![]() “These types of events remind women that they are not alone in their field and it can also make them feel more comfortable in the very male-dominated aspects of engineering,” Trautman said.Ĭapitalizing on the growing enrollment of women in the College of Engineering, Kirsch and Menold hope to develop Ladies’ Night into an on-going series of events reaching students across all disciplines. ![]() The camaraderie could be felt in the room, as the female students exchanged thoughts and laughs while working on their projects. Then, the excitement only increased from there,” she said. “Before we even started working on our projects that night, they wanted to know when the next event was. “We wanted to do fun projects, not necessarily related to their engineering courses, to just start out having fun,” Menold said.įunded and supported by Matt Parkinson, professor of engineering design and mechanical engineering and director of the Learning Factory, and Bill Genet, the Learning Factory supervisor, Kirsch said the event was extremely well-received by the students. Later on, the students had the option to create two different projects: a stamped metal luminary or a small lap desk. Similar to all new Learning Factory participants, the students, who were joined by several faculty and teaching assistants, were given safety demonstrations and instructions on how to operate each piece of machinery.Įlizabeth Trautman, a first-year majoring in biomedical engineering, said, “I was very excited to get an opportunity to train in an environment that would be less judgmental than most male-dominated shops.” Lucy Spicher, a freshman majoring in biomedical and mechanical engineering, added, “I think I physically jumped for joy!” “We want to bring together a community of women who build,” Kirsch said. The result was Ladies’ Night, a designated evening promoted to all female engineering students as a chance to learn how to operate the tools at the Learning Factory and create a DIY project. Working alongside Kirsch, she hoped to empower her female students, particularly those from her Engineering Design 100H: Introduction to Engineering Design course, to learn more about the Learning Factory’s equipment. “The men were usually much more confident and just went for it.” “In my engineering design classes, I’ve seen that sometimes the women in class were hesitant to work on the band saw or different tools,” Menold said. The workshop was filled exclusively with female students.Įnvisioned and planned by Jessica Menold, assistant professor of engineering design and mechanical engineering, and Katie Kirsch, a post-doctoral researcher in mechanical engineering, it was the inaugural Ladies’ Night at the Learning Factory. Gordon Learning Factory on March 20, the same as any other night. The sound of whirring band saws, swinging hammers and the screeching of metal being cut filled the air at Penn State’s Bernard M. Female students 'take over' the Learning Factory on Ladies' Night Engineering students plan out their projects at the Learning Factory on March 20, 2018.
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