New England Region F Conference 2008

Franklin W. Olin, College of Engineering      Saturday, April 12     Needham, MA   

 

 

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Work Life Balance:  Solutions to Fitting it All

 

Presentation Description:

The expression work-life balance is the ideal mix of time allocated in our lives to family, friends, and hobbies as opposed to work-related chores and goals. But how can we achieve that balance?  Over the past twenty-five years there has been a substantial increase in work which is felt to be due, in part, by information technology, an intense, competitive work environment, and globablization which is extending our working hours to 24/7.  Today’s married worker is typically part of a dual-career couple, which makes it difficult to find time to meet commitments to family, friends, and community.  Solutions to this problem can include taking advantage of programs your company offers for flex time, tele-commuting, rethinking your standards (hire that cleaning service without guilt!), nurtuing yourself, building family time into your schedule, protecting your day off, and many more.  This interactive session will allow plenty of time for discussion on what worked and what didn’t for the panelists and audience alike. 

 

About the Panelists:

 

Bernice Brody (panel moderator) is currently an executive project manager with IBM Global Services supporting worldwide Infrastructure Technology for IBMs Integrated Managed Business Process Delivery (IMBPD) which transforms, globalizes and supports internal and external clients finance & administration, customer relationship management (CRM), human resources and supply chain management (SCM) business processes. Bernice has over 28 years of experience in IBM packaging manufacturing, development and application engineering, in engineering management, and in IT project management. As a Project Management International (PMI) and IBM certified executive project manager, she provides leadership in the areas of global IT transition program management. Bernice Brody is currently the Society of Women Engineers national director of professional development. Bernice is happily married to her high school sweetheart and a fellow IBM engineer. They have two adult daughters and balance elder care for Bernices parents as well as time for traveling, golfing and skiing.

 

Jennifer Wang works for Schick Wilkinson Sword, Energizer Personal Care Division of Energizer Holding, Inc.  Her current position with the company is Quality Assurance Engineer.  She was able to demonstrate her leadership skill and hard working attitude and was promoted from Associate Quality Engineer to current position within two years of graduation from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, where she earned two Bachelors of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Business Management & Technology, with a minor in Social Psychology.  During her college years, she was involved with the RPI Section of SWE (Treasurer, 2002) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.  She is currently the Section Representative of SWE Connecticut Section.  She is a member of the Region F Collegiate Leadership Coach Committee, Region F Region Conference Planning Committee, and Region F Fund Spending Committee.  Currently, she is putting together a business plan to open a yarn shop and is busy planning her September wedding.  In her spare time she enjoys reading, knitting, and hanging out with her friends and husband to be, and playing with her dogs - Bruno, Mick and Vanilla.

 

Lynda Fredette has over 23 years of civil and environmental engineering work experience in multiple industries. For the past 19 years, she has been employed by United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney, where she is currently the Global Manager for Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) Systems and Audits.  Previously, Lynda also served as Pratt & Whitney's Green Engine Program Manager and as EH&S Manager for the company's largest jet engine manufacturing site in East Hartford, Connecticut. Prior to joining Pratt & Whitney, Lynda worked as an environmental/civil engineer at a Connecticut based consulting firm, Loureiro Engineering Associates, and for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, New Hampshire.  Lynda has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from University of Maine and an M.S. in Management with a concentration in Environmental Management and Policy from Rensselaer at Hartford.  She resides in Connecticut with her husband and two children. 

 

Sheree Swenson-Dodge is a Senior Engineer at Pratt & Whitney, where shes been employed for five years.  She holds the position of Project Engineer and Assistant Technology Manager for the Combustors Augmentors and Nozzles Module Center (CANMC).  She is working on completing her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.  Sheree has a 1 year old son and in her spare time, runs a hobby farm. She holds a BS in Biology and a pending MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah where she researched ways to reduce metals pollution from coal pollution.

 

 

Our 2008 Corporate Sponsors

 

Executive Level Sponsor:

Raytheon

 

Senior Level Sponsors:

 

FM Global

 

United Technologies

Corporation

 

Associate Level Sponsors:

 

Sensata Technologies

 

IBM

 

Bose Corporation

 

BBN Technologies

 

Rohm & Haas Electronic Materials

 

Cisco Systems