Welcome to the Charlotte, NC metropolitan section of the Society of Women Engineers. Our members come from the city of Charlotte and the surrounding areas, including part of South Carolina.

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE), founded in 1950, is a not-for-profit educational and service organization. SWE is the driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women. SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and be recognized for their life-changing contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders.

The SWE-CM Vision:

The Society of Women Engineers Charlotte-Metrolina Section strives to be a viable support network for female engineers in the Charlotte-Metrolina area, to be visible in our community through outreach activities and corporate relations, and to be a building block for SWE's Southeast Region.

Summary/description: Hands-on activities for Girl Scouts introduce them to engineering concepts. This is a badge event for the Girl Scouts with hands-on sessions in mechanical, electrical/computer, structural, chemical and civil engineering allowing them to earn a merit badge as well as a Society of Women Engineers patch. Volunteers are needed for session leaders and for help at the event. Sessions in the past have included tye-dye or slime, suspension bridges, puff-mobiles, electrical circuits and electric gelatin, chocolate asphalt & concrete. A planning meeting for session leaders will be held October 6, 2008.

Print our flyer for posting/sharing. RSVP by Friday, October 3 to Angela.Berry @ swe.org or our webmaster to be a session leader or by October 13 to help in general on the day of the event.

Summary/description: Baltimore is no stranger to revolutionary ideals - be it the American or Industrial Revolution. This makes Baltimore perfect for the largest, most comprehensive gathering of women leading the Technical Revolution: WE08. For women engineers, The Society of Women Engineers' National Conference is the event for career advancement and professional development.

For more information, visit the conference website.

Charlotte-Metrolina Section Members Selected for Society Individual Awards

The Charlotte-Metrolina Section of the Society of Women Engineers proudly announces two of its members have been selected to receive Society Awards. Chris Cathcart has been selected as a Fellow and Jennifer Branganza has been selected as one of this year's Distinguished New Engineers.

The Fellow Grade is an honor conferred on SWE members "in recognition of continuous service to the advancement of women in the engineering profession" while the Distinguished New Engineer Award honors women engineers who have been actively engaged in engineering in the first 10 years of their careers. Only SWE Members are eligible for both awards.

Christine Cathcart, P.E.
2008 SWE Fellow

Chris Cathcart holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Kansas State University and an MBA from Maryville University, St. Louis. She is a registered Professional Engineer and is active with several organizations that promote networking and technical excellence.

Chris began her career at McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) in St. Louis. She worked as a Test Engineer focusing on structural testing including static and fatigue testing of aircraft and aircraft parts. In 1996, she moved to Boeing in Wichita to become a Design Engineer. There she worked on structural design of aircraft parts and assemblies. In 2000, Chris moved to Charlotte, NC to work with Corning, Inc. There she worked with the production lines making optical fiber. During the expansion of the plant, she moved into project management and led the expansion team until the plant ceased operations in 2003. At this point, she took her career a slightly different path with aviation and worked with Lockheed Martin in aircraft modification. At Lockheed Martin, Chris took on several roles including bids and proposals, project management, and finally moved into resource management with a team of 26. In 2006, Chris took on the role of managing a virtual team of engineers for Lee Products Inc. She is currently working as the director for several different projects and works bids and proposals as well.

Within SWE, Chris has served at the local, regional, and national levels. She has served as every officer for a Section, Region Deputy Governor, Collegiate Region Coordinator, National Committee Chair for Career Guidance, COR Mega Issues, and Graduate Student Committee. She is currently serving on the finance committee, as Region D Treasurer, and as SWE-CM President.

Chris still lives in Charlotte, NC and continues to be active with SWE, PMI, and ASME. She is assisting the local officers for the other organizations with select activities.

Jennifer I. Braganza
2008 Distinguished New Engineer

Jennifer Braganza is the Director of the MAPS Program and a Faculty Associate at UNC Charlotte in the Lee College of Engineering. She directs a nationally recognized student support program for college students and teaches a freshman engineering course that focuses on the professional skills necessary to be successful in the workplace. In addition, Jennifer is a coach and trainer through her own company, Exponential Success. She works mostly with engineers and other technical specialists, helping them establish their own definition of success and make progress towards their personal and professional goals. As a trainer, she has presented at local and national conferences including three Society of Women Engineer's National Conferences in Nashville, Kansas City, and Anaheim.

Jennifer started her career in product development for a global tire supplier where she led the target approval projects for vehicles such as the Escape and Silverado. Transitioning into platform development, she held global responsibility for light truck tires and later SUV tires. In this role, she was responsible for identifying quality action plans in response to market feedback as well as developing a platform that met basic performance requirements. She became a member of the Core Responsibilities group representing the North American market on the technical team in R&D and led projects that developed a new global strategy for crown construction and a new development approach to light truck tires. She spent over two years working at the company's main R&D center in Hannover, Germany. When she left the company in 2006, she was in product portfolio management working in an interface function between marketing and R&D and a team member of the China project that focused on growing our market presence in China through different strategies including a greenfield plant.

Jennifer's education includes a BSE in Chemical Engineering and a BSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan as well as a Master's in Engineering from the University of Illinois-Chicago. She is also certified as a business coach by North Carolina State University.

Jennifer is a senior member of the Society of Women Engineers where she currently is the chair of the Professional Development committee and the SWE-CM Secretary. She has held local, regional, and national leadership positions including Section President, Region D Student Coordinator, Region D Student Leadership Coach, International Participation Committee Member, and SWE Counselor. In 2007, she was recognized by SWE as a "New Face of Engineering" nominee, a recognition program of the National Engineers Week. She also serves on the University of Michigan College of Engineering Alumni Board of Governors, spends time in youth ministry at St. Matthew Catholic Church, and volunteers weekly at Levine's Children's Hospital.

We congratulate Chris and Jennifer for their accomplishments and wish them continued success with their endeavors in the future. They will be recognized at the SWE National Conference in November 2008.