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Women in Engineering Day Event Strives to Better Illustrate the Impacts of Engineering for Young Women
Nov. 5, 2008
Photos are available at www.today.uidaho.edu/PhotoList.aspx
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: Approximately 30 high school juniors and seniors will work on an engineering design competition in the Idaho Commons Summit Room from 12:45-2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7.
Written by Leah Andrews
MOSCOW, Idaho – Women in Engineering Day at the University of Idaho empowers young women to enter the male-dominated field of engineering and computer science.
"Before last year, I never even thought about becoming an engineer or attending the University of Idaho, but that one day changed everything," said Samantha Gilson, a junior at East Valley High School in Spokane Valley, Wash. Now she wants to be a mechanical engineer and will attend the annual day-long event again this Friday.
Most high school students know that engineering involves math and science, but high school seniors and juniors who attend Women in Engineering day will learn that a career in engineering means the ability to solve global problems and change the world.
"Most young women don’t realize the impact they can have as engineers, or how rewarding the problem solving, and research discoveries can be," said Jean Teasdale, assistant dean for recruitment in the College of Engineering.
This year's Women in Engineering Day will take place Friday, Nov. 7, from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Since 1994, the College of Engineering has hosted the day-long program, where women from around the region visit the University of Idaho’s Moscow campus, tour labs, ask current engineers and computer scientists about their careers and experiences, and participate in a hands-on design competition.
According to data collected in the last U.S. census, only 10.6 percent of all engineers working in America were women, and 20 percent of all U.S. engineering students were women.
"We need to better tell the story of engineering to our young women," Teasdale said. "We need to let them know engineering enables us to save and improve lives. Students at Idaho have worked to provide greater mobility for people with disabilities, to create products to prevent sudden infant death, and have implemented water filtration systems for the Masai tribe in Africa."
During the last month, the College of Engineering has collected profiles and advice from Idaho’s female engineering alumnae that will be used at the event and compiled on the program’s Web site at www.engr.uidaho.edu/wie. The advice is that of encouragement from women who have already begun to forge the path to those who will follow.
"Be proud of the fact you'll be one of the ‘few,’" noted Keiko Holton, who received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the university in 1996 and now is the assistant program manager for HALO/HIAPER Gulfstream Aerospace. "Even today, people are impressed when a woman says 'I'm an engineer.' Engineering is fairly gender-neutral, so sky's the limit."
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About the University of Idaho
Founded in 1889, the University of Idaho is the state’s flagship higher-education institution and its principal graduate education and research university, bringing insight and innovation to the state, the nation and the world. University researchers attract nearly $100 million in research grants and contracts each year; the University of Idaho is the only institution in the state to earn the prestigious Carnegie Foundation ranking for high research activity. The university’s student population includes first-generation college students and ethnically diverse scholars. Offering more than 150 degree options in 10 colleges, the university combines the strengths of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities. For information, visit www.uidaho.edu.
Contact: Leah Andrews, College of Engineering, (208) 885-7978, leah@uidaho.edu
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