Bowie Area Girls Experiment with Engineering

Ten middle schoolers from the Bowie area were among the 380 young girls who became engineers for a day as part of a program to encourage girls to choose careers in science and engineering fields. 

The program, called "Invent It. Build It", was hosted by the Society of Women Engineers in Baltimore on Oct. 26 as part of its annual conference. Over 200 woman engineers worked alongside the adolescent girls on projects including "creating spacecraft models with shock-absorbing systems and building electric dance pads, " according to a press release.

Bowie participants included seventh grade Samuel Ogle Middle School students Samantha Balog, 12; Alexis Esuke, 12; Mikaila Esuke, 12; Shabach Christian Homeschooling Academy eighth grader Ayanna Phillips, 13; and Kenmoore Middle School seventh grader Melanie Spierenburg, 11.

“SWE is committed to reaching girls who have an interest in math and science and showing them the diverse and rewarding opportunities an engineering career can offer them,” Stacey Delvecchio, president of the Society of Women Engineers, said in a statement.

The activities were coordinate by representatives of the television show "Design Squad," and designed to encourage critical thinking and also to bring out the fun in engineering. 

“Engineering provides an avenue to use one’s talent, ingenuity and problem-solving skills to give back and impact lives whether it’s through the creation of an efficient, low-cost water filter that provides clean water to third-world countries or the next iPhone," Delvecchio said in the statement. 

SWE has hosted similar events with preteen girls in Orlando, Chicago and Houston.