UI to hold Women’s Engineering Day
Only 18.4 percent of students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in engineering are women according to a 2011 study by Brian Yoder, the director of assessment, evaluation and institutional research for the American Society for Engineering Education.
“There were hardly any women in my classes,” University of Idaho Alumnus Michael Cron said about his four years of studying mechanical and materials engineering at UI. “When there were, they were few and far between.”
The UI College of Engineering is facing the problem head-on with Women in Engineering Day, a workshop program to introduce women to careers in engineering and computer science. The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24.
The UI College of Engineering, NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium and UI Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) are sponsoring the event. It is open to all female high-school juniors and seniors in Idaho and Washington. From the most west point of Washington, to the most southern part of Idaho, students will come to see what UI’s engineering program is all about. While the event is free, it’s limited to 80 participants.
Amanda Vu, a UI freshman who attended WIE last year and is currently a WIE representative, said the program was incredibly helpful in helping her determine her future career path.
“I was thinking of engineering before, but I didn’t know what it was,” Vu said. “I came to this to find more about it. Now I’m majoring in chemical engineering.”
In addition to gaining important information and experience, participants have the opportunity to earn a scholarship to help fund their undergraduate studies at UI.
Participants will eat at Bob’s Cafeteria Friday night and are invited to stay overnight with an engineering student in either a dorm or a sorority, which gives high school students an opportunity to experience what it’s like to live on campus.
According to Vu, Friday is an entire day of activities for participants, including an activity where students will build a zombie-proof bridge that could help people escape an island and get to the mainland. Participants will then pitch their ideas and can win a wide range of awards. Attendees will also face real world problems, such as erosion, communication problems and other unexpected challenges.
“I got to experience the dorm life, the campus, and the speed networking. I got to gain a lot of insight,” Vu said.
Participating women will also take place in a speed networking session with current UI students, UI faculty and professionals from the community, which will help high school students get an idea of who they would be working with at UI and what careers options are available.
“It’s a great way to see if you’re interested, and it’s a real world application,” said Society of Women Engineers Vice President Alyssa Ertel.
Through the bridge challenge, participants will get to work with other prospective female engineers and gain a better understanding of what kind of project engineers work on.
UI faculty and practicing engineers will also speak to participants. Speakers include Remy Newcombe of Rainier Patents and Sara Eftekharnejad from the College of Engineering. Participants will also tour the engineering labs and research facilities at UI.
Kelsey Stevenson can be reached at [email protected]