12 Delran sophomores participated in the annual Women in Engineering event hosted by Lockheed Martin's Rotary and Mission Systems in Moorestown, NJ. This year's event was virtual, allowing students to connect and collaborate with local leaders in engineering.
Mechanical, Electrical, and Software Engineering
Here is how Lockheed Martin described the three hands-on activities that featured in this year's Women in Engineering Program:
3D Printing Design Challenge: Mechanical Engineering - What happens behind the scenes before a product can be fabricated? During the 3DPrinting activity, students will work with the Lockheed Martin team to construct a virtual part using 3D design software. The Lockheed Martin team members will discuss how this part could be fabricated from the 3Dmodel and how to best design for additive manufacturing.
Morse Code: Electrical Engineering - Following the discovery of electromagnetism in the 19thcentury, engineers invented numerous devices and techniques to transmit electrical signals that could be interpreted by machines. Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail developed an electrical telegraph system that communicated messages using audible electrical pulses and silences that could be interpreted into the alphabet and special characters and therefore send messages. In this activity, students will use Google’s Scratch drag-and-drop programming to create messages using Morse Code.
Debunking the Birthday Paradox: Software Engineering - With 365 days in a year, and 366 in a leap year, you would think it is highly unlikely to share a birthdate with someone else in a large group of people, right? It may be more likely than you think! During this activity, students will utilize an integrated development environment (IDE) and the Python computing language to calculate the probability of sharing a birthday with another person in a large group of people while learning to translate math equations into commands the computer can understand and execute.
Speaking of her experience participating in this year's program, DHS sophomore Stephany Almeida-Soares said, "I enjoyed creating the 3D design and using my creativity for that activity."
Taylor Rookstool shared, "Over the past three days I definitely enjoyed the tinkercad activity (pictured above) the most because I liked the freedom we had to make any design we wanted."
Amanda Moore, pictured above participating on the virtual meeting, reflected, "This was a really cool and fun experience and I absolutely loved it!! I had a lot of fun with the 3D printing portion but everything was extremely fun and interactive!"
Alexis Wachter, pictured above, shared her thoughts. “After having the grand opportunity to participate in the Lockheed Martin Women in Engineering event, I found it so inspiring to hear about the different impacts that women have and continue to make in the field of engineering. I specifically enjoyed learning about the Morse code technicalities, uses, and backgrounds, to then be assisted in applying this knowledge into a coding system.”
Inspiring Role Models
In addition to the interactive activities described above, participants also had the chance to hear firsthand from women in the engineering field. A panel discussion featured a research scientist, an LM Fellow, a senior engineering manager, and a principal engineer. The final day of the program included a keynote address from Jordan Mahoney, a hardware engineering manager and the Moorestown Women's Impact Network site lead.
Danielle Mackell said, "I really enjoyed getting to experience and try out different activities in the engineering field, especially getting a chance to design a 3D model. I also really appreciated the speakers who came to talk to all of us participating. They gave such great insight and advice to everyone who may want to pursue a career like them someday. Overall, this was a great opportunity for me and everyone else who participated because we got to further our understanding of engineering as a whole!" Danielle shared the photos below.
Samantha Dix shared her thoughts, "I had an amazing experience this week. My favorite activity was when we used tinkercad to make a 3D model. My favorite presentation was our keynote speaker Jordan Mahoney who really opened my eyes to not only what it takes to be an engineer, but also that you don’t know what life has in store for you. You should take as many opportunity as you can because you never know where they may lead you in life. Finally, she told us to not he afraid to go off the path that you originally intended to go down." Below is a video of Samantha's Morse code SOS signal.
Overall the Lockheed Martin Women in Engineering event was a wonderful opportunity for our sophomores at Delran High School. The interactive activities engaged them, and the female role models and speakers inspired them to consider a potential career as an engineer.
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