Domo arigato Ms. Robota? University of Akron and feds hope more girls pursue science, technology, engineering and math
Madilyne Wicks, 11, carefully puts together her robot during the First Annual Inspiration Day put on by the University of Akron and the U.S. Department of Defense at Quaker Square for young girls to explore STEM careers Saturday, March 19, 2016 in Akron, Ohio. (Karen Schiely/Akron Beacon Journal/TNS)
Anna Ramsier, 10, left, celebrates as the battery made by her sister Jill Ramsier, 12, using a penny and a washer, illuminates a small light held by University of Akron engineering student Kenton Lawson, 21, as Ravyn Edge, 14, works on her battery during the First Annual Inspiration Day put on by the University of Akron and the U.S. Department of Defense at Quaker Square for young girls to explore STEM careers Saturday, March 19, 2016 in Akron, Ohio. (Karen Schiely/Akron Beacon Journal/TNS)
Avaiya Totten, 10, reacts happily to her robot walking even though it lost its head, during the First Annual Inspiration Day put on by the University of Akron and the U.S. Department of Defense at Quaker Square for young girls to explore STEM careers Saturday, March 19, 2016 in Akron, Ohio. (Karen Schiely/Akron Beacon Journal/TNS)
AKRON, Ohio — “It looks like urine!” one girl exclaimed.
“Oooh, the water is turning color!” another girl gushed.
“This is so cool!” Nya Booker, 13, declared, watching a nail quickly dissolve to rust during a tabletop corrosion experiment last month at Quaker Station.
About 150 area girls in grades six through eight gathered there to build walking robots, separate hydrogen from oxygen and mingle with women who work in science as part of Inspiration Day, a collaboration between the University of Akron and the U.S. Department of Defense.
“We wanted to encourage women in engineering and all the sciences … to give them aspiration and inspiration and to have a chance to see role models,” said Rex Ramsier, a UA senior vice provost and professor of physics.
Ramsier and Daniel J. Dunmire — director of the office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight in the Defense Department — came up with the idea of Inspiration Day last year.
The two work closely together after the defense department invested millions of dollars into the university to help launch the National Center for Education and Research on Corrosion and Materials Performance, which offers the only baccalaureate corrosion engineering degrees in the U.S.
The federal government invested in the program because corrosion causes $20 billion of destruction each year at the department of defense. Dunmire, who is trying to tame that waste, discovered the country didn’t have enough corrosion experts to get the job done.
In May, the University of Akron graduated its inaugural class: 10 corrosion engineers who each landed a job before they had a diploma — their average starting salary was around $85,000.
Yet none of those engineers were women.
“I want to concentrate on getting girls inspired. Boys are fine, too,” Dunmire said. “But girls are wired differently. They think differently and that’s a good thing. That’s a resource we need.”
Women hold about half of all jobs in the U.S., but they fill less than 25 percent of jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Yet women who do work STEM jobs make about 33 percent more than their female counterparts in comparable jobs.
Girls at Saturday’s Inspiration Day didn’t seem focused on the numbers.
They wanted to know if a scientist who worked at NASA ever met astronauts and or helped with spaceships.
Or if another scientist who studied corrosion on aircraft ever got to work outside.
Alura Mead, 11, of Norton Middle School, and Emma Grass, 12, of Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Akron, sat next to each other, each wearing glasses to protect their eyes , blue rubber gloves and braces on their teeth.
Neither was sure science would be part of their futures.
Alura said she can’t decide whether to be a forensic lab scientist, lawyer or special victims investigator.
“I like dealing with people. I like getting the bad guys. And my favorite show is (Law and Order) SVU.” Mead said.
Across the table, Aya Booker, another Miller South student, said most people think of Albert Einstein or other men when they think of scientists.
But not her. Nya said she thinks of Dr. Mae Jemison, a physician and the first African-American woman astronaut. Jemison in 1992 she flew into space aboard the Endeavour.
“I like being a part of science and all the possibilities,” Nya said. “I want to be a brain surgeon or president of the United States.”
