“For girls who love science, technology, engineering and math,” reads the flyer for the 2012 Sci-Tech Girl Expo. The Expo, an event hosted by Jr. Tech in partnership with Massachusetts Maritime Academy, is open to female high school students, grades ninth to twelfth. It is scheduled for Saturday, April 7, from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm on the Massachusetts Maritime Academy campus. At the Expo, enrolled girls will get to learn hands-on about emerging careers in science, technology, engineering, and math and network with each other. Girls will be attending from all areas of southeastern Massachusetts.
The guest speaker for the Expo will be Faith Ball, the senior engineering manager of Lockheed Martin, Marion, Massachusetts. Ms. Ball graduated from University of Rhode Island with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering, and she has worked in that field ever since. Some of her achievements include leading teams of engineers in the development of products that include aircraft, submarines, underwater sensors, radar systems, and gyroscopes.
Throughout the day, attendees will learn about potential career paths as well as internship opportunities and strategies pertaining to starting a career in the science, technology, engineering, or math fields. Attendees also will get to talk and work with successful women in these fields during the hands-on sessions of the day.
According to the Expo overview, the hands-on-workshops of both the morning and the afternoon will be in physical therapy, optometry, forensics, clinical lab testing, marine animal care, veterinary careers, meteorology, and food engineering. Cindy Fitzgibbons of Fox 25 and Danielle Niles of NECN will be on hand to speak to attendees.
Attendees will also participate in two simulations. The first simulation is of the bridge, so that attendees may find out what the captain of a ship experiences in the bridge first hand. The second simulation is emergency management, and will show attendees how to handle different emergency situations through computer-generated simulators.
Dr. Elizabeth Stevenson, who serves as the Dean of Enrollment for Massachusetts Maritime Academy, is scheduled to deliver the closing remarks. She will speak to the attendees on the Top-10 List of College Application Strategies.
Students who are interested in attending the Sci-Tech Girl Expo on April 7 need to register fairly soon, as the Expo is limited to 100 attendees. Enrollment can be done online at www.juniortech.org.
On another subject, the Masquerade Dance that had been scheduled for Saturday, January 21 was cancelled — but not because of the heavy, unexpected snow. Ticket sales for what used to be known as the Snow Ball were remarkably low, with only around 20 tickets being sold by Friday, January 20. Students who had purchased tickets will be receiving refunds in the coming weeks.
By Anne Smith