September 7, 2005

Purdue Women in Engineering Preview Day offers advice, guidance

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A top quality engineer with Ethicon, a Johnson & Johnson company, will be the keynote speaker at the 2005 Women in Engineering Program Preview Day for high school seniors considering a career in engineering.

Beth Thompson, a Purdue chemical engineering alumna, will talk about what it takes to become an engineer and offer advice for students. Thompson is a senior design quality engineer with Ethicon Inc., a company that designs medical devices.

The daylong program is set for Monday, Oct. 3, in Purdue University's Stewart Center. The event is free and lunch is provided.

"During the course of the day, there will be two panels — one of practicing women engineers and one of women engineering students," said Beth Holloway, director of the Purdue Women in Engineering Program. "This presents an ideal opportunity for potential engineering students to understand the challenges faced by engineering majors and women in the workforce."

The program will give students an overview of engineering and provide specific information on various areas of engineering. The event includes talks, demonstrations and tours offered by professors and students at Purdue.

Parents and teachers are invited to participate in the program. They will attend some of the sessions with the students, a special session on financial aid and a question and answer session with Holloway, engineering students and a representative from the First Year Engineering Program.

Students who bring a completed Purdue admission application to the program will be able to submit their application without the $30 application fee.

Registration deadline is Sept. 23. Alcoa Inc., Boeing Co. and General Motors Corp. sponsor the program, with support from the Purdue Society of Women Engineers. In the spring, a similar event will be held for high school juniors. For more information, contact Dawn Mikels at (765) 494-3889, djmikels@purdue.edu, or visit the program's Web site.

Writer: Cynthia A. Sequin, (765) 494-4192, csequin@purdue.edu

Source: Beth Holloway, (765) 494-3889, Holloway@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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