June – August 2015: Girls Place, Inc.
Our lab is dedicated to increasing interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields among children. Under the leadership of postdoc Becky Wachs and with the help of masters student Brittany Russ and undergraduate student Ella Hoogenboezem, our lab has implemented a series of events for young women in middle school at the Girls Place, Inc. Girls Place, Inc. is a local organization seeking to “empower girls to grow courageous, strong and self-sufficient”. During the summer we began building a series of combination labs and lectures to allow the girls to learn design and engineering in a fun, hands-on environment. Our curriculum started with teaching the scientific method and progressed to designing solutions to scientific problems including: a fracture fixation device for broken bones, a device to unclog mock blood vessels, and mock polymers for tissue regeneration after spinal cord injury. The girls contend to make the best design and present their findings to the entire group. Additionally, each lesson is accompanied by a focus on a prominent woman in science from the field relating to the activity. By giving these young women the ability to explore science and experimentation in an exciting way in addition to exposing them influential women in STEM fields, we hope to inspire more female students to consider careers in science and engineering. The success of this summer program has led to continuation of the program during the afterschool hours. We look forward to continuing to build interactive labs and lectures to make science and engineering accessible and enticing for everyone.
