Admissions Blog: How I experienced National Engineers Week 2019 at Sweet Briar College
Posted on February 22, 2019 by Meagan Phister ’20
Google’s Lauren Guerrant helps Meagan Phister with her résumé during an Engineers Week workshop at Sweet Briar College.National Engineers Week at Sweet Briar kicked off on Tuesday, Feb. 19, when former student Sarah Cahoone ’18 came to give a presentation about the work she is doing at her job at NAVAIR, located in Cherry Point, N.C. She explained what it is like to transition from a school setting to a work setting. Her presentation detailed some of the projects she has worked on during the time she has been at NAVAIR, and what her daily work schedule is like.
Kip Thorne speaks at the region’s 2019 National Engineers Week Banquet at Sweet Briar College, where the event was held for the fourth timeOn Wednesday, we held the region’s annual Engineers Week Banquet at Sweet Briar, but before that, we hosted an Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day event, where high school girls were invited to come and learn a little about engineering and take part in constructing an electromechanical drawing machine. They also got to take home an engineering Explore Box.
Two high school girls at Sweet Briar’s Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day eventThe speaker for this year’s Engineering Banquet was Dr. Kip Thorne, who was introduced by Sweet Briar student Yasmin Bekri ’20. Dr. Thorne gave a presentation discussing his career and how he ended up being a part of the group that won a Nobel Prize for their discovery of gravitational waves. Thorne was also a science advisor and executive producer for the movie “Interstellar.” Before the banquet, students were offered a chance to meet Thorne and ask him questions about any aspect of his life, hobbies or career. During this time, he said something that I found very interesting: “If you work hard and creatively, you can turn speculation into truth.”
Thorne and students at the Q&ASince so many people are invited to attend the banquet, the banquet becomes a good networking opportunity for students as engineering companies tend to have booths and representatives. This year, the Center for Advanced Engineering & Research, NAVAIR, Framatome, NovaTech and Google were there to answer questions about what their company does and what opportunities they have for internships or potential future jobs.
Meagan (right) and other Sweet Briar students at the Engineers Week BanquetWrapping up the week, on Thursday, Feb. 21, a representative from Google offered a résumé workshop during lunch to help students learn how the format, structure and detailed content of your résumé may maximize your chances of receiving an interview or internship.
Want to know what else engineering students get to do at Sweet Briar College? Visit our website to find out!
Want to Explore Engineering for yourself? Attend our Spring Explore Engineering Weekend on March 22-23!
Meagan Phister ’20 is an engineering major with a minor in chemistry from Moneta, Va. She is a member of the chemistry club, golf team and an Explore Engineering assistant.
