Area middle school girls get first-hand look at engineering

Girls from two area middle schools teamed with Penn State engineering students to program robotic dance routines as part of their field trip to campus. One project had a Blue Band theme with a robotic drum major. (Photo credit: Curtis Chan)

Girls from two area middle schools teamed with Penn State engineering students to program robotic dance routines as part of their field trip to campus. One project had a Blue Band theme with a robotic drum major. (Photo credit: Curtis Chan)

Two dozen girls from two area middle schools got some first-hand exposure to engineering at the “Engineer Your Future” field trip event today (Nov. 21) on campus.

The girls, from Philipsburg-Osceola Junior High School and Park Forest Middle School, spent the day at the College of Engineering.

The event, hosted by the Women in Engineering Program (WEP), provides the girls with hands-on engineering activities and the opportunity to work with current Penn State engineering students.

The field trip included collaborating with first-year students from ME 102 LEGO Robotics to program robots with a choreographed dance routine, a tour of the Department of Architectural Engineering’s Immersive Construction Laboratory, a pizza lunch with engineering students, a presentation by the Engineering Ambassadors and an amusement park design project.

Cheryl Knobloch, WEP director and coordinator of the program, said the field trips is meant to encourage 7th and 8th grade girls to consider pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Read More
Skip to toolbar