Local Girl Guide units visited the University of Waterloo and became engineers for a day.
The 1st Palgrave Guide Unit brainstorming the many types of engineers involved in designing an environmentally-friendly vehicle.
Women in Engineering, in partnership with the Ontario Network of Women in Engineering (ONWiE), led 82 girls through hands-on engineering activities as part of Engineering Badge Day.
The girls, 9-11 years old, rotated through stations to learn about diverse engineering concepts and how engineers impact our lives. The activities included work on electrical circuits, chemical reactions, simple machines, and a circle check on UWAFT’s environmentally friendly vehicle. The girls were also treated to a tour of the Emerging Radio Systems Group’s lab facilities where they learned about the research being done to improve cell phone call reception quality.
The girls worked in teams and moved from room to room to complete the requirements to earn their engineering badges. At the end of the day, Mary Wells, Chair of ONWiE, provided each girl their badge.
Today, girl guides discovered firsthand what an engineer is and what engineers do in their careers. They also got a chance to meet inspiring female mentors who are engineering students. We need to inspire more girls to consider engineering as a career choice to help identify and solve tomorrow's engineering challenges.” - Mary Wells, Chair of ONWiE