|
Area High School Women Explore High-Tech Careers at “Design Your Future Day”
More than 300 11th grade girls from the Capital Region and
across New England participated in the 11th annual “Design Your
Future Day” (DYFD) on Saturday, April 21. The event, hosted by
Rensselaer and sponsored by General Motors, is designed to
engage students in activities to inform and excite them about
career opportunities in engineering, science, architecture, and
technology.
“Currently young women are the demographic majority in our
country, but they comprise only a small percentage of our
nation’s scientists and engineers. Rensselaer is working to
change that,” said Barbara Ruel, director of Rensselaer’s
Diversity and Women in Engineering programs and coordinator of
the day’s events. “DYFD gives young women the opportunity to
explore intellectually stimulating and exciting careers in
math, science, technology, and engineering and to meet young
women like them who have already chosen to pursue such
careers.”
Some participating local high schools included Albany,
Amsterdam, East Greenbush, Colonie, Saratoga Springs, and
Bethlehem. Students from upstate New York, New York City, Long
Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine also
attended the event.
The program kicked off with a welcome address by Pamela Daum
’00, lead systems engineer for Lockheed Martin’s Maritime
Systems and Sensors division. Daum shared her personal stories
and aspirations, including lessons learned as a college
student, engineer, and leader. The program also featured a
panel discussion with Rensselaer alumni and undergraduate and
graduate students.
The program included 14 workshops — led by Rensselaer
faculty, staff, and graduate students on a range of topics,
including the development and function of fuel cells, use of
digital imaging and/or traditional tools to create video games,
the design and manufacturing of medical devices, and the use of
forensic chemistry to solve crimes.
Some workshops that were offered included:
-
Going Nano, a workshop where students
explored the exciting field of nanomaterials and saw how and
why size matters. The program was led by Linda Schadler,
professor of materials science and engineering
-
Whodunit, a session where students
learned how forensic chemistry is used to help solve crimes
by gathering and analyzing evidence from a simulated crime
scene. The program was led by Sara McIntosh, instructional
support specialist in the department of chemistry and
chemical biology
-
Ergogenic Games, a workshop where
students used digital imaging and/or traditional tools to
design a dynamic and physically active game for the future.
The program was led by Kathleen Ruiz, associate professor in
the arts department.
For more information and to view the 2007 Design Your Future
Day program, go to: http://www.eng.rpi.edu/dyfd/.
View the 2007 DYFD photo gallery.
Design Your Future Day is part of Rensselaer’s larger effort
to engage young people in science and engineering studies and
professions. Other “pipeline” programs include: Black Family
Technology Awareness Day, to interest area young people and
their families in pursuing occupations in the fields of science
and engineering; and Exploring Engineering Day, to spark the
interest of Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts in science, technology,
and engineering.
Published
April 23,
2007
|
