The sound of paper crinkling, popsicle sticks tapping and water fizzing with alka seltzer paired with the chatter of grinning girls emanates thoughout the Coppell High School Commons.
The CHS Society of Women Engineers hosted Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day on Thursday evening to introduce girls kindergarten through 12th grade to the various different disciplines of engineering.
“This whole week is National Engineering Week,” junior president Saanvika Gandhari said. “I thought it was really cool that we had a day specifically dedicated to introducing girls to engineering.”
Consisting of 14 trifolds, each based on a different area of engineering, stations were laid out for girls to browse. At each station, a different activity was planned. At the civil engineering station, a girl could build her own city using miniature roads and colored blocks, while at the chemical engineering station, one could create their own lava lamps with oil and water.
“A lot of people think that men are the people who usually work in engineering, and girls are usually going to stay in business or other things,” junior secretary Shree Vijay Krishna said. “Engineering is a really interesting major, and I feel like if people really look into it and explore it, they will really get interested.”
Lee Engineering representatives Suprapti Gautam and Selena Smith spoke about their jobs as civil engineers, allowing attendees to ask questions about the life of a civil engineer.
“It is important to let girls know that representation matters,” Smith said. “It is important for them to see two women of color, and to know that there are women out there that are in engineering and excelling.”
Throughout the event, the CHS SWE collaborated with the University of Texas at Arlington’s Society of Women Engineers, who had a station with information about their organization.
“We came to reach out with other students from different high schools to give them an idea of what engineering is like as college students,” head of recruitment Valerie Ozigbo said. “Events like these give confidence like ‘I can pursue my dreams’ and ‘I can see all the different people in these different fields.’ It gives encouragement to continue to push and learn further about what you’re interested in.”
The three UTA SWE representatives, Salem Alonge, Josephine Anokye and Valerie Ozigbo, were invited onto the stage following the presentation by Lee Engineering to answer various questions about their experience as women engineers in college. The three gave valuable insight on the challenges and rewarding aspects of working in the engineering industry.
“If you can brush your teeth, you can be an engineer,” UTA SWE President Salem Alonge said.
Statistically, the amount of women in fields like aerospace engineering is less than 10%. CHS Society of Women Engineers aims to change that.
“Some things have to change, especially considering the fact that we are literally in the 21st century and the demographics are so small,” Gandhari said. “That is the purpose of the club, to introduce girls to engineering and to make it feel like a space that they could thrive and be in.”
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