Yes, Science & Engineering Are Cool!

For more than 20 years, DuPont has collaborated with two Wilmington-area Girl Scout councils to introduce girls 6th through 8th grades to careers in engineering and science. This past Saturday, DuPont hosted 150 Girl Scouts to Barley Mill Plaza for an entire day of fun, hands-on activities and experiments that illustrate basic scientific and engineering principles.

Designed to reach girls just before they enter high school, the program inspires them to consider all their options as they prepare for college. But, mostly what the program does is educate the girls, their leaders and parents that it’s okay to think that engineering and science are cool, be curious about how things work, be smart, and like science and math.

“Engineering Your Tomorrow provides an engaging, learning-intensive program in which Girl Scouts can interact with DuPont scientists, gain technical knowledge and enhance life skills,” said Anne T. Hogan, Chief Executive Officer of the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay. “We are extremely grateful for the considerable time and resources that DuPont dedicates to this program to help girls pursue careers in science.”

“The girls see first-hand that the DuPont women scientists and engineers are cool, well-balanced, real people who enjoy their work and do fascinating things,” said Genara Andrade, Ph.D., field section supervisor and engineer at DuPont. “Since the program’s inception, we’ve been able to make nearly 2,700 girls aware of careers that they might never have considered.”

This event was held in conjunction with National Engineers Week’s “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day.” The organization’s goal for this year was to serve 10,000 10-year-old girls with a positive engineering experience during a 10-week period.

For the past 10 years, women engineers have introduced more than one million girls and young women to engineering through this program. More than just one day, the program is part of a national movement that shows girls how creative and collaborative engineering is and how engineers are changing our world.