Blog Archives

Rose Lee

6/30/2020

Howdy howdy!

My name is Rose Lee and I’ll be one of the Design Project Co-Chairs next year. I’m going to be a senior in chemical engineering with a minor in mathematics. Last year in SWE, I was the Secretary (aka I bought all the food and made the flyers), and I really enjoyed creating an exciting community and connecting with many wonderful personalities in meetings and social events. This next year, I look forward to continuing engaging our community through developing the Design Project and hosting technical workshops.

Fig. 1: A normal chemical engineering student; not a serial killer.

While the global pandemic has certainly shifted things around, I’ve made the most out of my time and have had quite a swell summer so far. I spend my days studying Organic Chemistry 2, researching electrochemistry in the lab, hanging out with my roommates, enjoying the outdoors, playing some games, and jammin’ out on some instruments. Junior year was definitely a demanding year, so I’ve appreciated the ability to sleep more than 5 hours and enjoy the sweet feeling of doing nothing.

Fig. 2: Rose’s ACNH island. Custom-made Tanjiro robe by yours truly ;D

If you need a pal to talk to, or someone to play TFT with, feel free to reach out to me! Until next time, wear your masks, wash your hands, and stay safe out there :)

- Rose (roselee3@unm.edu)

1 Comment

Mari Aoki

6/24/2020

1 Comment

Hi there! My name is Mari Aoki and I will be one of the Social Media chairs for SWE this upcoming school year. I am a junior in Computer Science with a minor in Japanese, and I am also a member of the UNM Women’s Swimming & Diving team. I’m super excited to work in this committee to help recruit more members and let others know what we’re up to. SWE has helped me grow professionally in many ways and being surrounded by inspiring women in STEM empowers me to be the best that I can be. My favorite experience with SWE has been the WE19 national conference. I became closer to many of my fellow UNM SWE members and the conference gave me a new perspective on the direction I should move forward in. I’ve made a ton of new friends in SWE and I’m really excited to see them again in Albuquerque. Joining SWE has been one of the best decisions I’ve made so far in my college career, and I hope to spread this joy with others.

As I’m sure is the case with many of you, my summer is not as I had planned. I am combatting my losses with what I can do with my extra time at home. I’m taking a couple of classes, exercising, spending time outside, working on personal projects, reading/listening to audiobooks, and working on some things for SWE. I am doing what I can do now to prepare myself for this next school year, and I am setting new goals for myself. At times I feel like I’m flailing around and undoing my progress (Imposter Syndrome is real, y’all!), but I am in a better place now than I was last year. I am thankful for UNM, SWE, and all the friends, resources, and support I have gained along the way. I love making new friends, so don’t be afraid to reach out to me or say hello at one of our meetings!

1 Comment

Sami Siska

6/21/2020

0 Comments

Hello! My name is Sami, and I’ll be an outreach co-chair and a senior in chemical engineering next year. Just like everyone, my summer has been really wacky. Most of the time, between school, work, frisbee, and volleyball, I’m constantly busy. Now, I have time to try other fun things I’ve never had a chance to do (most of them pretty basic, I admit. But I’m having a good time). I figured I’d share some of my silly new hobbies and give my opinions.

Me!

Gardening: Awesome. So great. Cannot recommend enough. I’ve become obsessed enough to make a board of my star plants. My happiness has become weirdly tied to the success of my little baby seedlings.

Quarantine garden

MVP plant board

Snap pea seedlings!

Making fancy coffee: Pretty cool if you spend an obscene, shameful amount on coffee-shop coffee like I do. I now own a Ninja coffee bar system, a percolator, a cold brew diffuser, and a milk frother. I am not a morning person, but I do look forward to waking up to a custom (cheap) cup of coffee. Who needs Starbucks?

Ninja coffee bar and milk frother

Percolator

Cold brew

Needlepoint: very cool, but very slow. Like very slow. I’ve had this for about a month and I’m still not very far along. But it’s been great for nights where I’m not doing anything except sitting around watching Avatar.

Cactus needlepoint!

Jogging: Nope. That lasted about a week. Not my jam.

These haven't been used in a while...

Like everyone else, I can’t wait for this to be over. But I have to say, I’ve enjoyed getting a chance to do things I normally wouldn’t. I hope everyone is doing their best to stay healthy and stay positive 😊

-Sami

0 Comments

Jane Keth

6/8/2020

1 Comment

Heya! My name is Jane Keth and I’m one of the Social Media officers for this upcoming school year. I will be entering my sophomore year as a chemical engineering major this fall. One of my favorite memories from SWE is the WE Local Conference that I attended with seven other members. It was an exciting experience because I was able to bond with the other members while also learning about graduate school. I can’t wait to capture and share more of these memories with the community through social media once the school year starts! One of my goals this year is to expand SWE’s influence to more underclassmen! Since it is the summer, I have been keeping myself busy by taking Physics 2. In my free time I have been listening to podcasts, watching documentaries, playing chess, and practicing my violin!

Fun fact: I have played the violin for ten years!

Because of COVID-19, many of my original summer plans were cancelled. However, I am using this summer to reflect on myself and my goals so that I can hit the ground running once school starts again! I am proud to be a part of SWE because it has offered many opportunities to grow as a student in the STEM field! With all of the difficulties that are surfacing in our society right now, I encourage you to reach out to your friends and family. If you need someone to talk to, I am almost always available through email kethj@unm.edu. It is important that we, the upcoming generation, stay informed and involved in politics and the scientific community. Stay safe and have a SWE-et summer!

1 Comment

Isabella Obermeier

6/3/2020

2 Comments

Hi! I am Isabella Obermeier, one of the Design Project Chairs for this upcoming school year. I am a senior in computer engineering with double minors in Chinese language and honors interdisciplinary studies. I find that the most rewarding aspect of SWE is that I can take part in various outreach events that allow middle and high school students to become interested in STEM at a young age. Not only does the engagement with these students foster a positive connection with STEM, but also enables young women to see themselves represented in higher education. I hope SWE can continue to support and inspire young women to pursue STEM through similar events throughout the year. My personal goal for this upcoming year is to establish another benefit of SWE through the Design Project. I look forward to seeing how students from different experience levels work together to solve problems and create a novel solution.

Similar to my role in SWE, my summer will be mostly filled with working on research proposals for both the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) and National Security Studies Program at UNM. Considering the risk associated with COVID-19, I hope I can still travel this summer, especially through weekend or day trips around NM and experience some local adventure during my last year at UNM!

2 Comments

SWE News

Rose Lee

Mari Aoki

Sami Siska

Jane Keth

Isabella Obermeier

Author

Archives

Categories