Introducing girls to engineering

Manufacturing Engineering, Aug 2002

UDM STEPS PROGRAM

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers, in partnership with the University of DetroitMercy (UDM) and Grand Valley State University, recently hosted Michigan's first Science Technology and Engineering Preview Summer Camp for girls (STEPS). STEPS is a tuition-free residential camp for girls that provides them with hands-on activities and information about what engineers do and the types of jobs available in manufacturing, engineering, science and technology.

Women are still underrepresented in the traditionally male-dominated area of manufacturing engineering, and STEPS is designed to expose young girls to these opportunities.

The Ford Motor Company provided funding for two week-long STEPS programs at UDM in June. Eighty campers attended college classes taught by professors, and built self-guided robots capable of entering areas unfit for humans. The Nokomis Foundation provided for two additional STEPS programs at Grand Valley State University in July. Another 80 participants designed, manufactured, and tested radio-controlled airplanes.

At the graduation ceremony where the campers demonstrated their robots, the group was addressed by Anne Stevens, vice president of North America vehicle operations for Ford Motor Company, and Jennifer Granholm, Michigan Attorney General, cofounder of Michigan's Mentoring Initiative, and candidate for governor of Michigan. Clearly these are two women who support the goal of STEPS to introduce more young women into technology fields.

STEPS is funded by the SME Education Foundation, private foundations and industry partners. It began in Wisconsin in 1999, has since expanded to Minnesota and Michigan, and will also expand to Illinois next year. Over the next four years, SME plans to extend STEPS to 11 states, reaching over 36,000 girls.

For more information, visit www.sme.org/foundation.