MEAM Undergraduate Women’s Dinner

On Thursday, March 26, the MEAM Department held a dinner for undergraduate women studying Mechanical Engineering here at Penn. More than thirty students attended, ranging from freshmen to seniors; this is 50% of the women studying MEAM!

MEAM professors Katherine Kuchenbecker, Celia Reina, and Paulo Arratia attended, as did Desirae Cesar, the MEAM Undergrad Coordinator, and Michaile Rainey, the Director of Advancing Women in Engineering. The event started with an icebreaker activity in which the attendees decorated their name tags. Professor Kuchenbecker then welcomed everyone and shared a supportive message from Rob Carpick, the Chair of MEAM.

Attendees then enjoyed a catered dinner while chatting with the other people at their table, particularly about the current situation for female students in MEAM. Professor Kuchenbecker led the group in listing suggestions that had arisen during the conversations; ideas ranged from the practical, such as increasing the temperature in a certain lecture hall, to more visionary, such as having more female faculty and TA’s. Overall, it was a great evening for the women in MEAM.