We had a great event at Fab Lab ICC last Tuesday that involved three young women from the University of Illinois and about 40 of our area girls ages 7 – 10 years.  While all the girls had a blast, there was actually a serious and needed message conveyed amidst all the fun and learning.  That is that it’s ok for girls to like science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  Indeed, our society, especially our educational institutions have been clamoring to try to figure out how to stimulate interest in STEM among our nation’s young girls.  Ever since the inception of Fab Lab ICC, we knew that all you have to do to create interest in STEM is give girls the opportunity to make things.  That’s exactly what happened last Tuesday in two, two-hour maker sessions at Fab Lab ICC. 

The girls were led through a simple design process to draw something they wanted to make on a small shopping bag.  Then they each learned the basics of three dimensional drawing on lap top computers the Maker Girls brought with them.  (They used a cloud based program called Tinker Cad available free to anyone with an Internet device.)  The Maker Girls also brought 15-3D printers with them so each girl could print a small representation of their creation.  

The college students, Premika Pandian, Kendall Furbee, and Manisha Singh were on a summer-long tour sponsored by the non-profit Maker Girl organization.  By the end of summer, they will have visited dozens of Fab Labs and Maker Spaces across the entire United States and have inspired hundreds of young girls to know they can all aspire to have a life-career involving STEM. 

When we agreed to host the event, two sessions capped at 20 girls each seemed adequate.  In fact, both sessions were full before we had a chance to promote and market the event.  Word spread fast and by about May 15 three weeks before the event, both sessions were full.  By then, the Maker Girl schedule was set and they were not available to stay another day.  Had we known of the interest from the beginning, we could have had them stay here two or three days. 

This goes to show that girls are naturally interested in STEM, but our society’s message to them has not stimulated their interest. We see that starting to change now with programs like Maker Girl and others around the country.  We were happy and honored to be a part of the Maker Girl’s first national tour and we’ll be sure to schedule them to return just as soon as they are available. 

Cutline:  Manisha Singh, Premika Pandian and Kendal Furbee provided the memorable experience for 40 of our area 7 – 10 year-old girls.  While they were in session, we made the aluminum model of the Maker Girl logo gift to the organization.

Jim Correll is the director of Fab Lab ICC at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on the campus of Independence Community College. He can be reached at (620) 252-5349 or by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu. Archive columns and podcasts at www.fablabicc.org.