Waukesha-based GE Healthcare, in partnership with Milwaukee School of Engineering, has given 25 sixth and seventh grade girls from the Waukesha School District the opportunity to participate in a week-long science, technology, engineering and math learning program.
The program is sponsored by GE Healthcare Women’s Network. This is the first time the program has taken place in Milwaukee.
“Studies show that while a majority of today’s girls have a clear interest in STEM, they don’t prioritize STEM fields when thinking about future careers. Furthermore, girls express that they don’t know a lot about STEM careers and opportunities,” said Dee Mellor, vice president and chief quality officer at GE Healthcare. Mellor is also executive champion of the GE Women’s Network, an employee group that provides leadership development, advancement and career broadening opportunities. “With help from our partners, the GE Women’s Network is working to foster lasting interest in STEM among girls in our community and share our enthusiasm for these fields.”
Students from Waukesha were bused daily to MSOE to participate in hands on activities that combined construction, programming, electronics, healthcare and chemistry.
The girls in the program will also be introduced to mentors at GE Healthcare and will also participate in a GE Healthcare curriculum that includes medical technologies, physiology and biomedical engineering.
“The GE Girls at MSOE program enables us to reach girls during their middle school years, before many of them start losing interest in math and science,” said Olga Imas, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at MSOE. “It would be incredibly satisfying to see any of these girls again as MSOE students someday.”
The girls in the program applied in the spring and were selected by faculty in the district.
