It is no secret that women comprise only a quarter of the STEM workforce. As I have mentioned in my previous article, the increased participation of women in all areas of STEM will spur economic prosperity and increase overall societal wellbeing and our competitiveness as a nation.
Engaging youth in activities that allow them to actively participate and do things while learning at the same time has been shown to be an excellent approach to education. Such teaching methods are known as active learning. They have been very effective in bringing students closer to STEM because hands-on activities break down abstract formulae and allow students to have fun and engross them in the subject matter. This, in turn, spurs their interest and peaks curiosity about STEM subjects.
VEX Robotics, Inc in conjunction with Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation are two organizations which are leveraging active learning to promote robotics in various afterschool programs in the US and in 45 countries internationally. Students form teams and compete year long for a chance to go to the VEX Robotics World Championship, which is a culmination of their efforts and achievements. The competition is in its 11th year now and it boasts to be the largest robotics competition in the world. It takes place each Spring in Louisville, Kentucky. Although female participation in the program is just at only 23%, I have had a chance to talk to two young women who were in the program throughout their education careers. As a result of their participation in this program, they were inspired to pursue mechanical engineering as their college major.
Desirae Boles and Eleanor Honious both spent their high-school years building robots after school, participating in local competitions and fighting for a chance to compete at the world's largest robotics competition, the VEX Robotics World Championship. Today, they’re studying mechanical engineering at University of California San Diego and Rose-Hulman, respectively. I was able to ask them a few questions about their journey in STEM.
1) Share how the experience in working with the VEX Robotics competitions inspired you to pursue STEM?
DB: From a young age, I have always loved how things work and fit together. This naturally led me to seek out engineering activities. My time in VEX Robotics competitions really shaped how I approach problems and gave me the ability to implement engineering principles into challenges I am faced with. I have also learned through VEX that even though I am a female if I go into a team setting, I can demand the same respect as any other teammate. My ideas and leadership are just as valid as any other individual.
EH: VEX Robotics competitions inspired me to pursue STEM by establishing some of my first formal, hands-on engineering experience. With VEX I learned different designing techniques and approaches, I learned about mechanical mechanisms I learned how to solder and about gear ratios. I even learned how to keep a well-organized engineering notebook that was filled with design drawings, and math and physics equations for their implementations. While I was learning all of these different things, I was having the time of my life and I was fortunate enough to realize at such a young age that this was the kind of work I wanted to pursue.
2) What do you love about mechanical engineering and why did you choose to study it?
DB: Just how different mechanisms and systems work together is so fascinating to me. As a child, I use to take apart old clocks to see all the gears and inner workings because I wanted to know how they worked. Everything works together beautifully. Knowing that something works is not enough for me, I want to know why things work together, the way they do. This is why I am studying mechanical engineering so I can understand how things work together and improve upon mechanisms.
EH: Mechanical engineering is an awesome hands-on experience. I enjoy it because it is an extremely versatile field that allows me to pursue anything. With mechanical engineering, I can pursue robotics, aerospace, automotive or even thermodynamics. Almost every other branch of technology is dependent on mechanical engineering, so I get to do a bit of everything and I love it. What really brought me to the mechanical engineering field though was the fact that what I really enjoyed while on my VEX robotics team was the design and physical manufacturing of our competition robots. Testing mechanisms and designs and establishing that final physical solution is the best feeling to me.
3) What is a most memorable engineering/robotics project that you did and why did it inspire you?
DB: One of the most memorable projects I did was this mind control race car game. I utilized NeuroSky technology and over a Bluetooth module, I was able to turn the brainwave activity into a rolling average of numbers. As two individuals wore the headsets, the headsets would measure the level of concentration from the brainwaves and whichever individual had the higher average, the car would move towards that individual. To make the game even more interesting, the greater the numerical difference between the averages the faster the car would move towards that person. This was memorable to me because I was able to take a far-out concept and make it a reality.
EH: My junior year at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, I accepted a co-op at Walt Disney World with their college program. With this program, I was able to participate in Disney’s Ultimate EnginEARing Exploration After Dark where I was able to go to Disney’s Hollywood Studios after hours and work with engineers on the property. I was able to go on an old ride, The Great Movie Ride, and look at the different animatronics and how they are implemented throughout that ride and other rides throughout the property. It was an awesome experience that reminded how much I love robotics and that I really want to eventually pursue a career in animatronics. These robots were able to make different characters and people come to life and I want to be a part of that experience.
4) Whom do you want to be in the future?
DB: I want to be an individual who is able to encourage others to pursue their dreams. As cliché as that sounds I really mean it. As women who have been told that they can’t do STEM simply because they are female, I want others to know they can do whatever they set their minds to. Whether that be a scientist or a writer, no one can tell you can’t do it.
EH: In the future, I want to be an influential woman in the mechanical, robotics engineering field. There is so much to still be learned and to improve upon within this field and I want to be a part of that growth. There is so much room in the world for these amazing advancements: in homes, schools, hospitals, entertainment, emergency response teams; lives will change and I want to be a part of that change.