Young girls to solve our community’s problems as part of a STEM Design Challenge
Now more than ever, our society is placing its lives in the hands of scientists developing vaccines, cyber security engineers who encrypt video conferencing platforms, network engineers keeping the internet going, and making decisions based on the work of data scientists and analysts who are predicting the spread of this virus. Before the pandemic, they were also shaping the way we live. But now the world has woken up to how truly dependent we are on their expertise and passion to improve our lives.
To those working tirelessly and thanklessly, we see you. In fact, as a unit dedicated to celebrating women in engineering and IT we see you all the time. It is important to have diverse people researching, designing, building and influencing our future world to ensure that communities are safe, inclusive, ethical and sustainable. It is also becoming necessary to consider the role of exponential technologies like Artificial Intelligence in our digital and physical worlds, and to build them without unconscious biases.
Young people bring curiosity and imagination, critical for dealing with problems like social distancing in the COVID-19 pandemic. The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has partnered with Tech Girls Movement to invite girls around Australia to design solutions that will improve people’s lives while social distancing.
On 22 April, girls in Years 5 - 8 will begin the day meeting women in STEM professions via videoconference before beginning the design thinking process to identify people in the community and the challenges they are facing. Throughout the day, girls will check in with volunteer mentors from Tech Girls, industry and the university to ideate and prototype solutions.
Eva and Mia Perry, sisters in Years 5 and 8, will be participating in the challenge on Wednesday. Social distancing hasn’t impacted them greatly, providing more time to practise violin and piano and they are happy keeping up with their friends through Facetime.
“For the challenge, we would like to help the elderly because they don’t have good immune systems… maybe with a medicine or something to keep them happy and let them know what’s happening.”
Eva thinks that it’s important to have more women in STEM because, “everyone should be treated equally, no one should be left out.” Mia commented, “Having women mentor in the challenge is reassuring, knowing that they have made it up there in STEM.
Mia and Eva are participating in the STEM Design Challenge
By engaging them in creating solutions, girls can experience first-hand how STEM knowledge and skills, and analytical and design thinking, can help society through such crises. The aim is to inspire a new generation of female engineers, technologists and scientists helping to address gender inequity.
In the same way that young people understand the importance of doctors and teachers, we want to open their eyes up to how they can contribute to the world, as software engineers, cyber security architects, data analysts and vaccine scientists. Normally, these professions are invisible - the internet is magic, vaccinations are tested in secret labs and there is little credit given to those who provide the statistics and graphs that appear on the nightly news. Perhaps now is a good opportunity to start these conversations with your children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren about how they might shape our future.
About UTS Women in Engineering and IT
Our mission is to create and lead social change so that study and careers in engineering and IT (and by extension all STEM fields) are not limited by gender. Our primary and high school programs aim to increase the interest and confidence of girls and teachers in STEM study and professions. Women studying engineering and IT at UTS are supported with scholarship opportunities, industry mentoring and a community that provides them a social and professional network.
About Tech Girls Movement
Tech Girls Movement envision a society in which girls confidently lead in STEM entrepreneurship and contribute to their community and the economy. We champion Australian school-girls to build their skills and confidence to build their skills and confidence through hands-on STEM programs. Through our programs, girls get excited and connected with technology in a way that is meaningful and life-changing. We want every girl to realise their potential as a ‘Techgirl’ and their ability to lead.