Shhhh… don’t tell anyone but our sustainable innovators are cooking up some incredible inventions of the future near you!! If you glance over at one of our schools from the United States, you may see a prototype being built of an “Automatic Service Teacher” robot invention that helps humans on the autism spectrum. This robot has the potential to alert teachers when a student is feeling anxious or help to make the student feel safer. If you look closer, you may see that it could use various tools like heart monitors/glasses, sensory environment applications, and... it even runs on solar power. But wait! If you jump over to Belgium, you may see a school who is combining waste recycling with equality and human rights. If you peek through the window, you could see that they are designing an entire ecosystem within their classroom with a QR code parcours to help motivate users to be more sustainable and more inclusive. These are some of the thoughtful ways girls aged 11-15 are making their classroom a sustainable place of the future within our Passport to STEM Programme in partnership with the US Embassy in Belgium. Over these past few months, we’ve been thrilled to guide 100 girls from 12 schools across Belgium and the United States through the design process so they can realise their invention. They have had a chance to virtually meet with mentors from diverse backgrounds to get feedback and next month, a few of the schools will be recognized as leaders in STEM, sustainability, and inclusion! We can't help but mention one of our favourite feedbacks from the girls: "I am loving this program and have so much fun imagining and creating new inventions and forms to help people all around the world. I am so grateful to be involved in the program and think it's awesome." Yeah!
What else have we been up to these past few months?
Look into our atelier office and, in true g4g style, you would polymer worms being created, crystals being formed, and solar cars whizzing by. Our team has been rocketing into space, diving deep into the ocean, racing around tracks, and finding out how to make everyday life more of an adventure! We launched a broadcast episode on just this theme – Adventure – with our partner AIG as we heard from beSPACE personality, Sarah; McLaren engineer, Sian; financial adviser, Holly; coastal ecosystem scientist, Claudia; and STEM adventurer, Julie. We love the advice that was passed on from Sian especially: “I fully believe that just because you make a choice and go in one direction, it doesn’t mean you can’t go back another direction and choose another door later on. STEM is incredibly diverse: I went from medical to race cars!” With over 400 views of our broadcast – and an adventurous experiment with crystals that shined and polymer worms that were indeed slimy – we believe that this message was well received!
And from adventure, we grew into our next broadcast theme, Renewal, which specifically benefited over 100 girls in Ireland and around the world thanks to our wonderful partners Riot Games and GlobalGiving. During this episode, speakers shared what it meant to renew their own personal and professional purpose, described how science is constantly renewing itself with innovation in research, and discussed how renewable energy can make the future a brighter place. We loved the diversity our speakers brought to the table including Fiona, who spent 20 years in the field of science research and earned her PhD in molecular genetics from Trinity College Dublin; Catriona, a young role model who changed from chemistry to political science and is currently in her last year at Trinity College Dublin; and Mary, an Ireland-based technology entrepreneur and serial angel investor who is one of Said Business School's (University of Oxford) Entrepreneurship Experts. We also showcased a hands-on experiment which featured the building of a solar-powered car and a solar-powered light. Oh la lumière!
We have also been busy behind-the-scenes working to bring our g4g Lab to life, a community platform of unique experiential learning that provides even more girls around the world with g4g activities, g4g fun, and g4g inspiration. We want the communities we serve to be able to actively experience STEM outside of the classroom, have fun thinking about STEM in new ways, and get a chance to meet STEM professionals as often as they want. Although we will be focused on module learning these next months ahead, we are also excited to be working again with CDK, a technology company, to welcome a cohort of 140 CDK interns as part of our STEM Challenge Internship programme. Don't forget to be on the lookout for broadcast episodes with Covestro role models and global hackathons with Solvay! There even may be a chance to gather together in a new way soon… but shhhh, don’t tell anyone just yet!
To all of our donors, we are deeply appreciative of your support and generosity which keeps our programming for women and girls flourishing. We hope that you see the deep impact that you have had – over 2,300 people have engaged with our broadcasts since we have started… what a result! The content and engagement with STEM role models that we are able to share are the inspiration for the next generation, and it is your belief in our mission that fuels our creativity and innovation for all that we do. We thank you and can’t wait to share more with you soon!
Wishing you STEM invention and innovation ahead,
The g4g team
