WE Local is a  SWE program that was developed to bring the excitement and energy of SWE conference to members’ backyards around the globe through local conferences. WE Local hosts conferences so engineers and technologists can connect locally through professional development workshops, inspirational speakers, networking opportunities and outreach activities.
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Two SWE Detroit members received 2021 SWE WE Local awards. Originally their awards would have been announced during the WE Local event in Buffalo, NY March 26-27; however, this event was postponed until 2022 due to the global pandemic. We are highlighting their awards virtually to support their continued achievements!

We are excited to share that Amanda Mohan, FY21 President, has been published in IEEE's Wavelengths Newsletter - March Issue! Her article, recently published on Linked In, discusses creating trust, effective communication, and their effect on teams. Congratulations, Amanda, on your achievements!

Read Amanda's article by following the link below. Her article, "Creating Trust", is shown on page 12 of the newsletter.  

Take time to recap a few of our Section member accomplishments over the last quarter by taking a look at our Kudos report. - We start each of our Executive Council meetings with Kudos to celebrate our achievements.
If you have kudos to share with our membership and would like a special item to be highlighted, email the Communications team at swe.d.communications@gmail.com.
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Vanessa Li 
Process Leader | Novelis 

Vanessa Li, Process Leader, Novelis Terre Haute, spoke on a leadership panel to 100 attendees of the Women in Novelis workshop, which was held in Atlanta in April. During the panel, Li shared key insights she has gained during her career, including the importance of speaking out and promoting yourself, steps to take in the face of adversity and advice to women considering trying a new career. In her new role as Process Leader at Novelis’ Terre Haute facility, Li is using her unique skills as a metallurgical engineer to improve Novelis operations. 

Michele Plattenberger
Sr. Application Engineer | AAM
 
Michele worked aboard in Japan a long time ago with Ford. She has kept up her fluency of the Japanese Language and was a liaison to SWE's Society Memorum of Understanding with Japan's Women's organization. Recently, she has been working behind the scenes to support our STEM pipeline through personally committing to donate funds to SWE Detroit's scholarship program. On top of that she is working on matching funds with her company to enable a total $1K annual contribution for the past few years.

Nikita Tiwari
Platform Application Engineer | Intel
 
Nikita was interviewed by a local TV station in the Portland area, FOX12, to share her journey to engineering and encourage young girls into STEM as part of promoting the SWENext Design lab at WE Local Portland: http://www.kptv.com/story/37879311/women-engineers-encouraging-girls-to-get-involved-in-stem#.WsUWfSMux3A.email
Nikita is currently working at Intel Corporation as a Platform Application Engineer focused on image processing and computer vision applications for automotive. She completed her Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Portland State University. She is very passionate about paying it forward through SWE and has held several officer roles including Section Representative, VP of Professional Development and Treasurer for the Columbia River Section. She is also the Region J Professional Leadership Coach with the society's Leadership coaching committee and is a member of the Affinity Groups sub-committee with the society's membership committee. She was also presented with the 2018 SWE Region J Emerging Leader Award at the WE Local conference in Portland. Nikita has also held leadership positions within Intel's employee resource group, Women at Intel Network (WIN). She has led the NextGen track for Oregon WIN which is to organize events for interns, recent college graduates and new hires to ensure availability of resources and professional development opportunities. She is the WIN-SWE liaison for Intel in Oregon and is the Marketing and Communications chair for the global WIN board and takes great pleasure in uplifting the women community. Outside of work Nikita enjoys hiking, reading, writing, travelling and has recently developed and inclination for Crossfit. She is recently married and has relocated to Michigan and is looking forward to the next chapter in her life.

SWE-Detroit would like to begin highlighting and celebrating the achievements of our outstanding members on a regular basis via a "SWE Member Spotlight" section on our website!

Were you inspired by a fellow SWE-D member's recent promotion, award, publication, patent, participation on an industry panel, speaking role at a conference, feature in an article/news segment, or dedication to a volunteer cause?

Please take a moment to empower a fellow SWE-D member (or yourself!) by recognizing their exciting accomplishment using the form below:

SWE Member Spotlight - Nomination Form 

Thank you for continuing to make everyday recognition & celebration of our members' professional accomplishments a consistent, empowering part of our SWE-D organizational culture!