Go ENG Girl welcomes grade 7-9 girls at annual event encouraging girls to become engineers
Go ENG Girl is a nationwide event held at Canadian universities from coast-to-coast. This year, approximately 60 girls in grades 7-9 from Manitoba gathered at the University of Manitoba, Fort Garry campus, to participate in a design-build-test challenge. The girls teamed up with 25 current female undergraduate students at the Faculty of Engineering who volunteered to help with the event. Using only balloons, the girls designed and built structures rated on their height as well as their ability to stay upright while facing winds coming from all directions. With help from the undergrad students, the girls worked in teams to design, execute, and put their structures to the test when facing simulated, real-world weather conditions. As well, during the event, undergrad volunteers explained the different department options there are in the engineering faculty, and what courses they would need to take in high school to join the faculty.
While the girls worked in the atrium, Dr. Marcia Friesen (P.Eng) hosted a parent information session along with 5th year bio-systems (co-op) student, Rhianna-Lynn Holter-Ferguson; Dawn Nedohin-Macek (P.Eng) from Manitoba Hydro; Carolyn Geddert (P.Eng) for the Faculty of Engineering; and Lesley McFarlane (P.Eng) from the Government of Manitoba. Parents learned about why engineers are vital to our society and the steps their daughters would need to take to join the faculty.
Go ENG Girl is an event hosted by WISE Kid-Netic Energy, which is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) out-reach not-for-profit. This year WISE- Kid-Netic will engage over 35,000 youth in the province of Manitoba through workshops, clubs, camps, and events. Their next event for girls in grades 7-9 is Go Code Girl on February 9, 2019, at Maples Collegiate. For more information, or to register, please visit: www.wisekidneticenergy.ca/go-code-girl
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