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This year, Cal Poly SWE introduced the first ever Winter SWE-EETY to local high schools! SWE-EETY stands for Society of Women Engineering Expanding Engineering to Youth and is our chance to visit high school classes and teach them about Cal Poly and engineering. Volunteers visited STEM classrooms of various subjects and grade levels throughout the week to give presentations about the different types of engineering and their experience at Cal Poly as engineers. Combined with d

On March 6th, Cal Poly SWE held our March Monthly Mentor volunteer event at Sanchez Elementary School. Four volunteers visited three fourth-grade classrooms to introduce students to mechanical engineering through hands-on activities. Volunteers began by talking with the students about what engineers do and how mechanical systems work in everyday life. After the discussion, the fourth graders used paper, cardboard, straws, skewers, and plastic bottle caps to create wind powere

The 8th annual SWENext Design Challenge, this year the prompt encouraged students to take inspiration to prototype an engineering marvel and make it applicable to their community, culminates at the Leadership Training Conference. Students prototyped incredible projects this year: a modern colosseum, a delivery drone (no flight, just proof of concept), a green-energy zero-waste classroom- complete with grass roof, solar panel wall, and interactive engineering projects througho

On February 5th four volunteers from Cal Poly SWE visited Sanchez Elementary School in Santa Maria for February's Monthly Mentor Visit with three fourth grade classes. The theme for this visit was Aerospace Engineering and the students got to create paper rockets and launch them by blowing air through a straw.  The classrooms were full of excitement as students asked questions, helped each other troubleshoot, and celebrated when their paper rockets were successful. It was enc

On January 22nd five volunteers from Cal Poly SWE visited Sanchez Elementary School in Santa Maria for January's Monthly Mentor Visit with three fourth grade classes. The theme for this visit was "animal crossing" where students got to learn about civil engineering and how animal crossings are created. The students got to build their own animal crossings using dried pasta noodles and marshmallows! The classrooms were full of excitement as students asked questions, helped each

This summer, Cal Poly SWE brought SWE-EETY to their local high schools! SWE-EETY stands for Society of Women Engineering Expanding Engineering to Youth and is our chance to visit high school classes and teach them about Cal Poly and engineering. Volunteers visited STEM classrooms of various subjects and grade levels to give presentations about the different types of engineering and their experience at Cal Poly as engineers. Combined with discussions on diversity and empowerin

Cal Poly’s Fall SWE Welcome took place on November 15, 2025. This is a recurring outreach event where high school girls are invited to campus to learn more about Cal Poly and what it’s like to study engineering. Students began their day with an icebreaker to get to know the SWE volunteers and fellow participants. Then they attended a presentation to learn about all of the engineering majors at Cal Poly, while parents learned about how to support students as they enter college

Last Thursday, November 6th, Cal Poly SWE held our November Monthly Mentor volunteer event at Sanchez Elementary School. Four volunteers visited three fourth-grade classrooms to introduce students to electrical engineering through hands-on activities. Volunteers began by talking with the students about what engineers do and how electrical systems work in everyday life. After the discussion, the fourth graders used Snap Circuits to build simple circuits that powered a lightbul

On Saturday, October 11, Cal Poly SWE hosted Fall Elementary Engineering Day! We hosted over 30 K-5 elementary students from local elementary schools and girl scout troops through a morning of carnival themed activities. We made ferris wheels and learned about civil and structural engineering, catapults and mechanical engineering, and lastly after a snack break we made zappy zoomers and talked about aerospace engineering! We had such a great time teaching about engineering an

Spring Girl Scout Day took place on April 16th from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM and celebrated Earth Day and engineering. Each Girl Scout Day has...

Volunteers from Cal Poly Society of Women Engineers designed a STEM activity aimed at teaching 4th graders about one engineering...

Volunteers from Cal Poly Society of Women Engineers designed a STEM activity aimed at teaching 4th graders about one engineering...

Fourth Grade Days took place during National Engineers Week from February 22nd to February 25th. From 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM every day,...

Winter Girl Scout Day took place on January 8th from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM. Every year, we come up with a theme or storyline that the entire...

Monthly Mentors had yet another year of fun activities and great memories! Our partnership with the 6th - 8th grade classes at Santa...

Cal Poly SWE visited Mrs. DiSanti’s virtual classrooms for Atascadero Middle School on May 3rd, 2021 to teach students about mechanical...

Cal Poly SWE (CPSWE) hosted its second virtual Building an Engineer Day on Saturday, April 24th. The event was run by 8 volunteers, with...

Cal Poly SWE visited Mrs. DiSanti’s virtual classrooms for Atascadero Middle School on February 8th, 2021 to once again teach students...

Cal Poly SWE (CPSWE) hosted its first ever virtual Building an Engineer Day on Saturday, Jan 30th! This event was organized by a...

Monthly Mentors was able to continue its third year, this time with a fully online approach! Our partnership with the 6th and 8th grade...