SEAS Weekly 04-07-25
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Announcement for the week| Events (Engineering)| Events (Penn)| Scholarships & Grants Opportunities| Career & Networking Opportunities| Clubs & Organizations| Engineering Entrepreneurship| View Previous Issue
| Date | Event |
| March 31st | Last Day to withdraw from a course |
| April 30th | Last day of classes |
| May 1st – 4th | Reading Days |
| May 5th – 13th | Final Examinations |
| May 13th | Spring Term ends |
| May 17th | Alumni Day |
| May 19th | Commencement |
Announcements for the week
The Perception of Undergraduate Life and Student Experience (Penn PULSE)
This is a friendly reminder to participate in the Perception of Undergraduate Life and Student Experience (PULSE) Survey!
If you have already completed the survey, thank you! If not, there’s still time—please take a few minutes to share your experiences before the survey closes on Monday, May 5th.
To enter the survey, please visit ira.upenn.edu/takeasurvey/PULSE.
The survey will provide us with valuable information about your Penn experience. Thank you in advance for your time and commitment to improving Penn’s undergraduate experience. If you encounter any problems while taking the survey, please contact surveys@ira.upenn.edu.
Student Design Competition
The Water Environment Federation (WEF) Student Design Competition promotes real-world design experience for students interested in pursuing education and careers in water and wastewater engineering and science. As a program of WEF’s Students and Young Professionals Committee (SYPC), the competition tasks individuals or teams of students to prepare and present a design that helps solve a water quality issue.
May 1st is the deadline to inform the planning committee by email of your team or Member Association’s intent to participate in the 2024 WEFTEC SDC. For more information, check out The Water Environment Federation (WEF) website. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Sonya Gwak sgwak@seas.upenn.edu
Teaching Assistant for the ESAP 2025 program
The Penn Engineering OAS office would like to invite you to apply to work as a Teaching Assistant for the ESAP 2025 program. The expected start date is Monday, June 30th, with the expected last date being Friday, July 25th. TAs are paid $3000, or $25 per hour, over the course of this period. Please review and complete the TA Application by 04/18/25 in order to be considered for a position. For more information about ESAP, please visit its official website. We look forward to potentially working with you.
Penn GEMS Summer Camp
Inspire the Next Generation of Engineers – Become a Mentor!
Are you an energetic and enthusiastic undergrad who loves working with middle schoolers? Join us as a Mentor for our Engineering Camp, where you’ll guide and inspire students eager to explore the world of engineering!
📅 Dates: June 23 – June 27, 2025
⏰ Time: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
💰 Pay: $15/hour + free daily lunch
🎓 Training: Paid pre-camp session provided
👩🏫 Led by: Graduate Engineering Instructors
👥 Your Role: Work with a small group of students all week long
Make an impact, gain valuable experience, and have fun this summer! Apply today!
Events (Engineering)
Events (Penn)
Virtual Housing Fair
Virtual Housing Fair, starting March 27, 24×7. Students can search for off-campus living opportunities. Click here to learn more about off-campus services.
March 27 – July 26, 2025
Click here to register
Hands-On Workshop
Fireside Chat with Dr. Julie Gilmore (VP and Global Head of Eli Lilly Gateway Labs)
Eli Lilly Gateway Labs is a program between Eli Lilly’s resources and early stage biotech companies. Dr. Gilmore will be speaking about her life experience in biotech and drug development, as well as her experience looking at indicators for success among biotech startups.
Monday, April 7th
At 6:00 pm
Zoom link
Penn Violence Prevention (PVP) has a new home!
PVP is now located at 3935 Walnut St, Suite 400. Our drop-in hours are still 10 am-5 pm on weekdays! Come visit PVP’s new space!
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM)!
Join us at our events and collaborations throughout the month to spread awareness about interpersonal violence and honor survivors.
Scholarships & Grants Opportunities
University Research Foundation Award
The University Research Foundation (URF) is an intramural funding program that provides up to $75,000 for research projects and up to $5,000 for conference support. The URF provides seed funding for up to one year for research activities that are expected to lead to external sponsorship and/or peer-reviewed research publications. Conference support grants are faculty-developed events that take place on Penn’s campus.
During Fall 2024, the OVPR reviewed 83 applications (over $4.2 million in requests) from across campus. Four review panels consisting of 33 faculty reviewers assessed proposals in four categories: Humanities, Social Sciences and Management, Natural Sciences and Engineering, and Biomedical Sciences. A total of 56 new projects were recommended for funding, totaling $2,595,003.
The next cycle for the Fall 2025 URF program will open in late August, with a proposal deadline of October 9, 2025.
Career & Networking Opportunities
Internships & Volunteer Work
- Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships (CURF) – supports summer research opportunities for undergraduate students
- Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI) – supports independent research related to contemporary India as well as summer internships in India.
- Civic House Community Engagement Internship – funding to support academic year-long undergraduate internships at selected community partner organizations
- Penn Global Research & Internship (GRIP) Award – provides outstanding undergraduate and graduate students opportunity to intern or conduct research abroad over the summer
- Platt Performing Arts Internship Award – provides one Penn undergraduate with funds to support a summer internship in professional performing arts or related entertainment organization
- Real Arts@Penn Internship Prize – offers internship prize specifically designed to help with costs associated with unpaid & underpaid internships in a creative field
- Summer Research & Internship Funding for Highly Aided Students – Highly Aided students are eligible to receive up to $5,000 in funding for unpaid or underfunded opportunities for two summers
- Startup Internship Award – Venture Lab – to support students interning with startups over the summer
- Penn Wharton Innovation Fund – offers funding for students in support creating a new startup venture
- Weingarten Center Scholarships – scholarships for internships or work experience that relate to academics and career goals for students with disabilities
- Annenberg School for Communication –Communication majors interested doing a public service internship this summer have an opportunity to apply to Annenberg in Public Service (AIPS), which provides financial support for students doing un- or under-paid Comm related public service internships up to $5,000.
