From February 22-28, 2015, engineers around the world celebrated National Engineers Week. The purpose of this week is to raise awareness of the importance of math and science, and to celebrate the advancements engineers have contributed to society.
Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day was one of the daily events held during Engineers Week 2015. Since the engineering field presently employs more men than women, this day was created to encourage girls to consider engineering as a career. The organization believes that there’s a little bit of engineer in every girl. But often they don’t recognize it. Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day is working to #BringItOut.
Here at SolidProfessor, we had our very own Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day event. Tony Glockler brought in his daughter Acacia, age 3, to the SolidProfessor office to get her first introduction to engineering design. During her afternoon here, Tony spent time with his daughter, introducing her to Autodesk 123d, specifically explaining the idea of modeling. Acacia took to the software quickly and was excited to be able to move and manipulate a robot CAD model. The touch screen capabilities of CAD on a tablet make a more intuitive and compelling experience, such that even a 3 year old can get an early start with understanding engineering and design.
DiscoverE has 5 powerful messages they would like us to begin using to talk about engineers and their work.
Curiosity—Engineers ask lots of questions that start with: Why? How? What if?
Creativity—Engineering is a great outlet for the imagination—the perfect field for independent thinkers.
Teamwork—Engineering takes teamwork, and engineers work with all kinds of people inside and outside the field. Whether they’re designers or architects, doctors or entrepreneurs, engineers are surrounded by smart, inspiring people.
Opportunities—An engineering degree offers lots of freedom in finding a person’s dream job. It can be a launching pad for jobs in business, design, medicine, law, and government. To employers or graduate schools, an engineering degree reflects a well-educated individual who has been taught ways of analyzing and solving problems that can lead to success in all kinds of fields.
Helping Others—Imagine what life would be like without pollution controls to preserve the environment, life-saving medical equipment, or low-cost building materials for fighting global poverty. All this takes engineering. In very real and concrete ways, engineers save lives, prevent disease, reduce poverty, and protect our planet.
Like Acacia, many girls got the chance to explore the engineering world, some being exposed to it for the first time. Engineering week was a blast and we look forward to it again next year!
