On
Winning IEEE-USA’s ‘Engineers Make a World
of Difference’ Online Video Scholarship
Competition By Samantha
Caldwell
2008-09 Video
Competition Winner: Samantha Caldwell
Winning the IEEE-USA
2008-2009 Video competition was one of the
most rewarding and exciting experiences for
me. It all started with me checking my
e-mail. I received one of those e-mails from
my professional organization, the Society of
Women Engineers. Usually I would send such
an e-mail to spam, but for some reason, I
read about IEEE-USA’s video competition. I
was intrigued thinking that it would be an
incredibly fun competition. The objective
was “to debunk the engineering stereotype,”
according to Pender M. Carter, Senior Public
Relations Counselor, IEEE-USA. Given that I
represent a minority in engineering, I felt
it appropriate that I participate in this
competition.
I began strategizing the
video, focusing on how I could make it stand
out and reach the 11-13 year old targeted
audience. The first idea that came to mind
was humor. Humor helps maintain interest,
and it would also show engineering as fun to
pursue. Given only 90 seconds for the video,
to maintain attention of the audience, I
knew I needed to disclose a lot of
information, while keeping it exciting.
I planned the script and
drew out all the scene changes for my video.
Then came the more tedious part, filming. I
drove around town filming for about two
weeks. Fortunately, my brother had some
experience editing music videos and agreed
to help me put everything into one final
video. We had many struggles with the
software and synching the music. But when we
finally finished, it was worth our efforts.
In mid-February, I opened an
e-mail from IEEE-USA, which read, “Hello,
Samantha Caldwell, and congratulations on
winning first prize.…” I stopped reading,
jumped out of my seat, and ran around my
house screaming for about ten minutes. I was
overwhelmed with shock, joy, and
self-accomplishment. All the hard work,
time, and stress that went into the video --
all of it paid off.
When I calmed down, I
continued reading the e-mail, and discovered
another rewarding aspect. Not only did I win
first place and receive a scholarship award
of $2,000, but I was given an all
expense-paid trip to Salt Lake City to
receive my award at the IEEE-USA annual
meeting. And it doesn’t stop there. The
night of the award ceremony was going to be
on my birthday. This was the day I had
anticipated for years, the day that I would
be turning 21 years old. I was in disbelief
that this was all happening to me.
The day finally came to
receive my award, and did I mention the
first day I would ever ride on an airplane?
It was all too exciting to handle. I was
nervous meeting these engineering
professionals, but everyone was extremely
welcoming and kind. I met so many
interesting and intellectual people at the
meeting. The uneasy part was going to be
giving my speech. I could not stop worrying
about it, but Donna Howard, a professional
who was sitting next to me and whom I came
to admire, calmed my nerves and provided the
reassurance that I needed. I managed to
bring my words together and express my
gratitude for the award and wonderful
experience that was given to me. Thank you
again, IEEE-USA.
I plan on continuing my
education at the University of Texas at
Austin to attain my bachelors and masters in
Mechanical Engineering. My main goal is to
improve the automobile in a more
environmentally friendly way, whether
through biofuels, electricity, or possibly a
new source of energy. I have had this
objective for several years, and I am
determined to reach it.
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