ASME Diversity Action Grant Report

Transcription

1 Date: May 28, 2014 Student Section: Georgia Tech ASME Student Chapter Student Section Chair/Contact: Ava Bilimoria Address: 113 Carriage Lakes Court, Macon, Georgia Telephone: ASME Student Section Advisor: Dr. Al Ferri Address: 801 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, Georgia Telephone: ASME DAG Funding: $ Women in Engineering: $ Total Project Budget: $ Summary of DAG Project $ Reception catering for Women s Networking $ HS Competition Lunch $ HS Competition materials $ DAG souvenirs- both events (tee shirts, portfolio s, water bottles and string bag) $ Miscellaneous (drinks, certificates, posters etc.) 1

2 Partnering Organizations: Georgia Tech Women in Engineering Engineers for Sustainable World Attendance: Attendance: Total 100 Women: 45 (Women s Networking Event) Minorities: 62 (both events combined) K12: 39 Chaperones (HS event): 5 ASME Section/Region Reps 8 (ASME) and 7 (ESW) 1 (Women in Engineering) Project Title- Women s Networking Gathering High School Outreach Competition Project Description: The Georgia Tech Student Chapter of ASME held two events sponsored by the Diversity Action Grant. The first event was a Women s Networking Event which featured GT Alumnus Dr. Deborah Kilpatrick. The second event was an outreach event for a local High School, where the students participated in an engineering competition, tour of campus and Mechanical Engineering department. Project Goal/Objective and How Achieved: The project goal for both was to bring about awareness in under-represented areas the importance of engineering. The women s event, gave undergraduate and graduate students and opportunity to have open discussion with one of the Woodruff School s successful alumni. The format was similar to a town hall meeting, with a question and answer portion. Afterwards there was a networking reception. The high school event provided an opportunity for students to interact with students currently in college, tour the Mechanical Engineering department and compete in an engineering based competition. The students that attended were from a diverse background including female, Latino, Asian and African- American students. A lunch on 2

3 the campus lawn was provided as well as certificates of participation for each student and souvenirs. Evaluation of Program s Success: Both events were successful in their own right. We received positive feedback regarding both events from participants. The female students who attended the Women s Networking Event appreciated the intimate time to speak with Dr. Kilpatrick about being a female engineer, the barriers she encountered and what advice she could offer. The students were able to ask questions and get a response from a female perspective. Several Woodruff School female faculty members attended the event also. Dr. Kilpatrick was scheduled to speak at the Woodruff School s Gegenheimer Lecture the following day, many groups tried to arrange events with her during this visit. We were fortunate to have spoken with her earlier in the year about doing an event with ASME. Women in Engineering also wanted Dr. Kilpatrick to attend an event with their group but her schedule was booked with the lecture, judging the InVenture Prize Competition and ASME s DAG event. Dr. Christine Valle, Director, Women in Engineering, attended our DAG event in 2012, contacted us and wanted to lend their support to our event. This allowed us to reach a larger amount of women on campus as well as attracting more female faculty to the event and host a reception for Dr. Kilpatrick. Dr. Kilpatrick was very open and honest in her answers and the students seemed to appreciate her candor. She urged the students to not wait for someone to hand them what they wanted, she told them to ask for it. The Q& A session went on for an hour or so. After the town hall type gathering, the students were allowed more one on one time with Dr. Kilpatrick at the reception. Business cards with the student s information were created by the ASME members and were handed out when they checked in for the event. The students were also given an ASME portfolio and tee shirt as a souvenir. They exchanged business cards with each other and Dr. Kilpatrick to ensure the stayed in contact once the event had ended. Many of the students were pleased with the event and inquired when/if we would have similar events, focusing on women in engineering. The High School event was especially exciting. The students were given a glimpse into what it would be like to attend Georgia Tech as well as an opportunity to use their creativity like engineers do. The welcome address was given by the Woodruff School Chair, Dr. Bill Wepfer, in one of the actual classrooms ME students use. They received a tour of campus and the Mechanical Engineering areas to include the Invention Studio. They were allowed to see how diverse the school was and possibly imagine themselves here one day. After lunch on the lawn near the Woodruff School, they were given an opportunity to do a simulation of speed dating with the different research areas in 3

4 Mechanical Engineering. Engineers for Sustainable World students sat at tables with the students and explained the different areas that comprised Mechanical Engineering. The ESW students switched from table to table in order to speak with each group. The high school students were able to ask questions about the different research areas and also speak with students currently enrolled at Tech. Lastly, they competed in a competition where they built a tower out of spaghetti. The students seemed to have fun and enjoyed the challenge. The goal was to create a spaghetti tower that would stand freely on its own. There was also a portion of the competition where the students were divided into three person groups to build a Lego car. The challenging part is that the person building the car was blindfolded and had to take direction from his teammates. This taught the students how to take direction and to hone in on a set of skills we take for granted. At the end of the competition each student was given a certificate of participation, an ASME string bag and a tee shirt. The lead teacher told us she was amazed that during the time of the competition, not one student was on their cell phone. They were engaged and focused on the task at hand. She was very happy they were able to have this opportunity and offered to come back again if we were to repeat this event. Other Comments/Suggestions: The DAG events were great opportunities for Georgia Tech ASME to reach out to various groups of students. All the events were very successful and Georgia Tech ASME Student Chapter is willing to continue on with the events in future. Please let us know if there are any other opportunities where we can promote engineering among communities of women, minorities, and K12 students. 4

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