Industry innovators inspire young women to aim higher
Last month Ruth Buckland was one of a hundred Year 11 & 12 girls from around Aotearoa who were accepted into the Innovative Young Minds (IYM) programme, designed to encourage young women to explore science, technology, engineering, mathematics and high-tech manufacturing.
The programme was run online over a week in the April school holidays and included all of the following:
- Virtual tours of laboratories and other spaces in universities, Crown Research Institutes and businesses.
- Interactive sessions where researchers and innovators showcase their research and work.
- Inspiring career panels led by women working in STEMM.
- Hands-on sessions using digital technology.
- Team-building and networking sessions.
- An Innovation Challenge where participants work in teams led by an industry expert mentor.
When asked how she found the programme Ruth replied, "It was really fun! I feel like I learnt so much over the week of the course and so many things I didn't think I could learn as well, just so many new pathways opened up. There were lots of different fields that I hadn't even thought about within science and technology so it was cool to be opened up to those as options."
As well as hearing from a wide range of individuals and organisations, the girls were split into ten groups and given an innovation challenge to work together on across the week. Their topic was "Creating a Smarter City" and the groups were given an hour or so each day to work collaboratively on their ideas, ready to pitch it to IYM at the end of the week.
For Ruth, her group looked at some of the challenges with our waterways, in particular the amount of leakage that can occur with our current pipe systems.
"My group created an innovative idea around creating 'smartpipes' that had like a seal around them to prevent water leakage and also creating a live sensor that would gauge the amount of water going through the pipes so that it could always be monitored."
In some ways, seeing so many opportunities within STEMM has made choosing a particular pathway even harder for the Year 12 student but Ruth is definitely keen on pursuing something within science. She's hoping to look at either first year Health Science at University or a Bachelor of Science and the field of astronomy was one that really fascinated her.
To anyone interested in applying for the programme next year, Ruth said, "Definitely give it a go. It was a little scary at first not knowing anyone, but through the innovation challenge you get to meet and get close to so many of the girls and it's really awesome, so definitely give it a go. It was really fun!"
About IYM
The Innovative Young Minds (IYM) programme is designed to encourage young women to explore science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and high-tech manufacturing – fields we call the STEMM sector. Our engaging and interactive online and residential programmes showcase the wide range of study, research and career opportunities available in STEMM.
Participants will be exposed to eye-opening and inspiring science and technology content. They will also make lasting friendships with like-minded young women who share a passion for STEMM!
Our programmes are only open to young women because females are underrepresented in the STEMM sector and we want to change that. Our goal is to inspire a new generation of female innovators and industry leaders.