My Story
I was first exposed to engineering in elementary school through the Starbase program. Our project was to figure out how to have an egg travel a zip line to "Mars" without breaking. When I was in middle school, I went to Astro Camp one summer where we did a lot of experiments and simulations. One memorable experience was assembling a satellite in a pool while snorkeling. During middle school, I also went to a NASA camp at Wallops's Island. We got to tour a lot of the areas on the base that are normally off limits to visitors, such as, where the rockets were built and tested and the launch pad. We were even able to observe the Cygnus capsule being assembled. I am currently enrolled in the Mountain Vista Governor's School and will have taken chemistry, physics, and calculus when my program will roll out. Most of my friends say that one of my biggest strengths is my ability to get others excited about my interests. I am hoping to have this effect on the girls that attend my program.
My Project
My project plan is to have 6 to 8 hour and a half long "meet an engineer" events for middle school children held at the regional library. The first half hour would be hosted by an engineer from a specific field during which she would explain the field and what she does. The last hour would be focused on completing a hands on project related to the engineers field. The hands on portion of the program would be run by myself and some of my classmates from school. I plan to invite female engineers as the examples and as many different girls from the science and math classes as I can. I feel that being able to see girls excited about the projects and women that have succeeded in entering the field is the best way to encourage younger girls to explore their interests and not give up.
The ultimate goal is to have these gatherings evolve into an annual series hosted by a full-time EngineerGirl club.