Next Generation of Women Engineers Get Day to Play

They build bridges, study the tools that unclog blocked arteries and construct robots with toothbrushes. At “WOW! That’s Engineering,” female students from local high schools have a day to delve deeper into the field of engineering.

The Society of Women Engineers-Santa Clara Valley will host this day-long outreach event to target female high school students interested in the engineering field. It will be Saturday at San Jose State University.

“This event is sometimes a girl’s first or only glimpse at what engineering is about,” said WOW! chairwoman Virginia Tam.

Students and parents will first tour the College of Engineering and meet professors, Tam said. Then,  parents will leave for separate workshops while their daughters engage in hands-on activities in bioengineering, civil engineering and computer science, before they meet with a panel of guest speakers.

This year, students can learn how engineers design tools that unclog blockages in arteries, build or design bridges or play an interactive game about the inner workings of the Internet, Tam said. In past years, students built robots with toothbrushes and cell phone motors, made lip gloss or experimented with circuits.

“They (students) really liked the hands-on activities,” said Kathryn Ng, vice president of community outreach, who chaired “WOW!” two years ago.

Following the project-section, students attend a panel with guest speakers who range from engineering students to managers, Tam said.

“The most exciting part is being able to meet real women engineers who can answer questions and share stories and experiences with the students,” said Tam. “These engineers serve as positive role models.”

Tam said the most likely topics to surface at the workshops are how to choose a major or what gender-specific obstacles women face in the engineering field.

“It would have been nice to see more female engineers,” Ng said about her own high school time.

High school-age girls are more likely to imagine themselves in the medical field or in business instead of engineering, because engineering is still seen as a more male career, she said.

Ng, who works as an electrical engineer at Lockheed Martin, said she did not consider a career in engineering until college.

Events like “WOW!” also help high school-age girls determine which internships and courses will help them get the type of engineering jobs they aim for, said Charisma Canlas, an electrical engineer and volunteer with the group.

“It’s nice to get that kind of feedback, especially in high school,” she said, “because that’s when you make that transition.”

For more information or to register for tickets, visit swescv.com.