UCF's dynamic and talented student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) was rewarded for its excellence and hard work at the 2002 National SWE Conference in October. At the conference, held in Detroit, Michigan, UCF's SWE chapter earned an impressive first place award in three national competitions.     The chapter won the Outstanding Small Student Section award - for a chapter with 10 to 35 members - as well as the ExxonMobil Grant award for best audio-visual outreach video. The chapter's team of Annmarie Uskert, Sandy Matueski, Jessica Layton and Jennifer Thomas won first place in the Boeing Team Tech Competition and $5,000 for the team's design and presentation of an innovative camera-housing pressure gauge for Boeing.     The SWE student chapter's vision is to be an inspiring resource for engineering students at UCF and for pre-college students in the community. In addition to its work for the national conference awards, the chapter partners with the local professional section of SWE to provide members with opportunities for personal and professional development.     SWE also sponsors activities and events with local high schools - the award-winning outreach video, for example, is sent to high school teachers, students and parents. The group also focuses on its members' career and individual development through a unique internal support system.     "They have established a mentoring program where they pair a new student with a more senior student or a professional," says SWE faculty sponsor, Dr. Gwen Walton. "The students do all the planning, organizing, fund raising and all the technical work."

"We have a dedicated and wonderful student chapter at UCF," adds SWE Chapter President Annmarie Uskert. "Our mission is to strengthen our membership and to promote professionalism and service in the community. In 2002, we made great strides towards our goals and were rewarded at the SWE National Convention. Since the national conference, we have succeeded in our objective to increase membership, which has more than doubled from around 30 members to more than 65!"     Walton and Uskert both extend gratitude to the UCF faculty, which provides the students in SWE with an excellent education. They also thank the Orlando SWE professional section, which remains an invaluable source of support and mentoring for the chapter's students.