Science Cheerleader

Say wha? Check out Fairytale Fashion where technology is used “to turn make-believe into reality”.  It’s a project former Project Runway participant Diana Eng is working on these days. It’s an “interactive, web-enabled effort to create a collection of magical clothing in real life, replete with blooming flowers, transforming shapes and changing colors”.

In this installment of MotherboardTV, the “fashion geek” demonstrates how easily technology can be incorporated into fashion and she shares a secret about Victoria’s Secret’s bust-enhancing, “smart fabric”. Check it out.

Are you a 30 year-old male with the physical building skills to design inventions and create amazing gadgets?

If so, you are not me. In addition, you may be perfect for the cast of a new engineering TV show that aims to solve occupational and domestic problems for everyday people. The creators are look for candidates with big ideas and even bigger personalities — someone with a wry sense of humor and the passion to overcome engineering challenges.

Visit GotCast.com by February 15!

Judy Lee’s dream job lets her design everything from toys to pet products AND she gets to bring her dog to work. Learn more about women in engineering at EngineerYourLife.org.

Designing housing that is affordable for city dwellers is challenging enough, even without considering green building standards.  However, the National Engineer’s Week Foundation is asking junior high school kids to design energy-efficient urban environments in this year’s Future City competition.  Now entering its 18th year, the Future City Competition invites seventh and eighth graders nationwide to create the cities of tomorrow, encouraging their interest in science, technology, engineering and math through hands-on applications.

This year’s challenge, entitled “Providing An Affordable Living Space For People Who Have Lost Their Home Due to a Disaster or Financial Emergency”, will require students to design an energy-efficient city using SimCity 4 Deluxe software and then build a model of their virtual city using recycled materials.  Each team is also required to write a research paper that describes the rationale behind their designs, as well as a second narrative that outlines the key features of their city. The registration deadline for this year’s regional and national competitions is October 31, 2009, but interested students can register early in order to obtain an information handbook over the summer.  This is a school-based competition, so interested students will need to obtain the support from their local school’s administration.  Registration costs are low ($25.00), so schools and students would mainly be responsible for the cost of the SimCity 4 Deluxe software (ranging from $14.99 – $43.99 on Amazon.com, though I assume an academic license might be available) and travel to the competition sites.

Also, former scientists and engineers can volunteer to mentor teams of students as they design their city.  This would be a great way for retirees to get involved in a local classroom near home and share all of their expertise!  Interested mentors can contact local schools directly to see if there is an interest in the Future City competition, or sign up here.

Today, the journal, Inside Higher Ed, released a report titled “Seeking advice on women in science.”

The report summarized yesterday’s  hearing of the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Research and Science Education. The hearing focused on that age-old question of how to find ways to attract more female science students.

The fact that women are underrepresented in a number of STEM fields shows itself in the proportions of degrees granted to each gender. In 2006, women earned 58 percent of all bachelor’s degrees, but only 20 percent of computer science bachelor’s degrees, 21 percent of physics degrees and 20 percent of engineering degrees, according to data from the National Science Foundation.

Why should women care about this? Rep. Vern Elhers (a republican scientist –that’s right, they exist), summed it up nicely:

“The jobs of the future are going to require of workers a basic understanding of the principles of math and science. If we do not persuade women to pursue these fields, they are already [risking] cutting themselves out of a great job future,” said Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-MI).

What we’re talking about here are jobs in physics and engineering. Let’s not dismiss the other science areas where women outnumber men:

A recent National Science Foundation report found that women hold more than half of science and technology degrees, with women earning 77 percent of psychology degrees, 62 percent of biological sciences degrees, and 54 percent of social sciences degrees.

This should help increase our knowledge about women’s health. And, in doing the math (not my strongest subject, I am a female after all) I’m thinking those women psychologists are counseling quite a few male engineers and physicists, no? And why aren’t the guys holding conferences to find ways to get more boys interested in psychology and social sciences?

Let’s see where this bifurcation started, shall we? (more…)