Girl Power in STEM: A few seats are still available for participation in the STEM Summer School programme of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences
‘Girls only!’ is the tagline of the STEM Summer School taking place at Kleve Campus from 21-25 August 2017. By organising this complimentary programme, Rhine-Waal University hopes to encourage female pupils ages 14 and up to develop an interest in technical and scientific subjects and study programmes. The workshops and lectures, organised in collaboration with the zdi Centre Kleve cleverMINT, which is committed to promoting young talents in the field of science and technology, are held each day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Phyllis Ndugire-Wakumore, herself a woman in science who studies mechanical engineering at the Faculty of Technology and Bionics, is the leading organiser of the five-day programme scheduled for the last week of area schools’ summer break. Both she and the zdi Centre Kleve hope to spark an interest in technical and scientific subjects among girls and young women in particular. To this end, Phyllis Ndugire-Wakumore has brought together a number of professors from the Faculty of Technology and Bionics, who give lectures and workshops providing the young participants with an engaging insight into their work as well as the respective study programmes. Science doesn’t have to be dry, boring or theoretical, Phyllis Ndugire-Wakumore explains: participants have an opportunity to learn, for instance, that mathematics plays an important role in folding Origami paper sculptures, or what 3D printers are capable of, or how submarines are created by looking at the anatomy of fish. While learning, researching and experimenting, students of the Faculty of Technology and Bionics serve as tutors to accompany and support the participants of the Summer School.