Girls Empowered with Math and Science Workshops

Our  GEM Workshops are aimed at providing girls with hands-on activities and  experiences to keep them involved in STEM. Each month, GEMs will study  the work of a renowned female scientist while engaging in hands-on  lessons. GEM is a drop-off program that is fun, educational, and shows  the numerous ways STEM topics can be pursued both in their future  educations and as potential career pathways. If we support a young woman  in STEM, then she can change the world.

First Saturday of Each Month*

​10:00 am- 12:00 pm

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Cost $20 Members/$25 Non-Members

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*Pre-registration is required so that there are enough materials for everyone. To register, please complete our registration form and email it to us or bring it with you to the workshop; you can also sign up via our events page.

Program sponsored by MTSI

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Upcoming Workshops 2020-2021*

September 12 (Holiday Schedule)

Patricia Bath - Ophthalmology

GEMs  will explore the law of reflection and light as they design and test  laser mazes while learning about the work of Patricia Bath, pioneer of  laser cataract surgery. In order to control and direct light, GEMs will  learn more about how optical engineers design and test inventions.

October 3

Grace Hopper - Computer Scientist

GEMs  will get coding with our Ozobots, exploring how to make these clever  robots move, change color, and follow codes while learning about Grace  Hopper, leader of the team that created the first working code compiler,  paving the way for future programming languages.

November 7

Cynthia Breazeal - Robotics

GEMs  will program Scribble Bots, robots that scribble and draw designs on  their own while discovering the work of Cynthia Breazeal, who helped  create Kismet, the first social robot. GEMs will get creative with  circuitry and explore electrical energy to power a motor that will  vibrate the Scribble Bot to make unique and colorful artwork.

December 5

Yvonne Brill - Propulsion Engineer

GEMs  will engineer poinsettia-shaped propellers and design a device that  allows them to power their poinsettia spinner using only air from their  lungs while learning about the importance of angles and thrust Yvonne  Brill utilized while inventing fuel-efficient rocket thrusters that keep  satellites in orbit today.

January 9 (Holiday Schedule)

Martha Coston - Health and Safety Engineer

GEMs  will discover how to create a light that works without batteries or  power—but instead uses mechanical power! As they learn about Martha  Coston, creator of the signal flares still used by the US Navy today,  they’ll be designing their own safety system called a Shake Light.

February 6

Stephanie Kwolek - Chemist

GEMs  will test how to change the color of liquids without food coloring and  explore acidity and bases during our Chemical Mystery session. Chemists  like Stephanie Kwolek, inventor of Kevlar, use a diverse range of  methods to investigate the chemical and physical properties of  substances, and GEMs will, too!

March 6

Tierra Guinn - Aerospace Engineer

GEMs  will blast off at this month’s lesson! While learning how engineers  like Tierra Guinn (one of the designers building the Space Launch System  to send people to Mars) design rockets to fly and travel, they’ll get  to make and launch their own foam rockets.

April 10 (Holiday Schedule)

Margaret Knight - Inventor

GEMs  will conduct thermal energy experiments to discover how thermal energy  transfers between materials to determine if they’re conductors or  insulators. New product engineers like Margaret Knight, inventor of the  flat-bottomed paper bag, often test products to ensure they work much  like GEMs will do with this workshop.

May 1

Annie Easley - Aeronautical Engineer

GEMS  will prepare for lift off as they engineer a hand glider and test it  against various aerodynamic challenges while also discovering the work  of Annie Easley, a computer scientist, mathematician, and rocket  scientist that worked on Centaur technology at NASA to boost rockets  into space.

​​*Workshop themes are subject to change depending on guest speakers. Stay tuned to this page for updates.