The Central Texas IEEE WIE sponsored a Lego Mindstorms activity booth at the annual UT Austin Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. WIE demonstrated bumper cars, a line follower, a Ferris wheel, and the ever popular ping pong ball launcher -- all made from Legos. Hundreds of girls had the chance to interact with the robots and learn more about engineering from women in the field. WIE also provided fun give-aways from IEEE including mints, highlighters, and cube puzzles. The puzzles were a big hit! As soon as the booths opened, WIE volunteers had tables of girls trying to assemble the puzzles into the final cube form while they waited for their chance to see who could launch the ping pong ball highest or farthest. Posters and handouts highlighting WIE activities were also available at the event.

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (Girl Day) is celebrated internationally during Engineers Week each year. Students and their parents or educators are invited to UT for an afternoon of engineering fun. UT’s national award winning Girl Day, presented by the Women in Engineering Program (WEP), gives over 850 first through 8th grade students a chance to:

• have fun doing grade-specific, hands-on engineering activities in Activity Rooms
• interact with over 200 students, professors and engineers from industry
• explore Discovery Booths hosted by student organizations, corporate partners and community organizations

Participating Girl Scouts can purchase a Girl Day patch available through partnership with the Lone Star Girl Scout Council. Current engineering students receive leadership and presentation skills development opportunities through their participation in this event.

Girl Day goals are to:

1. Increase pre-college participants’ interest in engineering, math and science
2. Establish a line of communication with pre-college participants
3. Increase current student volunteers’ confidence in their ability to succeed in engineering, improve current students’ understanding of engineering and help current students feel more a part of engineering community
4. Provide leadership opportunities for current student volunteers

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day Summary

The volunteers helped make the day great for an estimated 800+ 1st though 8th grade students. And it sure seemed like the volunteers had a great time too! Among the comments organizers heard from girls as they headed out on Saturday:

• "This was COOL! THANKS!"
• "We had so much fun. We don't want to leave."
• "The volunteers were AWESOME. They explained things so well and answered questions. My kids learned so much today. THANKS!"

With over 800 participants plus their siblings, parents, troop leaders AND almost 400 volunteers, it was quite a day.

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day 2008 is set for Saturday, February 23, 2008.