Last week, the Tufts University section of SWE teamed up with SWE Boston to host the Joint Collegiate-Professional event, which was sponsored by athenahealth. Attendees included local members from the Boston area, Tufts SWE members and employees from athenahealth. SWE members had the opportunity to network with each other over appetizers and dinner. Dr. Karen Panetta, the faculty advisor of the Tufts section of SWE, gave the keynote address. In short, Dr. Panetta is a rock star! Dr. Panetta gave advice for women in all stages of their careers with the lines, “Change the bait” and “Get a fresh coat of paint.” She urged women who were having trouble finding internships or jobs to refresh their image and interests by taking an online course or volunteering. She maintained that all engineers should be familiar with current technology.
Thinking about current technology, it was appropriate that athenahealth sponsored the event. athenahealth is in the medical billing business, providing user-friendly technology and project management services to its clients. The spokeswomen from athenahealth stressed the friendly environment of the company and the opportunities for career growth. athenahealth has an office in Watertown, MA and is currently hiring engineers! Check them out at: http://careers.athenahealth.com/ext/search.asp.
Hosting a joint Collegiate-Professional event gave Tufts students a peek at what it would be like to be a professional member of SWE. SWE Boston has extensive resources that they are willing to share. Professional membership seems like a “must.”
Emily Anderson
Tufts SWE Section President
