The Geneva College Society of Women Engineers (SWE) held the Introduce a Girl to Engineering event on Saturday, February 25. The event gives girls in middle and high school an opportunity to engage with the field of engineering. 17 volunteers were able to help with the event, and 26 girls attended the event.
Delaney Winterhalter ‘25 is the outreach coordinator for Geneva Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and she said her goals for the event were “to see middle and high school girls be comfortable in an atmosphere where they are learning about science, and to create an atmosphere of happiness, enjoyment, and learning.” This event accomplished both of these goals. The girls that attended were able to choose a hands-on engineering activity and learn more about the field of engineering. The room was filled with enthusiasm for their activities and lots of talking and collaborating among the students.
President of Geneva’s SWE, Caitlyn Cipher ’25, says she “was not expecting the girls to be as open and communicative with each other, but seeing the way they encouraged the people around them was very encouraging.” One of the main goals of SWE is to create a space for support and encouragement amongst peers in STEM fields. Seeing this goal in action at the event was encouraging for the future of women in STEM field as the next generation of women engineers learned and interacted with one another.
The schedule for the day included a welcome and prayer from 8:30-9 a.m., activities from 9-11 a.m. where the girls were split into groups based on the activity they were interested in, and the day concluded with a closing ceremony and exit surveys. The girls that attended left with a certificate of completion, thank you notes, and complimentary Geneva swag bags.
The Geneva SWE student leaders took on a lot responsibility for this event, but their faculty advisor Karen Mlynarski was very impressed with their enthusiasm and hard work throughout the entire planning and execution process. She said she hopes they can take the success they had with this event and build on it for next year. Both the volunteers and the attendees left this event with enthusiasm for the field of engineering, and excitement for this event next year.
Geneva College’s Engineering Program is passionate about helping students to use their God-given abilities to make an impact in the field of Engineering. Geneva’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers is just one aspect of the department that provides support and professional development for students. Through this event, Geneva SWE has not only encouraged their own students, but has begun to raise up the next generation of passionate engineers.
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