GoEngGirl 2016 brings engineering to life

On Saturday, October 15 the Lassonde School of Engineering hosted GoEngGirl, an annual event for girls in grades 7-10 across Ontario and one parent/guardian to visit their local university campus and learn from women professionals, academics and students about the world of engineering.

Parents heard from engineers in various industries about all the possibilities for young engineers in the field.

The panel included an alumna from the Space Engineering program, Rekha Narang, prinicipal engagement manager from Microsoft Consulting Services, and Victoria Falvo, a civil engineer with Union Gas.

Female engineers shared their personal stories about breaking into their field and how their career path took them from graduation to where they are now.

Girls and their parents got to feel what it’s like to be an engineering student at Lassonde through hands-on activities that included building prototypes and combining technical skills with creative thinking.

For the first activity, participants used everyday materials to build an emergency shelter for victims of a hurricane. They had to ensure that the shelter is sturdy and quick to build. For the second activity, the teams designed and tested three types of model towers.

The projects were modelled on real engineering projects, with requirements and constraints.

Both parents and students were inspired by the impact that engineers can have on society, and the real world applications of engineering studies.