Next Generation of Female Engineers Spend Day at NYIT

“I can be whatever I want to be. Perhaps an engineer!” Those are the words Nada Anid, Ph.D., dean of NYIT School of Engineering and Computing Sciences, had a group of middle and high school girls repeat at the annual Introduce A Girl to Engineering Day event in February at NYIT-Manhattan. The event, also held on the Old Westbury campus during National Engineers Week, is designed to teach young women about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and inspire them to pursue careers in these mostly male-dominated fields.

“Women in technology are still so under-represented in today’s work force,” said Patricia Smith, vice president and chief information security officer at Cox automotive, and the keynote speaker at the event in Old Westbury. “It is so important for our young girls to understand that technology is an exciting career option for them to explore. Girls love to solve problems. Creating technology and applications gives our girls an opportunity to solve real world problems that they, and their peers, face every single day. The opportunities for women in technology are endless.”

More than 130 girls attended the event on the Manhattan campus; 115 girls attended the event on the Old Westbury campus, including nearly 40 girls from the Girl Scouts of Nassau County.

Yvonne Thevenot, executive director of STEM Kids NYC, and the keynote speaker in Manhattan, encouraged the girls to carve their own paths and pursue STEM-related careers. “Innovations happen because people didn’t go someone else’s way. The jobs that you’re going to actually be in, if you go your own path, are jobs no one is doing right now,” Thevenot said.

Throughout the day, the students participated in several activities and showcases led by NYIT’s chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), club members of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

The students left the event knowing more about STEM and with the encouragement to take on challenges. As one of the young women said, “Failure leads to success.”