Inspiring the Next Generation of Engineers: Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day

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    Just a couple of weekends ago, the Purdue Women in Engineering Program hosted their annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED). This event is one of the programs put together by the Women in Engineering Outreach Program! At this event, high schoolers in 9th to 11th grade come to Purdue’s campus to learn about engineering and engage in fun activities related to the various engineering majors at Purdue. IGED is a great opportunity for students to learn about engineering and learn what might be an interesting major for you. Two of our blog team members volunteered at this event in different roles to help inspire the future generation of engineers.


Current college students can volunteer in two different roles, as either a session team volunteer or mentor. Work as a volunteer on a session team, you can work with a team of other volunteers under a session team member. The session team member will organize an activity focusing on their specific engineering major. The team members will aid in helping students engaging in the activity. As a mentor, you guide a group of high school students to and from sessions and aid in fostering connections between students. Another important role of mentors is to advise and answer student questions about engineering and deciding your major.




Session Team Volunteer – Madison


As a session team member, you can work on one of the many different session teams and help the students during the activity. Session team member volunteers aid with rotating groups of students who come to the session. As a part of the session team, you aid in setting up for the activities and quick changes between session groups. Working with various groups of students allows volunteers in this activity to connect with several different students. I worked in two different session groups, one with a Chemical Engineering product that stressed using the scientific process and assessing the problem and another activity for Visual Design Engineering. The Visual Design Engineering session focused on the process and application of engineering principles to creative concepts.




Mentor Role – Lily


It can be hard to figure out what the right major is for you. Every college applicant questions where they belong, what passions to seek, and what would make them most happy after graduation. As a mentor for IGED, I helped answer these questions for a group of five students. As we went through sessions that focused on different engineering majors, they progressively learned more about what life as an engineer would be like. It was very rewarding leading them through the day because I got to know all five of them and see their interest in engineering grow, especially for one girl who originally did not think engineering was an area of interest for her. I enjoyed my mentoring role because I remember once being in their shoes in high school. I was unsure what I would eventually do in college, but hearing stories from older girls and participating in engineering-related activities persuaded me to pursue engineering, and I don’t think I could be happier in any other major. I hope I helped some of those girls realize engineering is the right fit for them just like older girls did for me.



With the beginning of March, and Women’s History Month, the celebration of women in engineering at Purdue does not end with IGED. In a couple weeks, Purdue Women in Engineering Student Organizations (WESO) will be hosting its annual Women in Engineering Week (“WE Week”), where the student body will come together to attend events that celebrate Purdue’s women engineers. Look forward to future blog posts about the various events and opportunities taking place around Purdue this month!


Lily Brodzinski, ChE '25 and Madison Meunier, ChE '27

Recruitment Project Committee

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Purdue Women in Engineering

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