Speaker encourages engineers

Nance Dicciani, seeking to motivate hundreds of female engineers, repeated dozens of sayings and cliches -- including a fortune from a fortune cookie -- in the keynote address at last weekend's Society of Women Engineers Region E Conference. Dicciani, a business unit director at Rohm and Haas Company, spoke at the conference's banquet at the Penn Tower Hotel on Saturday night. The conference was organized by the SWE chapters at the University and Drexel University, and was attended by representatives from 25 northeastern colleges and engineering professionals from 20 companies. Throughout her 30-minute speech, Dicciani impressed upon the 300 engineering students and professionals the importance of dedicated and self-motivated engineers for the future of this country and the world. She said that the next 10 years will see more change and innovation than the previous 100 years. "More than any other profession, engineers will bear the responsibility of those challenges that humans [will face in the future]," Dicciani said. "All I'm asking is that you give your best." "Life is not a spectator sport," she added. "This is not a dress rehearsal. This is it, here and now." She said that "we've gotten caught up in a paper chase and the rules of the game are being dictated by Wall Street." But, she added, the "true heros" of this country are not the financial analysts, but the scientists and engineers who "choose to create the future." Dicciani told the audience that while everyone is born with a natural curiousity to "explore and experience," by their mid-teens, only about five percent of children choose to remain curious. "As engineers you are expected to maintain that eagerness and enthusiasm that you brought with you [to college]," Dicciani said, adding that one of the pitfalls of self-motivation is attitude. "We don't see things the way they are. We see them the way we are," Dicciani quoted from a slip of paper she had found in a cookie. Dicciani said an individual's attitude towards something can be the difference between not trying and "striving for excellence." "We can all have an impact every single day," Dicciani said. "The only limits we have are those of vision." "Let's not be self-limiting," she added. "Let's go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Dicciani summarized her speech in three now-famous words, proving that the audience got the message. "Just do it!" she said, as the audience roared in unison. Conference Director and Engineering senior Ann O'Hara said she was happy with the entire conference. "It went really well," O'Hara said. "We had a lot of attendees that were really pleased with the outcome." "Nance Dicciani was an excellent speaker," O'Hara added. "A lot of people were really motivated by her." Engineering senior Gretchen Albright said Dicciani's speech was "very uplifiting." She said that, often times, a woman will give an inspirational speech and talk about all of the setbacks that she had to overcome. "[But] Nance was always looking forward," Albright said. Engineering senior Dana Carey agreed. "She had a lot of very positive and inspiring things to say," Carey said. "She has accomplished a lot." Carey added that the speech was more meaningful coming from Dicciani because she shows that goals can be reached with hardwork and determination. Dicciani received a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University in 1977 and earned an MBA from the Wharton School in 1986.

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