Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 7, 2003|Volume 31, Number 21|Two-Week Issue

The participants in "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day" were challenged to build a marshmallow-and-spaghetti tower that could sustain weight. Here, engineering major Kate Johnson '04 of Pierson College, tests the stability of one of their creations.

'Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day'

Mixing girls, marshmallows and ,spaghetti might sound like a recipe for a slumber party, but last week, it was part of the formula comprising Yale's first "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day."

The event brought a group of 7th- to 10th-graders from area public and private schools to campus on Feb. 27 for a day of tours, demonstrations and other activities -- such as building a tower out of marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti -- which were designed to spark their interest in pursuing careers in engineering.

"Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day" is held throughout the country during National Engineering Week as part of an effort to increase the number of women in the field. Currently, less than 10% of U.S. engineers and 20% of engineering students are women.

The idea of sponsoring an event at Yale was originally suggested by Monisha Merchant, a first-year student in the School of Management, who had organized "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day" programs while working at Lucent Technologies.

"Very few people understand what engineers do," says Merchant, who holds a degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "And women in particular often aren't exposed to engineering programs until they're in college, and it's too late for them to take the math and science courses they need. In addition to showing girls some of the exciting things engineers do, this program gave them information about what classes they should take sooner rather than later."

Merchant worked with Jane Boone, coordinator for educational affairs in engineering, and a committee of undergraduate and graduate engineering majors to plan the inaugural Yale program. According to Boone, the task brought a sense of "community" to Yale's female engineering majors, and added extra impetus to the organization of a Yale chapter of the Society of Women Engineers.

Engineering Dean Paul Fleury welcomed the 50 young women who attended the Yale program along with their teachers and parents. They then heard electrical engineer Professor Janet Pan talk about how she became interested in the field and witnessed a demonstration by biomedical engineer Professor James Duncan about his work in computer-guided brain surgery.

Yale engineering majors of both genders took the participants on tours of the University's engineering laboratories, where faculty and graduate students gave talks and demonstrations about their research in fields ranging from robotics to optoelectronics to computer-aided design and more. The day included lunch with Provost Susan Hockfield and female engineering faculty.

Participants also got a chance to test their engineering expertise when they were divided into groups with students from other schools and set to the task of building a tower out of marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti. The exercise was designed to expose the young women to the challenges of teamwork and the excitement of problem-solving, says Merchant.

Participants in Yale's "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day" hailed from New Haven's Conte West Hills Middle School, Cooperative High School, Hill Regional Career Magnet High School, Hillhouse High School, Jackie Robinson Middle School, Roberto Clemente Middle School, Sheridan Communications and Technology Middle School, and Wilbur Cross High School, as well as Sacred Heart Academy in Hamden.

The organizers say they were pleased at the enthusiasm shown by the young women who attended "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day."

"One of the girls who participated immediately signed up for my after-school tutoring program to work with a Yale tutor on her science and math," says Nick Strohl '04. "It's amazing how much difference a one-day event like this can make."

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

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Kagan awarded National Humanities Medal

Scholarship recognizes vital role of diversity in education

'Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day'

Former Yale provost, dean and scholar Georges May dies

Forum explores strategies for 'Teaching the Tough Stuff'

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Mapping of peptide may lead to ways of regulating appetite . . .

Exhibit features work by alumnus Joshua Meyer

Goldman-Rakic talk will benefit Fellowship Place