- Penn Emergency & Opportunity Fund – Students can seek and receive support for needs including, but not limited to: academic or pre-professional opportunity, such as conference participation or travel to reach an internship/job, graduate school exam prep or application fees and more.
Clubs & Organizations
Annual STWing Robotics Fair
STWing’s Annual Robotics Fair is an exciting, hands-on event that brings together Penn’s engineering community to celebrate robotics, innovation, and technology. The event used to be a tradition at KCECH’s Science and Technology Wing (STWing) before the pandemic, and now we are bringing it back for the Penn community, especially with Faculty that has been involved with STWing in the past. This year, we are honored to host GRASP Lab Director Mark Yim for a special talk, alongside a Sumobot competition where participants can win a cash prize (robots provided!). The fair also features club presentations from student groups working on STEM projects. With a catered lunch and interactive experiences, this event is a fantastic opportunity for students to network, explore cool tech, and engage in friendly competition. We would love to have this event featured in the Penn Engineering Weekly Newsletter to reach passionate engineers across campus.
Saturday, April 12
12 pm–4 pm
Kings Court English College House, Class of 1938 Lounge
Scan the QR code on the flyer to apply
The Wharton Undergraduate Data Analytics Club (WUDAC) Datathon
The Wharton Undergraduate Data Analytics Club is hosting our Spring Datathon this upcoming April 12-16. If you’re passionate about data science, machine learning, AI, or just working with data in any capacity, this datathon is a wonderful opportunity to apply those skills. Whether you’re looking to challenge yourself, build a portfolio project, or explore real-world datasets with peers while competing for cash prizes, this competition is the perfect chance to dive in.
You’ll be provided with a collection of rich datasets and a broad problem statement centered around e-commerce and online consumer behavior, including millions of data points on user browsing sessions, product-level transactions, shopping cart values, and household demographics. You’ll have the flexibility to explore what drives people to click, browse, and buy, as well as how factors like income, region, platform, and product category shape digital shopping behavior. From there, you and your team can identify compelling patterns, build models, generate insights, and tell a powerful data-driven story in your final submission.
Kickoff: Saturday, April 12 from 10AM–2PM (Huntsman Hall)
We’ll introduce the theme, problem statement, event logistics, judges, judging criteria, and available resources, plus run a hands-on workshop covering essential data science & ML tools to help you get started. Lunch will be served!
Competition and Prizes: Begins Saturday, April 12 at 2PM and runs asynchronously through Wednesday, April 16 at 11:59 PM. Submissions will be judged by industry experts from leading firms in tech and finance such as Meta, JPMorgan, and Adobe. The 1st Place team will earn $75 per person, 2nd Place will earn $50 per person, and 3rd Place $25 per person.
Judges will look over submissions April 17 – 19 and winners will be announced on Sunday, April 20! We will have a brief closing ceremony on April 20 from 4-5pm in JMHH.
Why join?
Winning comes with cool cash prizes and resume-boosting visibility. Our judges work in competitive ML and data science teams at top-tier companies — they’ll be evaluating your work through a professional lens, and strong performances may open doors to referrals, interview opportunities, and future roles. But even beyond that, it’s a fun, supportive space to explore real data, test your skills, and create something you’re proud of.
Register here by April 10, 2025: https://forms.gle/4DNrrerBu5TyZQ597
You can work solo or in teams of up to 3. If you don’t have a team, no worries — we can match you with others who sign up solo – just indicate your interest in this on the form. After registering, you’ll be added to our mailing list for updates on room location and logistics.
We look forward to having you join us! In the meantime, stay updated on latest datathon info via Instagram @wudacpenn and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-undergraduate-data-analytics-club.
Engineering Entrepreneurship
Greater Philly Green Startup Pitch Competition 2025
Calling all green startups, climate tech enthusiasts, investors, and service providers! Are you building a climate or sustainability-focused startup? This is your chance to pitch in front of top investors, industry leaders, and key stakeholders in the Philly climate tech ecosystem. Compete for a prize pool bigger than last year, gain invaluable feedback, and connect with the people who can help take your startup to the next level!
Apply today: http://bit.ly/GPGSPC-App
Not a founder? Join us to be part of the action! Whether you’re an investor looking for the next big opportunity, a service provider eager to support growing startups, or simply a climate tech enthusiast, this event is your gateway to the region’s most exciting sustainability innovations.
Tuesday, April 22 (Earth Day)
6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
One Commerce Square, 2005 Market St, Suite 160, Philadelphia
Investing in Penn Founders – Up to $100K
Here is an exciting opportunity for students at Penn who are building AI-driven startups.
1616 Ignite is an 8-week virtual accelerator, powered by 1616 Ventures, designed to help early-stage founders turn their ideas into venture-backed companies. We provide:
$20K in funding (with potential follow-on investment of up to $100k)
Hands-on mentorship from seasoned investors and operators
A structured path to fundraising with a high-caliber founder network
Applications are open on a rolling basis, so early submissions are encouraged.
You can find more details and the application link here: 1616ventures.com/ignite
More information about Engineering Entrepreneurship
- Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, & X/Twitter.
- Tag on these platforms @PennEngEntrep with your own posts.
- Join their subscription-based semi-monthly email to notify you of entrepreneurship-related events, competitions, opportunities and more. If you wish to receive this type of information, please visit https://groups.google.com/a/seas.upenn.edu/g/pennengentrep/ and then click on “ask to join the group” (Image). You have the option to unsubscribe at any time as well and this is completely optional. Emails will be sent on the second and last Wednesday of every month.
