By Amanda Foust
With women making up less than 20 percent of the nation’s engineers, Carmel High School senior Vickers Maturi wanted to find a way to encourage girls to pursue a future career in science or math.
With the help of his co-leader, Linnea Schultz, he has helped launch a Women in Technology Workshop for girls in grades six to eight to explore science, technology, engineering and math careers (STEM). This workshop will include hands-on activities led by women in these professions designed to attract attendees who have a passion for the work in these fields.
At the end of the workshop, STEM educators and employers, including U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz and Systems Engineer Praveena Theertham will lead a question and answer panel for the general public who may have questions about the fundamentals of engineering.
Maturi found a passion for encouraging girls to become engineers during a robotics team presentation at Carmel Elementary School. A young girl around 9 years old said she wanted to know if she could be on the team since she was a girl. This was a pivotal moment for Maturi, who serves as the president of the CCS Robotics Team, and he began strategically developing a plan that led to the workshop.
“What we really want to show the girls attending is that there are really high powerful, high-profile women in this field who are very successful,” Maturi said. “Their gender shouldn’t hold them back.”
Schultz is eager for the exposure this workshop will give the young girls who attend.
“We are the first team that I have seen do something like this for lower grades,” Schultz said.
IF YOU GO
What: Women in Technology Workshop
When: 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 26
Where: Carmel High School, 520 E. Main St.
Cost: $20
More info: Registration deadline is Sept. 19. For more information, email [email protected].
