Summer Technology And Engineering Preview At Stout For Girls (Steps For Girls): Introducing The World Of Manufacturing
- Conference
- Location
-
Seattle, Washington
- Publication Date
-
June 28, 1998
- Start Date
-
June 28, 1998
- End Date
-
July 1, 1998
- ISSN
-
2153-5965
- Page Count
-
17
- Page Numbers
-
3.523.1 - 3.523.17
- DOI
-
10.18260/1-2--7444
- Permanent URL
-
https://peer.asee.org/7444
- Download Count
-
413
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Session 1692
Summer Technology and Engineering Preview at Stout for Girls (STEPS for Girls): Introducing the World of Manufacturing
Peter D. Heimdahl University of Wisconsin-Stout
Abstract: The University of Wisconsin-Stout hosted a tuition-free summer engineering and technology camp for 163 girls entering 7th grade in four one-week sessions in July 1997. The purpose of the camp was to expose women to the opportunities for technical careers early enough to influence their choices of math, science, and technical courses in middle and high school. The camp was partially supported by grants from four industries and organizations, including the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Honeywell, the Ford Motor Company Fund, and the Stout Foundation.
Hands-on technical activities focused on manufacturing and included the following: manufacture of radio-controlled model airplanes in a production system followed by powered flight by each girl of her own airplane, plastic processing in which each girl thermoformed her own sailboat, CADD, foundry, automation, robotics, packaging, and orientations on math, physics, and chemistry. Each camp published and printed a newsletter containing articles written and photographs taken by the campers.
The 40 campers in each week were organized into four 10-girl teams, each led by a woman University student counselor. Three of the counselors were manufacturing engineering undergraduate majors. The campers stayed in a dormitory for the week and ate most meals in the Student center cafeteria.
The camp received excellent regional press coverage by three TV stations, two local newspapers, AP distribution, and seven packaging journals. Initial feedback indicated an impressively positive change in attitude toward engineering and technical careers. The University plans to track the progress of the girls through college enrollment.
Heimdahl, P. D. (1998, June), Summer Technology And Engineering Preview At Stout For Girls (Steps For Girls): Introducing The World Of Manufacturing Paper presented at 1998 Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/1-2--7444
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 1998 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015