Around campus, students sport t-shirts bearing the slogan "Temple Students Take Charge." And that's certainly true for the Society of Women Engineers. This month, Philadelphia will host the 2016 Women's Engineering Conference on October 27-29, where Temple SWE will play a big part in their "Invent It Build It" event at the Convention Center.

Catherine Martsolf, a junior in environmental engineering, serves as president of this active and diverse organization. Every year they take part of this annual conference that brings together thousands of students and professional women engineers to network and discuss industry issues. Three of the 11 delegates Temple SWE sent to WE15 landed internships from the experience.

For current SWE members, WE16 is their great opportunity to find a summer internship or job after graduation. Around 300 companies are expected to meet candidates at the career fair, with interviews and hiring on the spot, sometimes before the conference starts.

"It's actually rather intimidating," Martsolf concedes. "Everyone is looking for a job." To combat this, SWE concentrates events before the conference to prepare students for these networking and hiring opportunities, from interviewing and resume building to LinkedIn and a dress to impress focus. The group hosts professional preparation events like this throughout the school year.

At the conference, the Invent It Build It event is an all-day project and expo devoted to introducing young women to the possibilities of engineering as a college major and career path. Students from middle and high schools do hands-on projects, learn more about the positions available in the field and meet fellow future engineers. Parents can find out more about engineering higher education programs, career paths, and other ways to support their budding engineers.

This year, Martsolf and her Temple SWE members will work as Roving Role Models to the attendees for exposure to work on environmental site assessment and groundwater contamination. "My demonstration consists of letting girls "contaminate" a container of water, I'll be carrying water with coloring and explaining remediation measures and brownfields redevelopment," Martsolf explained. Part of SWE's outreach efforts includes recruiting local students involved in STEM programs in the city and across the area to attend.

SWE has always been devoted to public service and involvement in the community. In the past, the group has participated in AIDS Walks, Clean Up Day, and volunteered at soup kitchens.

For WE16, they've reached out to another segment of the population. "We've started He for SWE ambassadors so guys can get involved with SWE and benefit from the career fair during the conference," said Martsolf. "It's not just for women and the organization is not just for women. We're very excited about it. We've recently had acting president Dr. Richard Englert become a He for SWE ambassador to promote, especially because we're Temple Made and Philly Made, we want to get everyone involved." Martsolf also added, Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney, whose daughter attends Temple, has also committed to be involved at the event.