More than 150 future engineers and scientists will visit The University of Toledo as part of the fourth annual Women in STEMM Day of Meetings, WISDOM, on Thursday, May 8.

Throughout the event, which will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., girls in their sophomore year in high school will visit both the UT Main Campus and Health Science Campus to learn about science and technology through hands-on activities. The girls will explore and perform experiments in a number of areas: physics and astronomy, chemistry, biology, engineering, pharmacy, and medicine.

The event is hosted by the Northwest Ohio Chapter of the Association for Women in Science, which organizes the exploration day to encourage young women to consider careers in one of the areas offered at the Women in STEMM Day.

“Girls are increasingly interested in science, but there continues to be a lower number of girls pursuing that interest in college and subsequently their careers,” said Dr. Isabel Escobar, UT professor of chemical and environmental engineering, interim assistant dean for research development and outreach for the College of Engineering, and past-president of the Association for Women in Science. “It is our goal that events like Women in STEMM Day will inspire girls to embrace science and technology.”

Students from Toledo Public Schools and Washington Local Schools, as well as Toledo Islamic Academy, will participate in the Women in STEMM Day at UT.

The students will spend from 9:30 to 10:40 a.m. in the Student Union performing activities developed by in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics that include making solar cells and “meet your DNA” experiments. From 11 to 11:45 a.m., students will visit the College of Engineering, where they will learn about earthquakes and sound, build a motor, and have lunch in the North Engineering Building. Following lunch, they will visit the UT Health Science Campus from 1 to 2:15 p.m. to learn about plastination in the Block Health Sciences Building and to make sanitizer in the Health Education Building.

In addition to the Northwest Ohio Chapter of the Association for Women in Science, the event is sponsored by the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women, the Toledo Chapter of the American Chemical Society, SSOE Group, Marathon Petroleum Corp., and the UT colleges of Engineering, Medicine and Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Media Coverage
The Blade (May 9, 2014)

Tags: College of Engineering, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics