Last week we went to The Club at Crosspoint, a co-working space in Fishers, for the Launch(ed) Women in Technology Conference. The conference is hosted by Indiana University President Pamela Whitten and offers opportunities for middle school girls to learn, explore and interact with innovations, tech products, and STEAM professionals. About 200 young ladies attended. They had some awesome finger food while they got to wander around various STEAM booths, talk to people and get their hands on some tech tools.
The Girl Scouts were there with cubelet robotics. HSE High School Girls Who Code had a variety of physical computing models to work with. SMC Corporation had a table top pneumatic machine running that would pick up a Starbust and transport it down the assembly line and back. Recovery Force demonstrated a wearable compression device to aid mobility. You could play a “Math Hoops” game with the Indiana Pacers. If you stopped by the Lift Academy table, you got to try out a flight simulator. You could make a wearable light up pin with Ignite Studio (Hamilton East Public Library). Knowledge Services talked about the various aspects of Cyber Security. Spokenote demonstrated their recording service/app.
We had an assortment of things. We had LED’s and batteries to figure out how to light up. We had plastic cups and a variety of designs that learners could pin prick into the cup. A light can be placed in the cup (or it over a lamp) to illuminate the pattern. We also had some pieces of PVC and connectors to build “something”. One of the most popular things we have is string art, where the participants have to use a hammer to put nails or drill to put screws into a board to wrap string around. We really need to figure out more events to get power tools into the hands of Middle School (and younger) learners.
After they got an hour to go around, we headed to the auditorium. There they heard from IU President Pamela Whitten, the first woman to serve as University President. President Whitten also sat down for a conversation with IU Junior Brooke Wyatt to discuss women entrepreneurs. Brooke launched a fashion boutique her junior year of high school.
Next, it was time for even more wild excitement – The Design Challenge. We went to the cafeteria area where students formed teams with the goal of building a prototype of something to help someone. There were a variety of materials to use, from cardboard to pom poms. It seemed liked the most popular thing was using the Zip Snip to cut the cardboard. After finishing, the teams recorded their specific goal and process and thoughts.
We got a wide variety of inventions
Some help pets
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hold phones
paint nails
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pick up trash from roads and sidewalks
pencil sharpener, lead or eraser dispenser
a to-do countdown timer
a litter bot
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a math homework helper (screenreader and gets you resources)
a jewelry box
a wallet that opens by fingerprint…and if it is the wrong fingerprint, there is a taser feature. If you lose it, there is an embedded tracker.
walking cane with built in sensors
a robotic storage locker that follows you
something for Roblox
Yard cleaner (dog/goose poop, acorns, leaves…)
something to prevent callouses and blisters
toilet paper dispenser
portable/flexible drink coasters
a bear to help with anxiety (heart rate monitor, breathing check, warming pad…)
a roller device to remove things (hair,fur, burs) stuck to clothes
(didnt get a picture, sorry)
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