Engineering ‘not only for the dudes’

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By Mariana Capretz
Thursday, October 23, 2008
To help increase the number of women in engineering, universities across Ontario have created an event, just for girls of the age 13-16, called Go ENG Girl (which stands for go engineering girls).
 
 
 
 
 
 
The object of this event is to show how fun and awesome engineering really is. It opens the eyes of the girls and shows them the real engineering world. It motivates girls to consider engineering as a job possibility.
 
This is important because this might increase the numbers of girls in engineering. People think that engineering is for nerds: people who don’t have a life and only study! But it’s not like that at all. Engineering is for everyone. You’ll be surprised that it’s not only the “nerds” that do it.  
 
I had the opportunity to go to the Go ENG Girl, participate, and ask the girls what they thought of it. And all I can say is we all loved it!
 
“My parents wanted me to come. I didn’t want to go at first, but now I’m glad I came!” said Scotlyn Reynard.  
 
I, for one, personally think this is a fantastic way to get girls psyched about engineering. Because it’s so much fun, and that’s what engineering is… fun!
 
In this Go ENG Girl we got to build water filtration systems that clean dirty water, and make “arms” that rotate and throw balls. These two activities were fun to make and had a useful, important side to them, too (not to mention that it also taught us that teamwork is important). The water filtration system can clean dirty water, which helps the environment, and the “arm” can be transplanted to a person who is in need of an arm. That’s also what engineering is… taking an idea and making it come alive.
 
Like I have already said, the girls there totally liked it.
 
“I think it’s a good idea, because it will get more women to engineer, which is a good thing because women are creative. It shows that engineering is not only a ‘dude’s’ job,” says Kayleigh Axford.
 
Some girls even said they might consider engineering for the future, while some were already interested in it.
 
“I was already planning on doing mechanical engineering. I love to design and build things. I love to make them move!” says Angela Searay.
 
The staff there was also really nice. They helped us with the projects, explained why it was important, and answered all of our questions. This Go ENG Girl is really great and I hope that they will continue for the future years! Good job Go ENG Girls! Two big thumbs up!  
 
 

Editor’s note

For this article about Go ENG Girl’s weekend seminar Western News welcomes guest reporter Mariana Capretz, a Grade 8 student at St. Catherine of Siena school in London. Mariana is the daughter of Engineering professors Miriam and Luiz Capretz, both in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

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