Boston, MA – October 26, 2006 – Wentworth Institute of Technology participated in the Massachusetts Girls Collaborative (MAGiC) Annual Awards & Project Presentation Conference at iRobot Corporation in Burlington, MA on Saturday, October 21st. The event was an outreach effort to introduce young females to the field of engineering and show them various aspects of the profession. Local students, teachers, parents, counselors, K-12 professionals, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educators gathered for workshops, networking and fun presented by iRobot engineers. There to facilitate the day’s proceedings and represent Wentworth were Larisa Schelkin, special assistant to president for diversity, and Jessica Mosman, mechanical engineering student and president of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) at Wentworth.

The event included four workshops for students in grades 6 through 11, including writing programs, running software simulations, dissecting robots to determine how they operate and function, and building robot components from sensors, actuators, and logic components. In addition to the workshops, presentations were given to follow up on mini-grants given on behalf of MAGiC last year to support the efforts of STEM programs for girls.

"It was excellent – the girls were very excited about this aspect of engineering and learned more about what engineers do," said Schelkin. "It was a great team of women engineers – about 10 from iRobot came and ran workshops – and the girls learned about how exciting the engineering field can be."

The mission of MAGiC is to connect and support programs that promote exploration and learning for girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This is achieved through the sharing of ideas and resources, the creation of a comprehensive program guide, and the disbursement of mini-grants to innovative projects.