Society of Women Engineers at Eastern Michigan University is a club with the goal of providing members with hands-on experiences and educating them on everything GameAbove College of Engineering and Technology has to offer.
GameAbove College of Engineering and Technology (CET) is dedicated to helping students gain hands-on experience in the fields of engineering, technology, gaming, aviation and many others and is home to many different clubs, one of which is the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).
Members get the chance to connect with faculty within the College and help to educate younger kids in the field of engineering and technology as well as show them what GameAbove is all about. Opportunities include networking, listening in on classes and learning about the different branches of engineering.
“We open the volunteering to everyone. We try to bring everyone on trips,” Ella Keena, SWE’s vice president, said. “They’ll bring high schoolers and middle schoolers, and we do projects with them.”
Due to the variety of majors that fall under GameAbove CET, the members are able to learn together and do workshops where they can each demonstrate a skill they have learned. From the machine shop, to the robotics lab, to the 3-D printer, the CET has much to offer in the field.
Society of Women Engineers helps students to enhance their skills in order to open up a broader range of job opportunities in that field later on.
“When you’re in engineering, especially mechanical, you need to know a lot of different things. You never know what you’re going to be working on,” Keena said.
In addition to working in the shops and volunteering events, SWE does presentation nights in which students can make a presentation regarding a topic they are interested in. They also have game nights, fun projects and much more. Although the name of the club specifies “Women Engineers,” one does not need to identify as a woman to take part in the club.
“It is a social club for networking and learning about the [CET] building,” Kara Bishop, the club's treasurer, said.
Due to Eastern Michigan University’s small student body population, the club started with a minimal amount of members when it first started in 2019. However, it has expanded in recent years.
“We would love to see young people. Young, fresh ideas and fast-paced minds,” Keena said.
“We built it up and we want to keep it going,” Bishop said.
To stay up to date on upcoming events, you can join the SWE discord server here: https://discord.com/invite/Z9rzRSS2Ff
