Women in Engineering Program at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Receives WEPAN Women in Engineering Program Award
The Women in Engineering Program at RIT is a model for other WIE organizations.

Denver, July 23, 2008 –

WEPAN’s Women in Engineering Program Award recognizes an outstanding Women in Engineering program that serves as a model for other institutions. The award was presented June 10 at the WEPAN National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri.

The 2008 WEPAN Women in Engineering Program Award went to Women in Engineering Program at RIT (WE@RIT), Margaret Bailey, Executive Director. 

The Women in Engineering Program at RIT is a model for other WIE organizations demonstrating best practices in comprehensive pre-college outreach, recruitment, and community building initiatives. Presently, this program reaches over 1,500 engineering students, K-12 students, and educators through outreach and community building programs.

In the past year, this WE@RIT has hosted over twenty programs, all of which support the organizational goal of expanding the representation of women within the field of engineering.  Examples of these programs include Expanding Your Horizons, Park & Ride - Amusement Park Design, Everyday Engineering Summer Camp, and the SWE Sleepover and Shadow Program (hosted by the college of engineering and the SWE Student Section with strong support from WE@RIT). 

WE@RIT also actively shares experiences and materials with other programs outside of its home institution through a comprehensive website, participation in WEPAN poster sessions, yearly presentations at conferences including ASEE, IMECE, and the National Council for Research on Women. 

In addition, this program offers several events for prospective and incoming female engineering students including; the WE@RIT Retreat, an overnight event for accepted engineering students; WE@RIT in Motion, a pre-orientation event for incoming women students); College & Careers, hands-on workshops for prospective students; and the Student to Student Recruitment Program, which supports women engineering students to visit their home school districts to discuss engineering as a career option. 

WE@RIT also offers a series of community building events for women engineering students, offering professional guidance and support towards earning an engineering degree. The increased participation and enthusiasm over the past five years regarding all of WE@RIT’s offerings, strongly attests to its highly perceived value by K-12 and RIT students and demonstrates the program’s ability to improve the educational environment for women in engineering at RIT.

About WEPAN

WEPAN, Women in Engineering ProActive Network, is the nation’s leading organization, and catalyst for transforming culture in engineering education to promote the success of all women.

WEPAN works to improve the education experience for aspiring women engineers by:

• Mobilizing diverse, inclusive, and collaborative stakeholders.
• Fostering diversity in engineering graduates, our innovators of tomorrow.
• Inspiring a network of advocates to empower and advance the education of women pursuing engineering and related disciplines.
• Translating research into practice and develops national models to attract and retain women in engineering.

• Over 175 women in engineering programs and initiatives at American colleges and universities serve 42,890 female engineering students
• Over 600 members, including Women in Engineering professionals, faculty, department chairs, and deans, leading campus-based initiatives to retain women in engineering
• 60 executives from corporate, government, and non-profit sectors
• WEPAN membership spans the nation and crosses international borders and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

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