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WEPAN CELEBRATES ITS OFFSPRING: 22,000 Mentor-Protege Pairs Matched Since 1998 through MentorNet (St. Louis, Missouri) - Just a short decade ago, the widespread availability of email and the WorldWideWeb were new phenomena. The new technology was coupled with an age-old, but effective solution - mentoring, addressing the need to scale up mentoring efforts in order to increase the scientific and technical workforce. Through a collaborative open network of leaders and advocates for women in engineering, a new start-up - "MentorNet" - was launched as the first large-scale online mentoring network to take advantage of new technologies to support mentoring on a large scale to advance women and others underrepresented in engineering and related sciences. MentorNet's "founding parent" was the network represented by WEPAN, now a 19-year-old organization known as the Women in Engineering ProActive Network. Only half of the students entering college with interest in studying engineering actually graduate with degrees in the field. The underrepresentation of women in engineering and science is a problem, not only for the development of individuals' interests and talents, but also for the loss of talent for society, the economy, and the future of scientific discovery and technological innovation. Mentoring represents a key strategy in retaining those underrepresented students in engineering and related sciences. This month, at its annual conference in St. Louis, Missouri, WEPAN hosts a celebration of 10 years of success of One-on-One e-mentoring through MentorNet. Ten years ago, the first cohort of 204 mentor-protege pairs matched through MentorNet's technology-supported online system completed their trial email-based mentoring relationships designed to advance women in engineering and related sciences. Since then, thousands of men and women undergraduate and graduate students with diverse backgrounds, from every U.S. state, and more than 148 nations around the world, along with postdoctoral scholars and early career faculty members in engineering, science, math, and technology, have benefited from carefully-structured mentoring relationships with professionals in their fields. The WEPAN conference celebration of MentorNet's 10th anniversary will take place on Monday, June 9 at 4:15 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. About MentorNet - www.MentorNet.net MentorNet, headquartered in San José, California, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization working to further the progress of women and others underrepresented in scientific and technical fields through the use of a dynamic, technology-supported mentoring network. MentorNet aims to advance individuals and society, and enhance engineering and related sciences, by promoting a diversified, expanded and talented global workforce. In partnership with colleges and universities, corporations, government labs and agencies, and professional societies, MentorNet is international in scope, serving students and professionals from all over the world. MentorNet was recognized in 2001 with the (U.S.) Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. Major funding is provided by IBM, Intel Foundation, Cisco Systems, Hewlett Packard, Texas Instruments, AT&T, 3M Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, and Alcoa Foundation. About WEPAN - www.wepan.org The Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN) is a national not-for-profit organization with over 600 members from nearly 200 engineering schools, small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations, and non-profit organizations. WEPAN is dedicated to improving the climate for and success of all women in engineering. By transforming environments in institutions of higher education, a diverse population of aspiring engineers can succeed. Contacts: Diane Matt
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National Engineers Week Foundation
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