Tuesday, October 28th, 2014 |

 

||T students attend SWE convention in Los Angeles

Medoy'in ldeniji
TECH NEWS WRITER

Twenty-six members of the Society
of Women Engineers (SWE)’s Illinois Institute
of Technology chapter departed for the SWE
National Convention in Los Angeles, Califor—
nia on Thursday, October 23. The Convention
is a three-day event that is held annually in
varying locations. It has been a SWE tradition
for over 60 years. SWE members and non—
members from around the world gather in one
location to grow, learn, and inspire each other.
The opportunities for growth and success that
this convention provides are immeasurable.

The convention was kicked off with
a keynote breakfast and presentation by Eliza-
beth Bierman and Gwynne Shotwell. This pre-
sentation was the appetizer to the delicious
entree of workshops and tours that followed.
There were over 50 workshops. Some notable
speakers included Elaine Schomburg—LaFleur,
Cheri Chappelle, Boma Edyang, Marcia L.
Howes and SWE-IIT’s own Marcella Vaicik.

Workshops and tours were not the
only things the convention had to offer; there
was also the career fair. There were over 275
companies present at the two—day career fair
event. Companies like Barclays, Boeing, CIA,
FBI, Cummins Inc., Toyota, NASA, Turner

Constructions, Google, Goldman Sachs, Kim—
berly Clark, Visa, Shell, and Exelon were pres—
ent. It was particularly interesting to meet with
IIT alumni Krystal McDoom, Emmanuel Klu,
and Julie Hill, who were present recruiting for
and representing companies like Mortenson
Constructions, Google and Capital Controls.
They gave SWE-HT members tips that would
help leave a good impression on recruiters
they planned to talk to. Of course, the elevator
pitch and resume critique session that mem-
bers were provided with by CMC’s own Sara
Dell before leaving for Los Angeles also played
a huge part in the organization’s success at the
convention — about 85 percent of SWE-IIT at-

tendees were able to get interviews with their
dream companies.

It would be sad for anyone to go to a
beautiful city like LA and not explore the city.
So with the help of LA native Nina Townley
and CSULA students Claudia Garcia and Sara
Sallam, SWE-HT was able to organize some
fun sight-seeing experiences for its members.
All in all, the convention was a great experi-
ence. Karlene Gibbs, a SWE-HT attendee, said,
“This is one of the best conventions I’ve ever
attended in my entire college career”.

 

Shrieen Gul
COPY EDITOR

IIT celebrates its diversity and global
opportunities by participating in International
Education Week (IEW) every year. As men-
tioned on IIT’s website, “The worldwide cel—
ebration of IEW offers a unique opportunity to
reach out to people in every nation, to develop
a broader understanding of world cultures and
languages, and to reiterate the conviction that
enduring friendships and partnerships created
through international education and exchange
are important for a secure future for all coun-
tries.”

IIT hosted different events on cam—
pus to promote their diverse environment on
October 20 through October 24. The week
started with Taste of HT, which is one of most
famous events of IEW as this is the time when
students gets to try different countries’ food
for a good, cheap prize. Students don’t have to
struggle from one place to another to try food

from different countries, they get everything
on the MTCC Bridge.

Many student organizations were
part of Taste of HT, such as Caribbean Vi-
sionaries, Indian Student Association, Black
Student Union, Society of Women Engineers,
Vietnamese Student Association, Alternate
Spring Break, African Student Organization,
and many more.

This year we also had a new addition
to the family, the Pakistan Student Association
(PSA), which took part in Taste of IIT. They
had window décor with their home coun-
try flag and the initials of their organization
in white and green (the colors of their flag.)
They served chicken biryani, vegetable biryani,
sharni kababs and gulab jamun. Chicken biry-
ani is the most famous dish of Pakistan and no
one can resist it. They had a huge line in front
of their table before the event started and they
were the first ones who sold out all their food.

“We knew that everyone loves biry-
ani so we ordered that in bulk,” said Irshad

Hussain, marketing chair for PSA, and added
with excitement, “but we had no idea that it
will be sold out quickly” There were many peo—
ple who really wanted to try their food but had
class during that time, and by the time lunch
break arrived their food was already sold out
and many people couldn’t try it.“We are plan-
ning to organize a kick-off party for PSA,” said
Samreen Kalani, treasurer for PSA, “and we
will serve biryani there so all those people who
couldn’t enjoy our food get a chance to try it.”
So, all those people who missed out on the op—
portunity to enjoy some authentic Pakistani
food should watch out for their party and get
some free biryani!

Finally, don’t forget to join them on
Hakaink and like them on Facebook under
the name of ‘IIT Pakistan Student Associa-
tion.’ They will also be on the MTCC Bridge
every Monday during lunch (12:45 pm. to
1:45 p.m.). Stop by to ask any questions or grab
some free goodies.

    

Photo by Adedoyin Adeniji

Pakistan Student Associationjoins aste of HT

Photo by Shrieen Gul

Food truck flash mob hits main campus

Kori Downs
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Food trucks are a staple of the Chi-
cago culinary experience, however, it is rare
to see them south of The Loop; the density
of downtown provides abundant business for
such establishments. On Tuesday, October 21,
however, three well-known food trucks parked
on 33rd Street between SSV and MTCC to sell
their goods to hungry IIT students over lunch
time.

The three food trucks present show—
cased a wide spectrum of food. Haute Sausage,

which operates a physical location at 335 South
Franklin in Chicago, offered several premium
sausage options. A popular choice from Haute
Sausage was their ‘bacon guacamole: a huge
bacon sausage covered with poblano and
grilled corn guacamole and cheddar cheese.

Another food truck, La Cocinita,
also joined IIT’s campus for lunch. La Cocinita
serves food with a variety of Latin American
influences. The truck offered a few options for
build-your-own meals as well as a few specials,
including their Caribbean Bowl, which includ-
ed pork, cabbage, plantains, rice, and black
beans.

The third food truck on the scene
was that of Bridgeport Pasty, which also op-
erates a physical location about a mile west of
IIT at 3142 South Morgan Street. Bridgeport
Pasty, a neighborhood favorite for the many
IIT students who reside in Bridgeport, offers
several varieties of pasty, best described as a
small handheld pot pie.

All of the food trucks on campus
offered affordably-priced meal solutions to
students, but one addition made the situation
even more favorable. All three food trucks
were giving out limited quantities of free gift
cards through Giftie, a relatively new mobile

application that allows merchants to release
limited quantities of gift cards to users. The ap-
plication normally comes with an annual sub-
scription rate, but all three food trucks offered
introductory $5 gift cards for their food, add-
ing up to a total of $15 of free food for students
who acted early.

All three food trucks offered some
delicious offerings for lunch at a price that
couldn’t be beat, and the three mobile restau-
rants surely gained some new fans among the
IIT student body.

 

Photo by Kari Bowns