On the afternoon of Friday, November 8th, Cal Poly SWE had the opportunity to meet with 14 SWENexters from Da Vinci Science High School at the National SWE Conference, WE19, in Anaheim, CA. SWENexters were able to mingle with Cal Poly volunteers during lunch and attend breakout sessions on leadership and leveraging 3D printing to develop novel medical procedures. Students had the opportunity to network with CPSWE engineers as well as professional engineers during the conference. While at lunch, SWENexters were able to connect with mentors from Cal Poly and learn about the different types of engineering and their mentor’s experiences with STEM. From the breakout sessions, SWENexters and CPSWE volunteers were able to expand their leadership abilities, understand the qualities that make good leaders, and imagine the future of 3D printing in the bioengineering space.
SWENext is a way for high school students (and younger with parent approval) to get involved with SWE early. SWENext provides resources for creating clubs, programming to help students develop leadership skills and self-confidence to succeed in a career in STEM as well as to advocate for their peers and younger girls.