we will be holding elections in the near future. Do you have the desire and drive to be an officer?

The President shall:

1) Be the authorized leader of the Section.
2) Represent the Section before the public.
3) Notify Executive Council members of Executive Council meetings, and notify members of membership meetings. Provide an agenda and preside at all meetings of the Section and Executive Council.
4) Appoint and remove committee chairs, with the approval of the Executive Council, except the chair of the Nominating Committee, who shall be appointed by the Executive Council.
5) Be authorized to sign checks for the Section.
6) Coordinate all activities and execute the business and policies of the Section between meetings in accordance with these bylaws.
7) Be responsible for producing an annual report following the President’s term of office. This report shall be made available to the Members and shall include: a review of the year, reports from each outgoing officer or committee chair and the financial audit.
8) Review and sign the annual Financial Report for the Section.

The Vice President shall:

1) Perform the duties of the President in the President’s absence and, at the direction of the President, transact any business assigned by the President.
2) Perform any additional duties assigned by the Executive Council.
3) Report directly to the President.
4) Chair the Professional Development committee and coordinate the activities of other committees in conduct of activities approved by the Executive Council and Section membership in furtherance of the professional development of its members.
5) Chair the Career Guidance Committee and coordinate the activities of other committees in conduct of activities approved by the Executive Council and Section membership in furtherance of the Section’s Career Guidance goals.

The Secretary shall:

1) Record, prepare, maintain and distribute as directed, the minutes of each meeting of the Section and of the Executive Council.
2) Carry on the Section correspondence as requested by the President or the Executive Council.
3) Issue ballots for Executive Council business and for amendments to these bylaws.
4) Perform any additional duties assigned by the Executive Council.
5) Report directly to the President.
The offices of Secretary and Treasurer may be combined at the discretion of the Section. However, any one individual may have only one (1) vote on the Executive Council regardless of the number of offices held.

The Treasurer shall:

1) Be responsible for the collection, safekeeping, and distribution of all Section funds.
2) Be responsible for authorized funds received by the Section from the SWE Treasury.
3) Prepare the annual budget to be presented to the Executive Council for approval. Report on the financial position of the Section in relation to the approved budget.
4) Keep an exact account of all receipts and expenditures and prepare for submission the annual section financial report to the SWE Treasurer at the end of each fiscal year.
5) Disburse money in accordance with the Section budget.
6) Be authorized to sign checks for the Section.
7) Perform any additional duties assigned by the Executive Council.
8) Implement the Section’s Investment Fund policy.
9) Report directly to the President.

NEW SWE Section Forming in Montana!!!

SWE is about to Make History in Montana!
For the last few years, several women engineers have met informally once a month in Missoula for lunch to network and share stories. The monthly group started with just a few regulars and has grown to about 20 just in the Missoula area! Gradually, many of us have decided to join SWE to somewhat formalize our group. To date, their is no local professional SWE Section in Montana so we have joined as members at large.

There is momentum to form a Montana Section for the professional SWE members. We have a "committee" working on paperwork, assembling our first newsletter (that you are reading!) and soliciting interest/input. Our goal is to complete paperwork and petition the SWE Board of Directors in August. The new section will be called the "Big Sky Section" and will entail the larger cities in Montana.

Stay tuned for more information...and don't miss getting involved. The Big Sky Section is sure to be a great opportunity to network, make friends, share stories, learn from other women engineers....and have tons of FUN along the way!

Note: We will be electing officers soon. Please send an e-mail to shanna_ce@hotmail.com, if you are interested, and watch for election notices.

Upcoming SWE Conferences

Upcoming SWE Conferences
The Region J (including Montana) conference will be held in Anchorage, May 5, 6, and 7. Libby Riddle, the first female winner of the Iditarod will be the keynote speaker.
The National Conference will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, October 12, 13, and 14.

MathCounts Gets Help from Women Engineers...and a New Local Coordinator

Math Counts

See how long it takes you to answer this question: What is the sum of the six positive integer factors of 18?
If you answered correctly in less than 10 seconds, then you would be on caliber with the best of the middle school "mathletes." On Thursday February 16, the local chapter competition of MATHCOUNTS attracted 12 middle schools from Missoula and surrounding areas. The schools have individuals and teams competing as well as individuals. The winners (Sussex, Washington, and Target Range) advance to the state competition in Bozeman, where the top 4 individuals will be selected on March 20 to represent Montana nationally. It's a VERY exciting time for these middle schoolers - a time to shine for those who like math. This is the next generation of engineers......

Think of spelling bees but use math instead and thow in some teamwork. That's MATHCOUNTS - a national math enrichment, coaching and competition program that's promoted middle school math achievement for over 22 years. The National Society of Professional Engineers is one of the founding organizations for MATHCOUNTS. At the state level MATHCOUNTS is sponsored by the Montana Society of Engineers. At the local level, MATHCOUNTS is supported by volunteers, many of whom are women engineers. Our women engineers & scientists lunch group provided 6 volunteers to proctor and score the test: Becky Weaver, Janna Moser, Bev Young, Janet Grove, Amy Lord and Angela Gebhardt.
Bev Young had been involved with MATHCOUNTS for 3 years as the Rattlesnake Middle School coach and approached the lunch group last year for volunteers. She's hoping the new SWE chapter will take a more formal role in supporting MATHCOUNTS since she's agreed to take over the local coordinator role from Guy Sharp, who has coordinated for the last 10 years. There will definitely be a place for many volunteers next February and in the months leading up to the local competition.

So think about that next generation of engineers.....and think about this too: Today a mother’s age is five times her daughter's age. Exactly three years ago, the sum of their ages was 30. How old is the daughter today?

Read more about MathCounts at http://mathcounts.org/

(Answers 39, 6)