Ka'Houa Xiong displays her airplane at the Rosemount flight field.

Seventh-grade girls learn about engineering, manufacturing and technology at STEPS camp

By Patty Petersen
Photos by Sarah Darval

You may have noticed groups of junior-high girls outside Owens Science Hall working with colored wires stuck in the ground and wondered what they were doing.  The girls were creating crystal radios as part of an electricity session in STEPS (Science, Technology and Engineering Preview Summer camp for girls).

This is the fourth and final week of the camp, a free, five-day program sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation and hosted by St. Thomas' Engineering and Technology Management Department.

Lindsay Schuette, 12, says she had "little" interest in engineering before STEPS, but a lot of interest after the camp. "I never realized there was so much stuff you could do in engineering. I thought engineering was way above my head, like you had to be a brain in math. It's a field that's opened up to me now because of this camp."

Schuette received help in the airplane-construction lab from her grandfather, John Walker, who teaches manufacturing systems and process design at St. Thomas. Walker has been involved in STEPS since it started at St. Thomas three years ago.

The camps are an effort to attract more women to careers in engineering, manufacturing, technology and science.

Camp participants, 36 percent of whom are students of color, live on campus and take classes in plastics, electricity, machining, computer-aided design (CAD), assembly, Web design, chemistry, physics and engineering.  New classes this year include robotics, diversity and career exploration.

Becky Durham, a St. Thomas career counselor whose daughter attended camp last year, helps participants think about their futures. "I think it's helpful for young women to have an understanding of how the classes they take in STEPS relate to the world of work," Durham said.  To accomplish this, Durham guides the girls through a Web site scavenger hunt in which they find the answers to questions such as: How much money do engineers make? What classes do I need to take to become an engineer?  What scholarships are available to help pay for an education in engineering?

Lindsay Schuette uses a router under the watchful eye of her grandfather, John Walker, who teaches at St. Thomas.

While at camp, the girls create an airplane from start to finish: they cut styrofoam wings with a hot-wire saw and glue the sections together, assemble the fuselage, cut and bend aluminum strips for the rudder and elevator, thermoform the canopy, and cover the exterior to help with aerodynamics.

the planes are fitted with gas engines and flown with help from volunteers from the Tri-Valley Radio Control Club.

To experience college life, the girls live in Grace Hall and eat on campus.

"It was cool to share a room with one person," said Kelsey Lange, 12. "I met so many new people. Everyone had a different personality and we all got along."

Kelsey's mom said she had to talk Kelsey into attending STEPS, but "she absolutely loved it," Karen said. "She wasn't sure about staying overnight four nights," she explained.

"She loved staying in Grace Hall," Karen said. "I think being with girls different from herself was a highlight." Karen is dean of student life at St. Thomas. "I think some things 'clicked' for her. Before she went to camp she said she 'wasn't good at those things (math, science, etc.).' The camp was a self-confidence booster."

Kelsey's dad, Dan, said he was impressed with the software the girls were using in the computer-aided design class. "The 3-D modeling program they used is pretty advanced," he said. Dan, who works as a drafter for an engineering department, said, "Now I think Kelsey understands what I do!"

STEPS' goal is to reach girls early enough to influence their choices of math, science and technical courses in middle and high school; prepare them to succeed in college-level engineering programs; and lead them into careers in manufacturing, engineering and technology.  High-paying opportunities for women exist; there just aren't enough candidates with the proper training.

"Last year there were 120,000 entry-level engineering jobs and only 60,000 engineering graduates -- that's a huge gap," said Dr. Ron Bennett, chairman of St. Thomas' Engineering and Technology Management Department. 

Pam Schaub is coordinator of the STEPS camp at St. Thomas again this year.  A senior product-regulation manager at Medtronic, she earned a master's in manufacturing systems from St. Thomas in 1999.

As co-directors of the camp, alumni Heather Starks'98, and Marika Staloch '99, make sure that everything goes smoothly while the girls are on campus. Starks, who has been co-director three years, teaches American history to seventh graders at Blackhawk Middle School in Eagan. Staloch, in her second year as co-director, is the homework center coordinator at the Lexington branch of the St. Paul Public Library.

STEPS at St. Thomas is co-sponsored by ADC Broadband Co., Bush Foundation, Dunwoody Institute, Liberty Carton Co., Medtronic, Peregrine, Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation, 3M, Tri-Valley RC Flyers, Twin City Die Casting Co.,  University of St. Thomas and Xcel Energy.

The SME Education Foundation began implementing STEPS in Minnesota in 2000 with a $372,000 Bush Foundation grant, which was split three ways: among St. Thomas; Alexandria Technical College, Alexandria, Minn.; and the University of Minnesota.  Alexandria also hosts a STEPS camp for seventh-grade girls.  The U of M hosts an advanced STEPS for girls in 10^th and 11^th grades.

This is the last year of the three-year grant to St. Thomas of $112,500 from SME.

For more information about STEPS, contact program coordinator Jacki Kubal, (651) 962-5750, jkkubal@stthomas.edu.