1. W OMEN IN ECE
A LUMNAE N EWSLETTER
Spring 2012 Newsletter, Volume 2, Issue 1 June 04, 2012
Letter from the President this
Inside this Issue
Time flies. Another year of exciting and fun events of WECE Letter from the President & Halloween 1
has passed. This is an excellent way of keeping in touch with Thanksgiving Feast & Winter Wonderland 2
ECE alumnae who would love to reminisce and watch WECE Giving Back, Valentine’s & Lecture Series 3
grow. I would like to make you aware of how this unique, Pool Party & Doughnut Fridays 4
supportive organization for Women in ECE is one of the most
active organizations in the ECE department at Georgia Tech.
My vision as WECE president this year was very simple: “Make Our collaborative events with organizations like HKN,
it as much fun as possible by lining up non-stop events and IEEE, SWE, Women@CoC, Women’s resource center, and
involve as many members as possible in all the fun events.” WIE have contributed to the size and number of our
This comprises of arranging weekly workshops to organizing social events this year like the Pool Party, Holiday Party,
monthly social events for the entire ECE department. It has Rock Climbing, Company information sessions,
definitely been a very busy year. Halloween Party. WECE recently hosted a T-shirt Design
WECE was founded 8 years ago as an excellent support contest and received some wonderful entries to choose a
organization for the women in ECE as they pursue their student-made design for T-shirts next year.
academic and professional goals. I am pleased to share the It has been a great experience working with future
most exciting news with you: WECE has been recognized as a leaders, prospective members, and alumnae of WECE.
5-star organization by the Presidents Council Governing Please consider being on our alumnae e-mail list to
Board at Georgia Tech’s Up with the White and Gold receive semester updates of WECE and alumnae activities
Ceremony this year. This is a mark of how WECE has grown by e-mailing wece@ece.gatech.edu We would also love
wece@ece.gatech.edu.
so much over the past couple of years. to get feedback on what you would like to see in future
WECE strives to maintain its established yearly traditions. newsletters and events. Kudos to the women in ECE on
We continue to host weekly workshops ranging from keeping the organization growing!
registration workshops to help students pick out classes to Sincerely,
corporate information sessions and interview workshops. Prabha Viswanathan
Moreover, we invited Nicole Rennalls(WECE President 08-09) President, WECE 2011-12
to address WECE members as a friend, recruiter and mentor.
Zombies, Mummies, and Jackets…Oh my!
By Anya Skomorokhova
Vice President
This year’s Halloween party was a collaborative event with
the Society of Women Engineers. The event featured several
contests and mini games. The two main contests were the
pumpkin carving contest and the costume contest, from
which the winners received an Amazon Kindle and an iPod
Nano. The mini games featured different miniature contests
such as trivia, mummy wrapping, and food eating. The
winners of these games received additional raffle tickets to
increase their chances of winning some of the other prizes, Party guests await costume judging at the Halloween Party.
such as a new HP backpack.
2. Page 2 WECE Alumnae Newsletter
Thanksgiving Feast Winter Wonderland
By Sahithya Dinakar By Christine Kho
Treasurer Treasurer
The Thanksgiving in November of 2011 was celebrated by Although the weather didn’t bring snow to Atlanta
WECE during their general meeting on the 17th of November, this year, the members of WECE managed to find a way
the week before Thanksgiving break. The event consisted of to have winter fun. The girls headed over to Centennial
a traditional Thanksgiving feast - turkey, gravy and stuffing Olympic Park’s outdoor ice skating rink for a night of
- open to all WECE members. It was a very holiday-family friends and relaxation zooming around on skates.
atmosphere with members enjoying each others company Everyone was excited to get out on the ice. Those who
along with the buffet. The event successfully created a had never skated before found new friends who helped
festive atmosphere for the students away from home. The pull them to their feet and taught them to use their
idea and theme was so widely appreciated that WECE momentum for speed. We had a big turn-out and
organized another similar event in their next general everyone had a really great time.
meeting, the week after Thanksgiving break!
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS Centennial
The girls take a break from skating to pose at Centennial Park.
Prabha Viswanathan
President
Anya Skomorokhova
Vice President What we have been up to…
Erin Hanson
Secretary
Yang(Fall)
Kira Yang(Fall)
January March
Nimmagadda(Spring)
Kavya Nimmagadda(Spring)
Publicity Chair
ECE Career Fair Harris Presentaion
Sahithya Dinakar
FLL Lego Tournament Tina Payne from DoPP
Treasurer
Ice Skating Professor Muhannad Makir
Jessica Block
Webmistress What Not to Wear Union Pacific Presentation
Christine Kho
Historian April
February
Yuvika Rajan
Graduate Vice President
Valentines’ Day Craft Eaton Presentation
Alyse Taylor
Dr. McClellan DSP Talk Pool Party with SWE
Graduate Liaison
Professor Marilyn Wolf Registration Workshop
Engineer’s Week Up with White and Gold
3. WECE Alumnae Newsletter Page 3
Giving Back WECE Love
By Alyse Taylor By Prabha Viswanathan
Graduate Liason President
WECE celebrates Valentine’s Day every year by holding a
Craft Center workshop on a general meeting prior to
Valentine’s Day. This year, we had about 15 girls join the
officers at the Craft center and get creative with glitter,
glue, sharpies and colorful cards. Some officers made
special cards for all the advisers in the ECE department.
