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WE TOOK PART IN THE GIRLS IN STEM DESIGN CHALLENGE

28/04/2020

As the world’s only pure play STEM recruitment specialist, we are delighted to partner with Tech Girls Movement as our chosen charity partner. Tech Girls Movement is an Australian organisation founded in 2014 with its main purpose being to get young females interested and engaged in STEM. Tech Girls Movement are unwaveringly committed to improving female representation within the STEM markets, and this is something which SThree is passionate about also, resulting in an ideal partnership. Recently, Client Relationship Manager at SThree Jessica Swann,  served as a mentor for a group of 50 girls from across Australia, who took part in the Girls in STEM Design Challenge, a joint initiative by Tech Girls Movement and UTS (University of Technology Sydney). Jess tells us more about her experience as mentor of the challenge below…

On Wednesday, April 22nd, 50 Australian girls in years 5-8 joined together by way of a virtual event, a great way to feel connected when social distancing. This was the first virtual outreach event of its kind, and a huge success overall. The Design Challenge saw these girls, all aged between 10-14, use their creativity and problem solving skills to solve our current community problems as a result of the pandemic. Due to the impacts of COVID-19, people are realising how much they rely on the power of STEM, more than ever before. This was a great opportunity, organised and hosted by Tech Girls Movement and UTS, to get young females thinking about solutions which could improve people’s lives while social distancing.

Some amazing solutions were created during the session, which you can read more about in detail here. One student came up with the idea of an automatic hand sanitizer which used an ultrasonic sensor and an Arduino to detect hand movement. This prototype is the perfect example of how we can go one step further to protect our homes during the coronavirus. Two other students came up with the amazing idea of an online platform for schoolchildren with hearing impairments which would allow them to connect with one another as well as with teachers. A great way to stop people feeling isolated during this period of isolation. Another idea was a glass chamber initiative to allow children to interact with their friends. All these ideas and more were so varied, and saw the great scope and potential of these young females in STEM at play.

As a mentor, I was beyond impressed with the suggestions the girls came up with. We were all blown away by their solutions and the first prototypes they designed, and look forward to them solving some of our world’s biggest problems as the engineers, scientists and technologists of the future. The overall theme of the event was ‘’to improve people’s lives while practicing social distancing’’, something that should be a concern to all of us in the current climate. The girls spent the first half of the day getting to meet female professionals in STEM industries like myself via videoconferencing, and then the latter half of the day was where they got to identify people in the community who would be most affected by the social distancing measures and thinking about ways and innovative ideas which could help them through this difficult time. The session provided them with inspiration, but also with the flexibility to go and create their own ideas, and shows the importance of STEM in times of crisis like we are seeing during COVID-19. It was an eye opener in terms of amplifying careers that really make a difference, such as software engineers, data scientists and vaccine scientists. These are often forgotten careers when children are going to school, particularly if that child is a female. Yet, they are the careers which are essentially pulling us through an epidemic.

Tech Girls Movement are now taking registrations for their 2020 competition! There are still spaces left, so if you are interested please visit here and register.

If you would like to work for a company which supports STEM and gender equality, then check out our current career opportunities. We are now also offering an increased amount of 5 voluntary charity days for all our employees, to show support and give back to the community.

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