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Cornell BMES holds virtual Girl Scout Engineering Day

By: By Cole Latvis & Matalin Pirtz

girl scout patch 2022 design by Matalin Pirtz
2022 GSED patch design.

This spring, Cornell’s Graduate Chapter of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) organized its semesterly outreach event, Girl Scout Engineering Day (GSED), with a program designed to get young girls (grades 2-8) interested in science and engineering, and to inspire them to pursue careers in STEM.

Normally GSED takes place in-person with numerous hands-on activities available to the participants. However, the event has been held virtually on Zoom since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making this spring event the 4th consecutive virtual GSED.

Keeping with the model from previous years, this year’s program focused on demonstrating biomedical engineering concepts and topics exclusively, including: protein folding, fluid dynamics, biomechanics, and biomaterials. Activity packages were sent to participating New York and Pennsylvania girl scout troops ahead of the event held on April 15th. Along with these packages, the girls also received recorded demonstrations with activity leaders to guide them through the activities and help them make connections to cutting-edge research areas. A follow-up virtual meeting was held a few weeks later on May 5th where participants got to “chat-with-a-scientist” and review key program concepts. Here, the girls also got the opportunity to ask questions and learn what it is like to work in STEM. 

Cornell BMES will hold another GSED event in the fall (likely in-person) with a focus on all disciplines of engineering. Students interested in participating, please keep a look out for sign-ups or reach out to BMES leadership, who welcomes volunteers!

(Photos by Leigh Slyker and Ben Grodner. Patch design by Matalin Pirtz.)

hands cutting paper
A biomechanics activity demonstrated how human hands function through modeling the mechanics with paper, straws, and strings.

 

The protein folding origami activity explained proteins as amino acid chains and the concept of intramolecular interactions dictating protein folding through the use of patterned origami paper which fold together to form larger structures.
A protein folding origami activity explained proteins as amino acid chains and the concept of intramolecular interactions dictating protein folding through the use of patterned origami paper which fold together to form larger structures.

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