Go Eng Girl brings young girls together to celebrate the field of engineering.
Opening girls up to the world of engineering and shining light on the contributions of female engineers was a prominent theme during the Go Eng Girl event held at the University of Guelph.
Approximately 40 girls from grades 7 to10 gathered in the Thornbrough Atrium on Oct. 19 to discuss, create, and learn about engineering. The event was put on by the Ontario Network of Women in Engineering and focused on the progressive role women are playing in the field.
The event, now in its fifth year, consisted of several hands-on activities, including the design and construction of model boats, a panel discussion for parents, and a keynote address from Anne Bulik. Bulik holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and is the Manager of Project Management at Raytheon, the world’s foremost manufacturer of air-traffic control radars for civil and military applications. Bulik emphasized the growing demand for female engineers in the male-dominated discipline.
Dr. Andrea Bradford, a University of Guelph professor in the School of Engineering, was actively involved in the event and explained that Go Eng Girl was “meant to provide a window on a diverse, exciting, and rewarding profession which can benefit from greater participation of women.”
According to Engineers Canada, in 2010, 17.7 per cent of students enrolled in Canadian undergraduate engineering programs were women. The goal is to reach an undergraduate enrolment rate of 25 per cent of female students by 2016 and 30 per cent by 2020. To accomplish this, “it is crucial to help young women explore the field they may not have previously considered,” explained Bradford. Events like Go Eng Girl are designed to help girls realize that engineering can be female-friendly.
The University of Guelph was named the first Women Friendly Engineering School by the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation in 1999 and continues to place an emphasis on equality, as half of all students enrolled in the School of Engineering are female.
Second-year mechanical engineering student Rebecca Arsenault said: “The ability to organize and remain calm in stressful situations are attributes women are thought to possess and they happen to be crucial to engineers.” She also pointed out that “the more women realize that they are capable of doing something that is typically a man’s job, the more balance there will be in the field.”
Similar events are being held all over the province, with Go Eng Girl representatives working with the University of Waterloo, Western, and Queen’s.
The response to Go Eng Girl was exceptionally positive. Attendees left with the understanding that women everywhere are breaking boundaries and ultimately engineering a better and brighter future for everyone.