Emily Swarr '10

Unlike most of her peers, Emily Swarr ’10 entered Cornell already familiar with the field of chemical engineering. Both her grandfather, John Present, and her brother, Michael, pursued chemical engineering as a career, her grandfather having graduated from Cornell with a B.S. in chemical engineering in 1940 and a Masters in 1941. ChemE 1120: Introduction to Chemical Engineering convinced Emily that she too would become a chemical engineer.

As students typically learn over their undergraduate careers, Cornell provides a wealth of opportunities but it is up to the individual to make the most of those opportunities. When Emily started her term as co-president of Cornell’s Society for Women Engineers (SWE), the program was already one of the strongest in the nation. Through recruitment and retention events, Emily and her co-leaders increased the number of paid student members by 25%. Along with their own networking and professional building events, SWE also has an extensive outreach program that targets elementary, middle and high school girls in hopes of increasing their enthusiasm for science and math. With such a busy and successful schedule, the Cornell SWE section was one of only four that received Gold Level Section recognition.

“I have been personally fulfilled by creating programs and networking events that help my peers find internships and full-time positions,” Emily said. “As we fill out our annual report to send to SWE Nationals, I expect that Cornell SWE will once again be recognized as a top student section based on our accomplishments from the past year.”

Emily spent two summers as an intern at Procter and Gamble where she was able to gain hands-on experience in the chemical engineering field. She worked on influential projects that dealt with glue systems and testing apparatuses designed in P&G’s Germany plant. After graduating from Cornell in May, Emily accepted a position in processing engineering working on baby care products for Procter and Gamble at their Mehoopany, PA branch.