Members of the Elizabethtown College Women in Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science (WEMPCS) club hosted an “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” event in March that invited high school students to Etown’s campus to learn about various engineering fields.
Lauren Comly ’23 working with high school students during the “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” event
A total of 27 high school students from Eastern Lebanon County, Palmyra, Lebanon, Elizabethtown, Shippensburg, and Penn Manor school districts spent the day on campus learning about engineering through hands-on activities facilitated by members of WEMPCS.
“It was a fantastic community outreach program that gave the girls the chance to see strong role models and engage in STEM,” Secondary Physics Education major Mary Huebler ’23 said. “The goal was to get them excited about engineering, and it was certainly achieved through the robust activities they participated in.”
To learn about biomedical engineering, students made a robotic hand, which taught them the anatomy of the hand and how tendons create movement. They were also taught about environmental engineering and how pollution affects the water table by making an edible aquifer.
After reaching out to the local school districts, the Engineering Department was able to utilize its connection with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to help boost attendance. This is the first event of this kind that WEMPCS has held on campus, but they are hoping to make it an annual event.
The club recently received approval as an official student section of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). SWE’s mission is to empower women to achieve their full potential in careers as engineers and leaders. Their goal is to expand the image of the engineering and technology professions as a positive force in improving the quality of life and to demonstrate the value of diversity and inclusion.
