On Saturday March 31st, the very last day of National Engineering Month, University of Waterloo Engineering was taken over by 112 Girl Guides and their leaders! The girls came from Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, New Dundee, Ayr, Baden and Stratford to participate in our Engineering Badge Day for Girl Guides.
The entire day was focused on introducing girls to the world of engineering. Coming into the event many of the girls did not even know what an engineer was, let alone that they could become an engineer themselves. Spending the day with UW Engineers allowed them to learn firsthand what engineers do to make the world a better place.
The groups of Girl Guides were led around campus by enthusiastic female engineering students, and spent the day doing hands-on engineering activities, touring labs, and interacting with female engineers. Some of the highlights included designing and making their own buttons while learning about simple machines, seeing a 3D printer in action when learning about tools engineers use, and learning about chemical reactions by making ice cream with liquid nitrogen!
By the end of the day the girls had fulfilled all of the requirements for the Engineering Badge, which were presented by the Dean of Engineering, Adel Sedra.
This event was made possible with the support of The Ontario Network of Women in Engineering.