Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Society of Women Engineers' STEM education video series

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

When COVID shutdown STEM ed outreach activities, Rose-Hulman Society of Women Engineers members created videos to introduce girls to engineering and science.

We wanted people to hear girls talking about STEM ... These videos provide a type of immortality that made us feel that 2020 isn?t just a ?throwaway year.?”

— Tori Szalay, Past Rose-Hulman SWE Outreach Chair

TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA, UNITED STATES, February 24, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Members of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology?s Society of Women Engineers student chapter are using creative ways through social media to introduce, inspire and encourage young women to become tomorrow?s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals.

Stop-action videography and sketch animation, along with student interviews, are featured in a series of videos that are introducing viewers to the following academic areas on campus (with links to their videos):

? Civil and environmental engineering (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3raOirU9GA&t)
? Electrical and computer engineering (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiLoesaDHlU)
? Mechanical engineering (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWCQVn4IJas&t)
? Physics, optical engineering and engineering physics (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heCd6oVgqWs&t)
? Biological sciences (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktfGR5BtDxw&t)

Videos also have been created on the following topics:
? Women in STEM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbFk69AqQuw&t)
? How to rock your college application (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlhFcSwkPjI)

With more to come on the SWE chapter?s YouTube channel.

Located in Terre Haute, Indiana, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is a STEM-oriented college that has been ranked No. 1 among U.S. News & World Report?s specialized undergraduate engineering institutions for 22 consecutive years.

The SWE chapter video project was organized by current outreach chair Emma Goodman and past chair Tori Szalay after COVID-19 precautions prevented members from participating in planned educational activities at a local children?s science and technology museum, Girl Scouts, and community events to interest middle school and high school girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities.

All of the videos feature female Rose-Hulman students talking about the STEM fields.

?So far, it has been an absolute blast and we have gotten so much out of it,? says Goodman, a chemical engineering major from Flat Rock, Illinois. She directed two of the videos, including the stop-action video that took a playful look at the core elements of civil engineering.

Meanwhile, Szalay used her artistic skills and knowledge as a computer engineering student to draw the electrical circuitry involving resistors, inductors, and capacitors, along with several cartoon characters?all using a whiteboard. She also wrote the video?s script.

?Emma?s stop-motion (civil engineering) video inspired the whiteboard animation idea,? Szalay said. ?I wrote the script. The goal was for the viewer to be able to distinguish electrical and computer engineers after they watched the video. I wasn?t able to do this until the end of my sophomore year because they really are so similar. Now, as a senior, I have a good grasp of the differences.?

SWE chapter president Taylor Lueking, a junior mechanical engineering student from Terre Haute, Indiana, was featured in the mechanical engineering video. Students also had prominent roles the videos highlighting physics, optical engineering, and engineering physics, women in STEM, and how students can file an attention-grabbing college admissions application.

?We wanted people to hear girls talking about STEM,? said Szalay, from Poland, Indiana. ?The content isn?t necessarily about gender and is for anyone who wants to learn, but we thought just having that representation would be impactful. Also, these videos provide a type of immortality that made us feel that 2020 isn?t just a ?throwaway year.? Because of social distancing measures, it was really important that SWE had something to engage our new members.?

The stop-action civil and environmental engineering video, which took 120 hours of production work, has been viewed nearly 500 times in its first two weeks on YouTube.

?We have been very pleased with how things have gone. The popularity of the videos has encouraged us to keep doing this,? Goodman said.

About Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Founded in 1874, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is dedicated to preparing its students with the world?s best undergraduate science, engineering and mathematics education in an environment infused with innovation, intellectual rigor and individualized attention. The institute is consistently recognized nationally as an elite STEM school for distinctions that include faculty excellence, return on investment, value-added, and career services. Career placement is near 100 percent year after year. Located in Terre Haute, Indiana, Rose-Hulman has an enrollment of approximately 2,000 undergraduate students and nearly 100 graduate students. Learn more at rose-hulman.edu.

INTERVIEW AVAILABILITY
Society of Women Engineers chapter leaders are available for telephone and Zoom interviews by appointment. Make arrangements by contacting Dale Long, director of media relations, at 812-208-5615 (cell)/812-877-8418 (office) or dale.long@rose-hulman.edu.

Dale Long
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
+1 812-877-8418
dale.long@rose-hulman.edu