Middle school girls get glimpse into engineering careers

Area middle school girls will get a glimpse into the careers of engineering, an occupation made of 10 percent women, at a four-day camp at Grand Valley State University. The camp is held to expose female students to engineering career choices and to help them prepare for courses in high school and college.

The Science, Technology and Engineering Preview Summer Day Camps (STEPS) will be held June 13-16 and June 20-23 in the Kennedy Hall of Engineering at Grand Valley’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

About 80 campers will get hands-on engineering experience by designing, manufacturing and flying radio-controlled electronic airplanes. Campers will also learn about the aerodynamics of flight in classes and as they take a ride in a small airplane at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport. 

MEDIA NOTE: To celebrate the camp’s 10 year anniversary, camp alumni and students will fly their airplanes at the Warped Wings Fly Field located at the corner of Alger and 56th Avenue in Allendale Thursday, June 16 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Another Fly Night is schedule for Thursday, June 23, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

The camp is being coordinated by the Seymour and Esther Padnos College of Engineering and Computing with support from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Major sponsors include Alcoa Foundation, Alcoa Howmet-Whitehall Operations, the Michigan Space Grant Consortium (NASA), and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation.

For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit www.gvsu.edu/steps or contact Sara Maas at (616) 331-6025.