On Saturday, Oct. 15, the Lassonde School of Engineering hosted GoEngGirl, an annual event for girls in Grades 7 to 10 that takes place across Ontario. Accompanied by a parent or guardian, girls visited their local university campus to 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. Lassonde hosted a panel that included a grad from the Space Engineering program, Rekha Narang, who is the principal engagement manager from Microsoft Consulting Services, and Victoria Falvo, a civil engineer with Union Gas.
Female engineers shared their personal stories about breaking into engineering and how their career paths took them from graduation to where they are now.
The event was designed to provide girls and their parents with information on what it is like to be an engineering student at Lassonde. The full day offered 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 was 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 all of the standard 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.