Updated 07/30/2008 08:01 AM
Pushing women toward math, science
Each summer, the department invites nearly 100 girl scouts from the Triad area to participate in a two-day long workshop.
GREENSBORO -- While men typically outnumber women in the field of math and sciences, women are slowly closing the gap. Now, N.C. A&T is helping to lead that change.
Dr. Cindy Waters from N.C. A&T’s mechanical engineering department is trying to change the average view on engineers through this week’s nanotechnology workshop. “We want to empower [young women],” she said.
“I thought [engineering] was like… boring. I thought it was like… all work, like there wasn't anything fun about it. Then I learned there are a lot of different types of engineering and I thought it was really cool."
•Kaitlyn Fitzgerald, rising eighth grader.
“At first I thought engineering was just building things like bridges and cars. But then I learned it’s more of the function of things and structure and how things work.”
•Myia Franklin, rising ninth grader.
Each summer, the department invites nearly 100 girl scouts from the Triad area to participate in a two-day long workshop.
“The purpose is two-fold,” explained Waters. “One to introduce them to engineering to let them know the world is theirs; that they really can be doing this. The secondly is to introduce them more to the nanotechnology field."
Through experiments and observations, the students on hand learn how nanotechnology applies to things like medical science, fabrics and even cosmetics.
"They're going to be working with some of the cutting edge machines that we have here,” said Waters, who hopes it will spark a desire in young minds to be an engineer.
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“That’s what I want these girls to take away,” she said. “Yes, be beautiful, be smart and the world is open to you.”
Waters is one of only three female mechanical engineers in the department.