Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day
Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day is an annual event established to encourage girls to explore the possibility of pursuing a career in this male-dominated field. Caltech SWE participates in this occasion by inviting girls in middle school to spend the day at Caltech, where they learn first-hand that science is not just for the boys!
Activities generally include lab tours, faculty speakers, a role-model luncheon with female engineering students, hands-on mini-projects, and an introduction to college life.
Caltech SWE always holds IGED during National Engineers Week. For more general information about Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, check out http://www.eweek.org/site/News/Eweek/girlsday.shtml
|
Time |
Activity |
|
10:15-10:30 |
Arrival |
|
10:45-11:00 |
Greeting and Introduction to Engineering -- Prof. Melany Hunt |
|
11:00-12:00 |
Lab tours:
|
|
12:00-12:30 |
Role model Luncheon with SWE members |
|
12:30-1:00 |
Team Caltech's Autonomous vehicle: Alice tour and demo, with videos |
|
1:00-2:00 |
Split into two groups for hands-on engineering projects
|
|
2:00-3:00 |
Finish up stations / Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream |
|
3:00 |
Closing Statement |
Volunteers bringing the girls up to the Winnett Center on campus.
Professor Melany Hunt giving a introductory talk about engineering.
A tour of a chemistry lab, where the girls saw interesting chemical reactions and a demo of the inert gas hood.
Two grad students demonstrate principles of fluid flow in a mechanical engineering lab.
A tour of a biology lab.
The girls play with slime, which they created using a simple mixture of water, glue, and borax.
The girls enjoy LN2 ice cream: a delicious treat made from milk, cream, sugar, and liquid nitrogen.
The girls learn the principles of flight by modifying wooden gliders.
Over 110 students from various area middle schools attended this year's IGED! They met professors, went on lab tours, and participated in several hands-on activities throughout the day.
|
Time |
Activity |
|
10:15-10:30 |
Arrival |
|
10:45-11:00 |
Greeting and Introduction to Engineering (Prof. Melany Hunt) |
|
|
split into groups |
|
11:00-12:00 |
Lab tours: |
|
12:00-12:30 |
Role model Luncheon with SWE members |
|
12:30-1:00 |
Team Caltech's Autonomous vehicle: Alice tour and demo |
|
1:00-3:00 |
Hands-on Engineering Demonstrations:
|
The girls learn basic principles of flight as they build model airplanes. Later in the day, teams competed against each other to see whose plane could fly the farthest.
Caltech undergraduates demonstrated the creation of "liquid nitrogen ice cream"--a sweet treat created using milk, half-and-half, sugar, vanilla, and LN2. They also showed what happened to various items, such as marshmallows, fruit, balloons, and water, as they contacted the liquid nitrogen.
IGED attendees learned about physics and the Bernoulli principle with the "vacuum ball" demo. The ball does not stay afloat because the vacuum air is "pushing it", but rather because the fast-moving air creates an air of low pressure, so that the outside air "pushes" the ball in! That's why the vacuum can elevate the ball, even at an angle.
IGED girls got hands-on experience with electrical engineering as they built their own "Electronic Matching Game".
Pictures and a summary coming soon!
This IGED was held with Tau Beta Phi on Thursday, February 24th 2005.
|
Time |
Activity |
Location |
|
10:30 am |
Arrival |
San Pasqual/Holliston |
|
10:45 am |
Greeting and Introduction to Engineering (with Professor Melany Hunt) |
Winnett Lounge |
|
11:00 am |
Campus Tour and Lab |
|
|
12:00 pm |
Role-model Luncheon with SWE members |
Winnett Lawn (or Lounge, if rain) |
|
1:00 pm |
Engineering Design Project |
Winnett Lounge |
|
2:00 pm |
Interactive Engineering Demos |
Winnett Lounge |