A group of six Tabor Academy girls was selected through an application process to attend the GAINS Conference (Girls Advancing in STEM) in New York City last week. Topics over the three-day event included science, math, engineering, and technology and how these fields interconnect for innovation.
Three seniors and three juniors along with faculty Mackenzie Chaput and CK Kennedy enjoyed the excitement of the city and exposure to cutting-edge ideas. They also interacted with many women in the field and learned how women are participating and leading in these fields today.
The group met with women executives from Rent the Runway, Spoon University and Mented and enjoyed experiencing new technologies through interactive games and augmented reality. They learned first hand from entrepreneurs the challenges and joys of starting a company and how important it is to surround yourself with the right people who will motivate and challenge you as a leader. They took tours across the city to see innovation first hand. Examples included tours of the Central Park Zoo, the NYU MakerSpace, a Computer-aided Drug Design lab, and a Science History Walking Tour. In their blog, the students remarked, “The walking tour allowed us to get a feel for the history behind New York City and the way science played into everyday life. During the Central Park Zoo tour, students got to follow zookeepers around their daily routine and ask about their personal experience working with animals. Our favorite part of the day was the tour of the NYU Biomolecular and Chemical Engineering lab in which we were shown the research students were working on at the time. Lindsay, a student in NYU’s dual MD/PhD program, explained her research about developing a way to more efficiently cure breast cancer.”
On the last day, the students enjoyed small group exchanges to understand how creativity and communication skills are critical to the tech world along with the technical skills more commonly associated with these fields. It was an exciting and eye-opening opportunity for these students to see how they could advance their own interests in science, math, engineering and technology.
The students wrote a blog and shared photos of their experience. You can enjoy the blog and at https://bit.ly/2GEBVsE.