These High School Girls Are Empowering the Next Generation of STEM Superheroes

Published on November 6, 2019

Hot take: Women are pretty great. Throughout history, women have made meaningful contributions to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and you can thank female scientists and engineers for a lot of essential inventions. Yet, despite making up 46.8% of the overall workforce, only 26% of computer scientists and 13% of engineers are women.

It starts young. Research shows that girls lose interest in science and math around middle school, which means it’s super important to nurture these passions early so that girls feel confident in pursuing STEM fields later on. That’s exactly what EngineerGirl is trying to do.

EngineerGirl Ambassadors are high school students who design, develop, and implement a project in their local communities that will encourage younger girls to think about engineering and engineering careers and give them practical experience in engineering design. Read more about them and their projects below!

Want to inspire younger students’ love for STEM? Through DoSomething’s STEM Superheroes campaign, powered by 3M, you can bring the young people in your life some super STEM inspiration.

1. Madelyn Heaston, Sophomore

Issaquah, Washington

As a seven-year-old, Madelyn Heaston won her second grade science fair with a project on the effect of baking soda in cookies, and she’s been absolutely rocking it in the world of chemistry and engineering ever since. (Her latest project is going to literally be launched INTO SPACE.) Madelyn is encouraging other girls to shoot for the moon in their own endeavors by bringing STEM activities to homeless shelters.

2. Ashley Lin, Sophomore

Vancouver, Washington

When it came to finding positive, female STEM role models in her community, Ashley had a tough time. Her solution? The internet, of course. Ashley’s digital exchange program will connect engineer mentors and mentees from around the world through video conferencing and online activities. The 10-week program will teach skills to activate community projects and make female STEM solutions go global.

3. Parvati Menon, Junior

Suwanee, Georgia

As tech evolves and “smart” objects become more popular, the so-called Internet of Things (IoT) is expanding — and Parvati wants girls to be at the forefront of these everyday tech solutions. She had her first foray into the IoT when she designed a smart irrigation system to conserve water (if that sounds super cool and impressive...it’s because it is). Her programming at underserved schools and public libraries will teach girls to design and build these kinds of devices.

4. Maggie Haber, Sophomore

Carmel, New York

Maggie had no idea how life-changing her mandatory middle school technology class would be. Even after it ended, she spent lunch hours working with her teacher to create new projects. She eventually started her own tech club, casually won three MagLev competitions, and even joined her school’s newspaper (nbd). With her after-school program, she’s giving girls the confidence to achieve their own STEM goals.

5. Sara Huelskamp, Sophomore

Grantsville, Maryland

Sara recognizes that it can be hard for girls to be exposed to STEM in her small rural farming community. That’s why she’s teaming up with her local 4-H program and the Garrett County Engineering and Robotics Society to teach girls about five kinds of engineering: mechanical, software, civil, electrical, and biomedical.

6. Rachel Chae, Sophomore

Centreville, Virginia

Tired of the littering, pollution, and general neglect she saw in her community, Rachel decided that enough was enough and set out to do something about it. She’s energizing young people to use their talents in STEM, art, and writing to promote environmental awareness. Rachel believes that students can rebuild their community with the power of their passions (and we believe in Rachel!).

7. Anastasia Cook, Junior

St. Charles, Missouri

STEM has been a part of Anastasia life since age eight, when she attended an advanced technology open house that ~sparked~ her interest in robotics (see what we did there?). Anastasia mentors FIRST LEGO League teams, and she saw firsthand how few girls join the robotics program in her area. So naturally, she’s creating her own — one that’s by girls, for girls.

8. Adun Oladeji, Junior

Alpharetta, Georgia

Adun is bringing together her experience teaching young students and her personal interest in engineering to hold STEM workshops for kids — especially girls and young people of color. Not only will students learn about engineering principles, they’ll also hear from professional engineers working in the field. (Plus, the program has possibly the best name we’ve ever heard: KidGineers!)

9. Sophie Mei Poole, Junior

Pasadena, California

According to Sophie, there are two things she loves in this world: water and math (besides her parents and dogs, of course). After learning that most girls lose interest in science and math after middle school, she became determined to change it. As someone who was adopted as a child, Sophie wants to do specific outreach to young girls in the foster care system and teach them basic coding and computer literacy.

10. Lucille Steffes, Senior

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

For her first big project in engineering, Lucille worked with other students to build a prototype for a source of renewable energy that could be used to help with hurricane relief. In the same spirit, she’s hosting a middle school club for girls to get hands-on experience in environmental engineering, like sustainable farming.

11. Lillian Williams, Junior

Connelly Spring, North Carolina

Lillian wants to bring examples of strong, female engineers and leaders to her community, especially the girls at her local elementary school. Her week-long summer camp will teach students about chemical engineering, and she wants their families to get involved, too. The session will end with a family day, where the girls will showcase their work (and hopefully be encouraged to continue into the future).

12. Bridget Li, Senior

Austin, Texas

In the eighth grade, Bridget read Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. It taught her about the challenges women face in the workforce, and Bridget has been fearlessly fighting for equality in STEM ever since. She’s paying back the support she received at her first female technology conference by creating an after-school engineering club for middle school girls.

13. Lauren Eppinger, Senior

Saxtons River, Vermont

Last year, Lauren was the only female student on Vermont Academy’s robotics team. This year, she’s working to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Her week-long summer design class is partnering with local science museums and arts organizations to bring STEM programming to girls in rural Vermont.

14. Saraswati Sridhar, Sophomore

Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

You could say engineering runs in Saraswati’s family. Her parents are both engineers, and they helped foster her love of science from a young age. Saraswati wants to do the same for students who may not have the same kind of exposure to STEM. She’s building a learning platform about biomedical engineering with videos, quizzes, and laboratory simulations.

15. Kelly Cha, Senior

Clifton, New Jersey

Kelly found her way to engineering because of her love for math (truly, a hero among us). It led her to take classes in high school about robotics, coding, electronics, and more. Now she’s hoping to help other young girls fall in love with engineering by hosting workshops for underprivileged and underrepresented students in STEM.

16. Sarah Eckert, Freshman

Davenport, Iowa

“Every girl deserves to take part in solving problems that change the world,” says Sarah, who proves that STEM isn’t all about hard skills (although those are cool too). Robotics competitions taught Sarah to speak publicly, work alongside a team, and believe in her ideas. Through her free, all-day program, she wants to inspire other girls to come along with her to change the world.

Are you a high school girl with a passion for solving problems? Are you willing to use your ingenuity and engineering design skills to inspire younger students? EngineerGirl is now taking applications for 2020-2021 EngineerGirl Ambassadors!