Middle school girls from across the western Upper Peninsula will get a taste of the excitement of science and engineering during Michigan Tech’s annual Get WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) workshop on Tuesday (Feb. 21, 2017). This year’s event will be held in the Wood Gym in Tech’s Student Development Complex.
The students will participate in hands-on activities, solve problems and meet with college-age role models. This year’s projects include a wood anatomy activity, designing and creating a pinball machine and participating in an epidemic simulation.
These girls are incredibly smart, and we want to give them the opportunity to explore their options. —Lauren Kirwin
Get WISE is hosted by the CPCO office in partnership with the College of Engineering, the College of Sciences and Arts, and the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Sciences, Mathematics and Environmental Education.
Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Jenn Donovan.
Middle School girls ‘Get WISE’
Middle school girls were shown how they can pursue an education in the STEM fields on the campus of Michigan Tech. 260 7th and 8th graders from 14 schools came out for Get WISE-Women in Science and Engineering.
The students learned about pathogens, wood anatomy and mechanical engineering. The activities, like building a pinball machine from common materials, show these girls how rewarding science and engineering can be.
Read more and watch the video at ABC10, by Rick Allen.
Michigan Tech encourages women in engineering
Liz Fujita, event coordinator, said, “We think it’s really important that the girls get exposed to working in teams, solving problems together, and learning that you can do science and engineering.”
Read more and watch the video at UPMatters.com, by Kylie Khan.
Middle-school girls get WISE at Tech
The 260 girls from 14 schools started by making a model of a wood cell and looking at types of wood. They also made pinball machines with materials such as Dixie cups and popsicle sticks. After lunch they simulated an epidemic, learning about pathogens and laboratory science.
“Coming in as an engineer, math and science is just something that I knew that I loved,” said Madison Olmstead, a fourth-year civil engineering major.