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From:
Saanich News
Girls’ robot fest canned
By Amy Dove
Saanich News
Oct 25 2006
You’ve never seen Lego move like this.
The small robots use more than 500 available pieces to dance, kick and trek
their way through obstacle courses - of at least they were supposed to until a
low enrollment cancelled the first University of Victoria Lego Robotics Festival
for Girls.
The two-day event was scheduled to run from Oct. 20-21 but had to be postponed
when only three students signed on. Course organizers were looking for 30.
The postponement does not reflect a lack of interest in engineering and computer
science from local girls, said organizer Anissa Agah St. Pierre. She cites bad
timing. The three day weekend and two-day committment might have been a little
much to ask, she noted.
As the university’s representative for women in the fields of engineering and
computer science, St. Pierre conducted 19 one-day workshops last year. About 500
students were challenged to build and program small robots while learning about
career opportunities in each respective field.
“People are just not aware of all the cool things they can do with it,” she
said.
The workshops are an important part of exposing girls to fields that are
traditionally dominated by males. Less than 20 per cent of all engineering and
computer science graduates in North America are women.
The potential to land a job after graduation is growing as well. UVic’s
engineering/computer science co-op program posted 584 jobs over the summer and
while information of how many were left unfilled is not available there were
openings left
“Some were left unfilled - we are seeing a trend of more jobs than students,”
said Andrea Giles, assistant director for co-operative education program.
Some of those positions are better suited to women as well, St. Pierre said.
Communications positions are of note, she added.
The Lego Robotics Festival for Girls has been moved to Feb. 10, 2007.
For more information on the festival and registration contact St. Pierre at
472-5851 or e-mail her at anissa@uvic.ca.
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