Women in Engineering Hosts Girl Scouts for Lessons in STEM

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Sarah Martinez, president of Women in Engineering, speaks to a group of Girl Scouts during their recent visit to campus.

Members of the College of Engineering's IEEE Women in Engineering registered student organization recently invited several dozen Girl Scouts to campus to introduce them to STEM, specifically electrical engineering.

In a hands-on activity, group members showed approximately 50 Girl Scouts how to make wires out of Play-Doh to use as conductors to a 9-volt battery to power a small light. The girls also learned that they could use different colors of Play-Doh to affect the color of the small light bulb.

Sarah Martinez, an electrical engineering student who is president of Women in Engineering, said the group's main objective was to introduce electrical engineering and STEM to girls who might not have had the opportunity before. She got positive feedback from the Girl Scouts leaders and parents.

Martinez did not begin learning about STEM - which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math - until she started attending the U of A. She wishes she had had the opportunity to learn more when she was in grade school.

"I think it's important to get younger girls involved in STEM. Traditionally, men have been the people going into STEM fields, especially ones like electrical engineering, not necessarily women or even girls in general. So, getting them introduced to it now, I think, would help diversify electrical engineering and make it relatable for younger girls," she said.

Martinez said Women in Engineering plans to return to hosting the event annually after it was postponed for a few years because of the pandemic.

"I think it's important for women engineers to reach out to the younger generations of women. This was a good event for that," Martinez said, while thanking sponsor American Electric Power Company, who paid costs for the event. "We were able to include power in the activity and show how electricity is delivered to houses. We really appreciate their contribution and support."

Additional members of Women in Engineering who participated in the event were Maria Quintero, Gabriela Mendoza, Miguel Herrera, Andrew Perez, Keeton Wilbern, Ryan Williams, Yen Pham, Katherine Schauffhauser, Shirley Vega, Lauren Grace, Thalia Hawkins, Basha Moncur and Christian Morton.

Silke Alexandra Spiesshoefer, clinical assistant professor of electrical engineering, is the adviser for Women in Engineering.