Women in Engineering ProActive Network
Denver, CO – Widely scattered information and resources on women in engineering are now easily located and accessed, thanks to a new Web site from the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN).
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Launch of the WEPAN Knowledge Center is being celebrated next week at the WEPAN Annual Conference, June 16-19, in Austin, TX.
The Knowledge Center is an online gateway to information and tools that support the success of women in engineering. Its fully searchable database contains more than 600 resources and accepts submissions of additional resources. Many address issues relevant to women in science, technology, and mathematics, as well as engineering.
"For years those of us committed to the success of women in engineering were constantly on the Web searching for information," says Tricia Berry, Director of The University of Texas at Austin Women in Engineering Program and President of WEPAN.
"Much time was consumed and a lot of wheels got reinvented when we weren't able to locate what we needed."
WEPAN officers and members set about the task of remedying the situation. After several years of planning and with funding from the National Science Foundation, the new site launched on April 29.
The Knowledge Center contains citations, descriptions, and links to reports, journal articles, books, conference proceedings, bibliographies, organization profiles, and other sources. Topics addressed include recruitment and retention, mentoring, teaching and learning, networking, characteristics of successful programs, and so on.
Some resources are available free of charge on the Web and are only one click away. Others contain links to purchase information or to the point of purchase. An additional benefit of the center is that it makes gaps in information apparent and will stimulate ideas for new research.
The Knowledge Center also contains a professional community platform that supports networking and collaboration. It can be used to locate subject matter experts in women in engineering and to host online events.
Other engineering associations, such as the American Society for Engineering Education, are participating in the Knowledge Center as content partners, according to Diane Matt, Executive Director of WEPAN.
"The Knowledge Center is a tool for the entire engineering community and we want to shine a spotlight on other organizations' resources and tools," says Matt.
For more information visit wepanknowledgecenter.org