On Saturday, May 6th, Dallas Society of Women Engineers hosted Design Your World 2023 at Collin College’s Frisco Campus. Dallas SWE partnered with Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas to host this year’s event for middle school girls from all over the DFW metroplex. Design Your World gives students a glimpse into the world of engineering through a day filled with hands-on STEM activities and interactions with engineers from various disciplines.
Dallas SWE thanks our nearly 40 volunteers who represented various industries and engineering fields as they served as expert guides for the students throughout the day. This amazing volunteer turnout was instrumental in ensuring the day ran smoothly and that all girls received support and guidance during the activities. A huge thanks to our Dallas SWE Volunteers who went above and beyond to guide students through activities and serve as role models throughout the day.
Dallas SWE thanks our Design Your World Event and Activity Sponsor, Qorvo, for their gracious support of our Outreach Efforts. Due to Qorvo’s time and generosity, the Design Your World Program was able to offer innovative activity programming that will help shape the future path of the next generation of engineers!
Dallas SWE also thanks our organization sponsors Collins Aerospace, Pepsico, Analog Devices, and Dave & Lynn Mortensen for their continued support of Dallas SWE.
The day started with a welcome from Cyonna Holmes, VP of Outreach, as she introduced the students to a wide range of engineering disciplines. The students then rotated through three activities and lunch: building a transmitter, hurricane house, and space science.
Building a transmitter was led by Qorvo, a Platinum Sponsor of Dallas SWE. Kurt Cimino and PT Ton-Nu from Qorvo led the girls through an exciting hands-on activity where they built electrical circuits that transmitted sound through an AM radio. Thanks to the Qorvo team, the students gained an amazing glimpse into the world of electrical engineering! Several students noted that this was the first time they had ever built a circuit using a breadboard, wire, oscillators, and transformers! Dallas SWE greatly appreciates the time and effort from the Qorvo team and especially thanks Kurt and PT for planning and enthusiastically leading such an engaging hands-on activity!
The Hurricane House Activity was led by Ashley Johnson who guided the students through a hands-on activity focused on building a house with enough stability to withstand “weather forces”. Ashley led the students in this structural engineering activity by allowing them to build their houses out of items like plates, straws, tape, and other items. The houses were then wind tested using a blow dryer. Students were thrilled to find that their careful planning and iteration led to stable houses. Thanks to Ashley for leading this activity!
The Space Science Activity was led by Jordan Rider who guided the students through an activity designed to test their creativity and research skills. Students learned about ultraviolet light by using cyanotype paper whose chemicals react when exposed to UV rays. The reaction resulted in a print that served as a take-home memento for the students. Thanks to Jordan for leading this activity!
During lunch, students heard about different engineering careers from volunteers Terri Ho, Rana Karimi, Jerrica Weeks, Danielle Henry, and PT Ton-Nu. The volunteers rotated around lunch tables sharing their college and career experiences with the students. They learned about a day in the life of different engineers from SWE Volunteers who represented a wide range of careers.
The students were energized and enthusiastic throughout the entire day with several highlighting that the activities gave them hands-on design experience that they do not routinely get.
Dallas SWE Volunteers described the event as:
“An incredible opportunity to engage with young girls and inspire them to pursue STEM Careers”
“Happy to be a part of this initiative and able to contribute to empowering the next generation of female STEM professionals”
“ I had such a great time volunteering. This was a great event Dallas SWE put on with Girl Scouts.”
Thank you again to our DYW event and activity sponsor, Qorvo, and our organization sponsors. Thank you to our DYW Leads, Ashley Johnson and Aamina Masood, and to our outreach committee consisting of: Kimberley Reid, Liz Biru, Domanique Johnson, Liberty Cortes, and Anmolika Singh! We are also grateful to the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Team for their partnership and support of the event. Thank you to all of the volunteers who graciously spent their Saturday with Dallas SWE Outreach!
Overall, Design Your World 2023 was a great event that helped show students the world of STEM. We could not have run the event without our sponsors and community partners. If you would like to be a part of a future offering, or if your company would like to help sponsor a future event, please contact us at dallas.swe@gmail.com.
