Edgewood Students Enjoy Girls In Engineering Event
WARSAW — Seventh and eighth grade female students at Edgewood Middle School recently had the opportunity to delve into the world of engineering alongside female professionals in the industry.
The event, organized by Edgewood Middle School STEM instructor Abbi Richcreek, offered 50 students an opportunity to perform hands on experiments and gain exposure to professional women in a STEM related field. During the event, students were paired with a mentor from a local engineering industry including Honeywell Aerospace, Network Partners, Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and Zimmer-Biomet. Groups were given the opportunity to see some of the technology available to students in engineering classes at Edgewood Middle School.
After the demonstrations, students were asked to conduct an experiment alongside their mentor. Groups attempted to create a safety harness for two eggs in a wooden vehicle as well as a bumper system for the vehicles. They then tested their vehicles in a downhill collision to see if their eggs survived the impact.
Following the crash test event, students and mentors spent time discussing their career and education path and learning more about their respective fields. This was followed by a keynote address by Jennifer Molinda, section president for the Society of Women Engineers Northeast Indiana. Molinda shared information with students on what working as an engineer is typically like and encouraged students to pursue their dreams and interests in the field.
“I was fortunate to have a father who is an engineer so I was introduced to engineering at a very early age,” explained Molinda. “It definitely gave me a head start in terms of being prepared to take on an engineering curriculum once I got into high school and college. I think it is so important to have Women in Engineering workshops, like the one we had at Edgewood, to expose young women to engineering as a future career option. I really enjoy being able to come into the classroom and provide that same introduction that I was able to get from having a parent in an engineering profession.”
Following the event, students were asked to share exit information and feedback on the event and were gifted t-shirts with a “forget princess, I want to be an engineer” slogan. Feedback from the participants and guest mentors was positive with many noting their excitement to pursue more events like this in the future.
“Offering hands-on experiences for girls is invaluable,” stated Richcreek. “Young females need to have early exposure to professional women. I was impressed with the feedback I have received from this activity. Most of the feedback indicated that the female students want more opportunities for interaction with engineering professionals and more hands-on challenges with other females. Many of the female students described the activity with the female professionals as ‘inspirational.’ We would not be able to have this activity without the help of our own female professionals in our community. I appreciate their efforts in promoting the engineering profession.”
