GE Girls camp to spur interest and influence pursuit of science, technology, engineering and math careers
ATLANTA — (BUSINESS WIRE) — June 9, 2014 — Today, the GE Women’s Network in collaboration with the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) kicked off GE Girls at Georgia Tech. The week-long day camp gives 25 middle school-aged girls from East Cobb Middle School an early introduction to the exciting world of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) with the goal of inspiring them to consider college majors and careers in these areas.
“Women are under-represented in STEM fields and studies show that middle school is a time when many girls lose interest in science and math,” said Stephanie Mains, Vice President of Distributed Power for Global Services of GE and executive champion for the GE Women’s Network in Atlanta. “GE is committed to fostering an interest in these areas. The GE Women’s Network developed the GE Girls camp program to share our enthusiasm for these careers and foster lasting interest in STEM among girls in our community.”
Interested rising seventh- and eighth-graders applied this spring and participants were selected by Georgia Tech’s faculty. The multi-disciplinary curriculum that was also designed by Georgia Tech, aims to foster girls’ interest in STEM with the long-term goal of encouraging more women to choose careers in those areas. GE Girls participants have the unique opportunity to learn from world-class faculty, student teachers, business professionals and facilitators about different STEM careers and initiate mentoring relationships with women in those fields. The girls will have the opportunity to participate in various projects, including the Urban Bee Project, Human-Robot interactions, 3D printing experience, lip gloss chemistry and mobile app and game creation.
“GE Girls Camp is an important program; not only does this hands-on program engage, introduce and inspire young girls to have a lifelong love of discovery and innovation, it may even allow them to see opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math that they might not have otherwise realized,” says Candy Carson, Vice President of Finance for GE Energy Management and executive champion for the GE Women's Network in Atlanta. “Involving girls in fun and real-life STEM experiences and learning opportunities at this stage in their development can inspire a lifelong passion for science.”
Now in its second year, the GE Girls program in Atlanta joins eight other successful programs across the country including, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Notre Dame, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and Pennsylvania State University.
GE has a long history of supporting education in the Atlanta area through a host of GE volunteer efforts including, GE Capital Financial Literacy programs, sponsoring FIRST robotics teams and volunteering in schools through Junior Achievement. The GE Women's Network has 170 hubs (chapters) in 45 countries. GE Girls at Georgia Tech is another way members of the Atlanta hub of the GE Women's Network are investing in the greater Atlanta community and making a difference in the lives of young women.
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com. GE’s presence in Atlanta consists of five business units including: Energy Management, Oil & Gas, Transportation, Capital and Power & Water. The total number of employees in the Metro Atlanta area is 2,400.
GE Women’s Network
Established in 1997, the Women's Network was created to accelerate the advancement of women working at GE. This effort includes sharing the experience, best-practices, and knowledge of successful women role models: the executive team represents a diverse group of women from each of GE’s businesses and critical corporate functions. Today the rapidly growing Women’s Network has evolved into a worldwide organization of more than 150 Hubs (Chapters) in 43 countries helping thousands of women around the world
About Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the world's premier research universities. Ranked seventh among U.S. News & World Report's top public universities, the Institute enrolls 21,000 students within its six colleges. Georgia Tech is the nation's leading producer of engineers as well as a leading producer of female and minority engineering Ph.D. graduates. Holding more than 780 patents and receiving approximately $570 million in sponsored awards, Georgia Tech ranks among the nation's top ten universities (without a medical school) in research expenditures. Visit www.gatech.edu for more information.
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