On Saturday, May 20, and in partnership with McGillivray Freeman Films, LSC hosted the first DREAM BIG: Girl’s Day Out event.

Inspired by the engineering-centric film Dream Big, currently playing in our massive IMAX Dome Theater, 60 middle and high school girls with an interest or budding curiosity in engineering were invited to LSC to spend the day immersed in different engineering fields. Why? Because we want more female engineers!

For this special event, we invited female engineering professionals and students to attend and to serve as mentors for these students.

Professionals from the North Jersey Chapter of the American Chemical Society (ACS), student ACS chapters, and the Society of Women Engineers spoke to the group of bright young women about their specific area of engineering, the education path they took to get there, their plans for the future, and the hardships they’ve encountered along the way.

At the event, everyone enjoyed coffee, hot chocolate, and breakfast, while an emcee entertained the group. Her message to the girls was this: develop your talents, ask questions, demonstrate what you know and what you can learn!

With the help of DiscoverE.org, LSC STEM instructors developed 10 STEM-rich activities that provided simulations on how to think like an engineer. The mentors acted as a guide as each girl moved through the hands-on experiments.

The students and mentors also got to experience the Dream Big film, which follows three inspiring engineers who transform the way we think about the field. From childhood through adulthood, you see the challenges they face, their rationale for becoming an engineer, and what keeps them motivated.

The participants, mentors, and LSC staff all had a terrific time. Here at the Science Center, we love celebrating women in STEM, and can’t wait to see what lies in store for these bright young girls who came out for the event!