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CUE 2006

Diversity Programs - MEP & WIEP: Multicultural and Women in Engineering Programs Inspire Alumni to Give Back

It wasn't long ago that CU-Boulder alumna Heather Doty could be found studying for exams or squeezing in a nap in the Women in Engineering Program's study center.

"It was a great, quiet place to study," says Doty, who graduated from CU in 2001 with a BS/MS in civil engineering and a BA in music. "It was also just a nice place to connect with other women."

Once an active student member of the WIEP, Doty now works as a structural engineer at Ball Aerospace in Boulder. But she still comes home to the WIEP now and then to support the program that supported her throughout college. Speaking at events such as Career Day for High School Women, Doty tries to expose female students to the vast array of opportunities in the engineering field.

"There aren't any cool shows about engineers like there are about doctors and lawyers," Doty says, explaining she is part of a grassroots effort to break the stereotype about engineers. "It's not all a bunch of geeky guys with glasses and pocket protectors … It's about pointing out to the world that we (women) can do this too."

Doty is one of many alumni of the WIEP and the Multicultural Engineering Program who are dedicated to giving back to the programs that helped them become the successful leaders they are today. Through financial donations and time spent on mentorship and outreach activities, these alumni are helping to increase the number of underrepresented minorities and women in CU-Boulder's College of Engineering and Applied Science and in industry.

"It makes a big impression on our current and future students when they see our alumni giving back," MEP co-director David Aragon says. "The alumni who support our efforts with their time and money play a significant role in helping us accomplish our mission."

Since his graduation in 1997, MEP alumnus David Davenport has returned to CU every summer to help with the Success Institute.

A software engineer at IBM, Davenport leads company tours, serves as a member of the MEP Advisory Council, and recently began donating money to MEP's Alumni Scholarship Fund.

"I do it to make sure other talented youth get through the program and become engineers, because we are in dire shortage," he says, stressing the need for a diverse workforce. "It's a powerful thing when you have alternate paths of thought. When you come from a different background or experience, you can see things in a different way and create new or more powerful ideas."

Sophomore aerospace and mechanical engineering student Diana Silva says alumni involvement helps her to see where she could be a few years into the future and how the concepts she learns in class are applied in the real world.

"It kind of gives me inspiration," she says. "It gets me pumped to make sure I know all of my material well. I become passionate about what I'm doing, because if they did it, I can do it."

While WIEP and MEP reap the benefits of alumni involvement, active alumni admit their commitments aren't only altruistic.

"It's energizing," says Davenport. "Just seeing and being inspired by future MEP scholars keeps me hopeful that the world will continue to improve."

Doty agrees: "People hear the word give, but they don't realize necessarily what you get out of it. It's fun meeting these people. It's kind of cool to be 'wowed' at. You learn from them just as much as you give them (something) . . . It reminds me to think outside the box."