A hands-on view of engineering drew almost 100 young women in middle and high school from Tennessee and Illinois to Vanderbilt University on a sunny spring Saturday to explore an interest in engineering majors.
The School of Engineering’s inaugural Vanderbilt Inspiring Emerging Women in Engineering Summit (VIEWE), held on campus on April 12, offered insight into college preparation, engineering majors, engineering student organizations, career pathways through keynote sessions, panel discussions, maker opportunities and informal chats with Vanderbilt engineering undergraduates
“Our Swag Bar was a huge hit,” said VIEWE organizer Nafizah Abney, senior manager for Special Initiatives and executive assistant to Krishnendu (Krish) Roy, Bruce and Bridgitt Evans Dean of Engineering. Students and advisers helped screen print their own VIEWE t-shirts and fabricated branded trinkets and stickers. “Improving their understanding of engineering is important. Early exposure to the field is one of the strongest predictors for students pursuing engineering in higher education,” Abney said.
In brief remarks, Roy noted that he hopes to see engineering gain in popularity as a college major, telling the audience that the percentage of high school seniors pursuing engineering over the past three decades has remained constant at 4%. That translates to between 120,000 and 145,000 high school graduates pursue engineering each year, according to the Association of American Universities (AAU).
Julie Vernon, associate dean for Student Success, and Romina Del Bosque, assistant professor of the Practice of Biomedical Engineering, led career sessions and were two of several engineering school staff supporting the summit.
Tamara Baynham, BE’93, returned to campus on Saturday after a two-day Engineering Board of Visitors meeting here to mingle with VIEWE participants. She is founder and principal consultant of Nashville-based Ingenuity Medical Device Research, which she launched in 2013.
“I like to hang out with girls who might not see engineers who look like me…and themselves.” Baynham is an active, long-standing alumni leader across the university, including leadership roles as president of the Association of Vanderbilt Black Alumni and member of Vanderbilt Alumni Association Board and of the Engineering Board of Visitors and a member of the school’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni. “One thing I’m always trying to do is make young engineers,” she said and laughed.
Digital Fabrication, Vanderbilt University Motorsports, and the Design Studio offered demonstrations. The School’s Engineering Council, Tikkun Olam Makers Vanderbilt (TOM), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) section, Society of Women Engineers (SWE) chapter, Out in Engineering, Theta Tau, a pre-professional fraternity for engineering students, Phi Sigma Rho engineering sorority, Adroit, a nonprofit STEM organization, and STEM Prep Academy in Nashville.
Chelsea Crews and Kristin Welch, from Innovation Academy of Robertson County, said they are interested in design and circuity. “I talked with my mom about my dreams of coming to Vanderbilt,” Crews said. Welch said her father encouraged her to attend the summit.
Students Barthina Girgis and Mariam Ibrahim, from Martin Luther King High School in Nashville, are still thinking about majors, but both showed interest in mechanical engineering and spent some time and the ASME student chapter table.
“Any way that we can expand the reach and impact of engineering education is practically a national imperative,” Abney said.
Contact: brenda.ellis@vanderbilt.edu