MSE student to lead Society of Women Engineers

COLUMBUS, OHIO – Seniors in materials science and engineering already have a busy agenda, with capstone projects and career searches. Kelsey Riffle has added an extra challenge by winning a leadership role in a major student organization in the College of Engineering.

Riffle will seve as president of The Ohio State University Society of Women Engineers (SWE). She’s been part of the group since she was a freshman.

“During that first year, the SWE president really encouraged me to get more involved in helping to plan our annual 5K race and volleyball tournament,” said Riffle, a native of Granville, Ohio. “She showed me how someone reaching out to another student can increase their involvement in the organization.”

The president’s outreach led Riffle to become a regular at SWE meetings and to build a network of close friendships through the group. She took on the role of coordinating the group’s Big/Little program that matches senior students with newcomers to Ohio State.

“After some time doing that and getting to know my fellow SWE members, I realized how deep my love for the group went,” she said. “I wanted to support other women in engineering and show incoming freshmen the great opportunities and support they have at Ohio State.”

In her new role, she hopes to increase the diversity of the group’s membership and to work closely with other minority engineering organizations.

On the student front, Riffle has been focusing on metallurgy after working in the steel industry for a summer.

“I really enjoyed looking at the quality of steel and finding where the defects began in the steelmaking process,” she said. “There will be a lot of change in the industry over the next ten years due to the goals to increase gas mileage in automobiles. I’m hoping to help contribute to making steel more lightweight to reach the new efficiency goals that are being put in place.”

Riffle expects to graduate in May of 2018.