Engineering a Bright Future for Girls

It was bitterly cold on the morning of February 2nd when a group of 17 girls from Henry James Memorial School (HJMS), boarded a school bus to go to Simsbury High School (SHS) for the Engineering Department’s annual Girls in Engineering Day.

After a warm welcome in the amphitheater from Joncia Lytwynec, Director of Instructional Technology K-12 and FIRST Robotics team coach, students were led to the Architecture and Drafting room for an overview by Career and Technical Education (CTE) Supervisor Dr. Wendy Ku of SHS’s Project Lead the Way (PLTW) engineering program. Dr. Ku shared her personal experience of an externship she had with a local engineering firm while teaching engineering at SHS. She was confronted with skepticism from a visiting German engineer about her ability to use a software program—one very similar to the one she was teaching her high school students. Quickly she proved she knew her way around the program, effectively stifling the skeptic. Said Ku, “What you learn in this class is actually what is being used in the industry.”

The 3-D printer was a big hit with the middle-schoolers. Ku let them choose a digital file to print, and they selected a tchotchke of an upside down dog. Through an additive process, the little dog was formed by injecting successive layers of molten plastic until the object was complete.

Across the hall, Lytwynec gave students a tour of SHS’s new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) lab, which was funded by a grant from the Ensign-Bickford Foundation. Several SHS engineering student volunteers were on hand to help with each leg of the tour and served as strong cheerleaders for girls in engineering. Several of them had been involved in the planning and design of the new STEM lab. Installed this past fall, the lab is already well-equipped. Posted around the lab are wooden signs crafted in SHS’s own wood shop, labeled Design & Prototype, Fabrication, and Evaluation & Presentation, which hint at the scope of exploratory learning that happens in the different areas of the lab. It is a wide open space with stackable chairs, wheeled tables, foldable room dividers that double as whiteboards, state-of the art computers, a 3-D printer, and a stencil maker for manufacturing prototypes of students’ ideas. Lytwynec said, “This is what we have so far, but we have lots more planned!”

Lytwynec explained why the STEM lab benefits so many students, whether it’s members of the FIRST Robotics team preparing their robot for competition, Aerospace Engineering students building a rocket, or any other project-based experience. “You go to the library to get things done,” she said, “but the STEM lab is your library for hands-on learning.”

Technical Education Coordinator Kurt Dougan gave students a tour of the wood and manufacturing shop and automotive facility. One of his students demonstrated the process of making a “freedom pen” on a lathe. Each November SHS hosts an annual Freedom Pen-a-Thon to benefit veterans and veterans’ organizations. This year, volunteers manufactured more than 300 custom, hand-crafted pens that were donated to American servicemen and women. Dougan gestured toward a metal can full of the pens and urged the girls to take one and give it to a veteran they know.

Dougan then explained the engineering behind two Electrathon cars, which students build in the Engineering Design Development class and then race each year at Lime Rock Park. So far the team’s best showing has been third place, but, said Dougan, “With more girls as drivers we’d have a better chance. Girls tend to take directions better. Boys pretend they don’t hear you because they just want to pass the other cars!”

It was Engineering teacher Dave Salonia’s turn to dazzle the budding engineers in the computer lab, with a demonstration of the computer-aided drafting (CAD) software, AutoDesk Inventor, which they would become skilled at if they took Introduction to Engineering Design. Salonia noted that although the class is mainly for freshmen, it does attract sophomores and juniors, even some seniors. Exclaimed junior Valerie Lee, “Some people figure out we have this super cool class later than others!”

Salonia and the engineering student volunteers walked students through the steps needed to design a 3-D goblet on the computer. Once they achieved the basic design, the girls enjoyed customizing the color and the materials to make their design unique.

The Girls in Engineering event concluded back at the amphitheater with a presentation by Melanie Marchetti, a female engineer with plenty of real-world experience, including 25 years at GE. Principal Andy O’Brien stopped by to say hello to the HJMS students and encourage them to take SHS engineering classes.

The middle-schoolers walked away from the event with a new appreciation for the work of engineers and the realization that they, especially as females in a traditionally male-dominated environment, have real potential to make a difference in people’s lives.

As Salonia said back in the computer lab, “Look around this room. Everything here has been touched by engineers.”

SHS Engineering student volunteers for the Girls in Engineering event were:

• Grade 9: Lucy Lyttle, Lisa Marchetti
• Grade 10: Mackenzie Schulitz
• Grade 11: Samantha Aiyathurai, Grace Cummings, Rose Kaczmarek, Valerie Lee, Theresa Mylander, Sidney Palinkas
• Grade 12: Olivia McGoldrick