Society of Women Engineers - Orange County

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is the driving force that establishes engineering and technology as a highly desirable career aspiration for women. Founded in 1950, SWE is a not-for-profit educational and service organization with 300 collegiate and 100 professional sections nationwide, as well as members-at-large. It empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and be recognized for their life-changing contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders. The SWE Orange County Section was originally part of the SWE Los Angeles Section. In the early 1980s, the Los Angeles section had more than 400 members and was the largest section in the nation. With members dispersed across both counties and with the section as large as it was, it made sense to charter a new section. On February 10, 1985, the section received its official charter. It had been four years in the making, but through strong will and determination, it all paid off. Today, the SWE-OC section is still continuing to grow. SWE-OC has approximately 153 professional members.   Student sections affiliated with SWE-OC are the University of California - Irvine, California Baptist University, and the University of California - Riverside, California State University - Fullerton, California State University - Long Beach, Santa Ana College, Cal Baptist University, Chaffey College, and Cypress College.