Source: Dixie Schierlman, 785-826-2643, dixies@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Natalie Blair, 785-826-2642, nblair@k-state.edu

Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010

TWIST CAREER DAY FOR HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS JAN. 8 AT K-STATE AT SALINA

SALINA -- The 17th annual TWIST Career Day will start at 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 8, in the College Center Conference Room at Kansas State University at Salina.

TWIST stands for Teen Women in Science and Technology. The day is an opportunity for teen girls to learn more about careers in traditionally male-dominated fields such as medicine, engineering, law, finance, aviation, wildlife biology, zoology and technology. Students from Bennington, Ellsworth, Herington, Junction City, Lincoln, Marysville, Sacred Heart, Salina Central, Salina South, Tescott and Valley Heights high schools are expected to participate.

Professionals from the Salina community and surrounding area will share their career experiences with the teens, giving them an opportunity to learn more about scientific and technical fields.

The opening speaker will be Jemelle Holopirek, anchor and reporter for KAKE News in Wichita. Her presentation will be 9-9:30 a.m. in the College Center Conference Room. Holopirek has been a journalist for more than 15 years and is co-anchor of "Good Morning Kansas" and KAKE News at 11:30 a.m. weekdays. She earned her bachelor's degree in communication from K-State.

Noel Schulz, Paslay professor of electrical and computer engineering and K-State's first lady, will be the keynote speaker. She will speak from noon to 1 p.m. in the College Center Conference Room. Schulz is a nationally recognized expert in power systems engineering, researching the use of computers to solve problems in power system design, operations and controls. Her research has been funded by a variety of agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the U.S. departments of Defense, Energy and Homeland Security. She also works with electric utilities and power equipment manufacturers. Her interests include power systems, energy conversion, application of computer programs to power engineering, application of intelligent systems to engineering problems, fundamentals of electrical circuits, renewable and distributed generation and smart grid technologies.

Schulz has received a number of awards and belongs to the American Society for Engineering Education and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. She is president-elect of the IEEE Power and Energy Society, a worldwide, nonprofit association of more than 24,000 individuals engaged in the electric power energy industry. She will become president of the society in 2012. Schulz has a bachelor's and a master's in electrical engineering, both from Virginia Tech University, and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.

More information on TWIST Career Day is available by contacting Dixie Schierlman at 785-826-2643.