Last week the Center for Women in Information Technology (CWIT) held their second annual “Spring into Leadership,” event.
The event which is designed to provide networking opportunities to women majoring in engineering or information technology had 120 registrants up 23 registrants from last year. Registrants included students as well as 25 Industry professionals from Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Harris Corporation, NSA, BAE Systems, UserWorks, JHU/APL, CyberPoint International, General Electric’s Middle River Aircraft Systems, and AAI.
Wendy Martin, a vice president at Harris Corporation, gave the keynote address focusing on her story and the importance of diversity for organizational success. “The fact that you are different from your peers should not be something you shy away from or something that you shield from others. It’s a gift, especially in the workplace,” she emphasized to the women majoring in engineering and IT at the event.
Following the keynote the participants were split into networking pairs and then groups.
“By all accounts the event this year was a tremendous success because of the teamwork of the student planning committee,” says Susan Martin, Associate Director of CWIT. “This event really contributes to the sense of community among women in the College of Engineering and Information Technology.”
Spring into Leadership was made possible with support from Lockheed Martin Corporation, the 2011-2012 sponsor of the CWIT Affiliates Program, the UMBC Student Government Association, and the UMBC Graduate Student Association. The program was implemented by student leaders from the CWIT Student Council, the Information Systems Council of Majors (ISCOM) the student chapters of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) graduate student organization.
