Female students from years 11 and 12 attended the Australian National University’s Girls in Engineering and Technology program (GETSet) on Thursday 28 July. In its 11^th year the program is designed or female students who wish to explore a career in engineering or technology.

Program organiser Emily O’Hara said that with opportunities like this, girls often come away with a new understanding of what a career in engineering or technology might offer them.

 “Girls have such great communication skills and are naturally great collaborators so we are keen to encourage them to explore how their interests might connect with a career in engineering or computer science,” Emily explained.

“The program encourages girls to challenge assumptions around these disciplines and helps them to see past the stereotypes that are often attached to roles in these fields. Students also get a chance to connect with like-minded peers and meet students who are currently at ANU.”

The participants took part in practical, hands-on workshops to explore appropriate construction, robotics, cyber security and coding, with the post-lunch tour of Australia's high performance supercomputer a highlight for many.

ANU Bachelor of Engineering and Science student Matilda Dowse attended the program when she was in year 12.  As a facilitator this year, she has now seen the program from both perspectives.  

 “From my first GETSet experience I learnt so much about the realities of engineering and realised that it is much more than just maths and computations, it’s also about problem solving and collaboration. This is a really exciting and diverse field and I’m keen to share this with female students to spark their interest” Matilda said.

During the afternoon, the girls were able to connect with a panel of women from industry and academia during a Q&A session.

Ha, a year 11 student from Canberra’s Lake Ginninderra College would like to explore a career in IT and is especially interested in Artificial Intelligence.

“It was great experience, I enjoyed everything and it was great to meet other people. I feel like I really challenged myself at the workshops and I was able to achieve something” Ha said.

The ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science hosts the GETSet program once a year. On Saturday 20 October, the College will join forces with the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences and the ANU College of Science to host STEAM Day. Places will be open to male and female students from years 11 and 12.

If you would like to know more about Engineering and Computer Science at ANU or the outreach programs available, email marketing.cecs@anu.edu.au or drop by the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science stand at ANU Open Day on Saturday 25 August.