This is WECE’s special way of thanking the ECE department
for being so supportive to our organization’s cause since 8
years. We also had a Valentines’ day table at the Van Leer
lobby on Valentine’s Day for students to drop by. Students
could pick cards or make some cards on the spot. The
Craft Center supported this workshop by providing all the
decorations and supplies.
The WECE girls are ready to break ground.
WECE has participated in several community service
events this school year. Our first major event was TEAM
Buzz on October 22, 2011 which stands for Tech
Enhancing the Atlanta Metropolitan area. It is an annual
campus wide community service event that sponsors
several volunteer projects to be done on the same day in
the Atlanta Metro area. This year WECE ECE Profession Series
participated by helping to clean up and plant around By Jessica Block
Kirkwood Urban Forest Park.
Webmistress
We also participated in Tech Beautification day, another
This semester WECE hosted a ECE Profession Series.
campus wide community service event. It is an opportunity
We’ve had several faculty present research, curriculum
to serve the campus through a combination of general
changes, and overall thoughts on life to not only women
cleanup and landscaping the grounds of campus. This year
ECE students but all ECE students. The series was a
WECE worked to plant bushes and spread pine in the
wonderful success. Not only has it brought students in
garden in front of the Klaus Advanced Computing Building.
contact with professors, but the professors enjoy feedback
It was very rewarding to enhance the garden in which many
as well. This spring semester we were lucky to hear from
WECE members pass by every day.
Professor James McClellan, Professor Marilyn Wolf, and
Our last major service event was the WECE annual
Professor Greg Durgin. Dr. McClellan gave a spectacular
Medshare volunteer day on April 6, 2012. MedShare is a
talk about the direction of Digital Signal Processing and
nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the
ways for students to keep up with what is new and exciting
environment and healthcare through the efficient recovery
in engineering technology. Dr. Marilyn Wolf presented on
and redistribution of surplus medical supplies and
Embedded Computing Systems and VLSI Systems. Dr. Greg
equipment to underserved healthcare facilities in
During gave a deep and moving talk on the direction of E-
developing countries. For the past couple years, WECE has
Mag, whether or not a PhD is right for you, and if it is,
dedicated a day to go and volunteer at the local Medshare
what to do with it after you accomplish it. We will wrap up
office. This year we were able to help by repairing medical
the series with a talk about 3D IC Technology by Professor
equipment.
Muhannad Bakir.
4. WECE Alumnae Newsletter Page 4
Pool Party! Rock Climbing!
By Kavya Nimmagadda By Prabha Viswanathan
Publicity Chair President
The pool party was so much fun! It was at the Crawford Rock Climbing was this year’s team building activity. It
Leisure pool at the CRC and sponsored by WECE and SWE. is a strenuous task. All the sporty ECE girls tried their best
There was a ton of delicious BBQ, good music and fun to reach the top of the Rock Climbing wall at the CRC. It
games. And who doesn't love a good swim? I don't think I was a good work out and a good Friday evening break as
could ever get sick of the humongous slide. More well. This event was collaborated with the Women’s
importantly, it was really nice to mingle with other Resource Center. It was a free event and a very good
engineering girls and commiserate about the Tech opportunity to test your health and physique. WECE played
experience. The pool party was a really good way to relax a part in enforcing how health is the primary most
after a rough week as well as a great way to end the important thing to take care of in life!
semester. Hopefully, this will become an annual tradition!
Doughnut Fridays
By Yuvika Rajan
Graduate Vice President
Every Friday, we have dozens of doughnuts stacked on a
table on the 3rd floor of Van Leer for ECE students who are
in the Thank-God-It's-Friday spirit. Trudging through
every academic week at Georgia Tech is a challenge in
more ways than one and this event is our way of
appreciating students for their hard work each week. What
better way to steer an around-the-table discussion
between faculty and students than hot Coffee and fresh
Doughnuts?! WECE collaborates with HKN and IEEE to
promote interaction between multiple student groups.
5. Officer Spotlight 2011-2012
2011-
Prabha Viswanathan Nimmagadda(Spring)
Kavya Nimmagadda(Spring) Christine Kho
President Publicity Chair Historian
Anya Skomorokhova Sahithya Dinakar Yuvika Rajan
Vice President Treasurer Graduate Vice President
Erin Hanson Jessica Block Alyse Taylor
Secretary Webmaster Graduate Liaison
Kira Yang(Fall)
Publicity Chair
WECE Faculty/Staff Advisers: Dr. Leyla Conrad, Ms. Nirvana Edwards