On 29th July 2018, IEEE AIUB Student Branch WIE Affinity Group in association with IEEE AIUB Student Branch successfully organized an outreach program titled “WIE STAR” at Kuril- Kuratali Ideal High School. The event solely focused on improving the perception of the field of engineering, motivating more girls to pursue an engineering career, as well as promoting the endless possibilities that can result from considering engineering as a possible career option. Students from class 6 to 10 participated in this outreach program.
The venture was inaugurated by Kazi Habibur Rahman, Principal, Kuril- Kuratali Ideal High School, who gave a briefing on the “WIE STAR” event to the students and also thanked IEEE AIUB Student Branch WIE Affinity Group for organizing the event in their school and hoped it would help enlighten the minds of the students who had a misconception of engineering being a field dominated by men.
After the inauguration speech Tasnuva Tasneem, Motivator, IEEE AIUB Student Branch; WIE Coordinator, IEEE AIUB SB WIE Affinity Group; Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering, AIUB, took the stage and gave a short speech discussing successful women engineers and their current situation in the country. After the short speech, the ice-breaking session took place which focused on getting to know the participants by discussing about their ambitions along with their future plans and career options that they find appealing.
Following the ice-breaking session, the first speaker for the day Runa Laila Dolna, Treasurer, IEEE AIUB Student Branch WIE Affinity Group took the stage and initiated her session by treating the students to an inspirational presentation on the concepts of engineering and on female engineers. She shared some inspirational stories from some famous female engineers’ life. She concluded her session by urging the fellow male friends to extend their hands and help their female friends to realize their true capabilities and to help them see what they are made of and show that women are destined for greatness.
Following the first session, the second speaker for the day, Mst. Arefin Akter, Chairperson, IEEE AIUB Student Branch WIE Affinity Group took the stage and initiated her part of the session by discussing why gender diversity is important in the field of engineering. She talked about the ratio of male and female engineers in Bangladesh. Before concluding her part of the session, she shared some of her personal experiences and also enlightened the participants by discussing various sectors of a career in engineering. Based on the presentation of both of the speakers a quiz contest was held consisting of some basic questions.
After the quiz session came the time for showing a few works related to engineering to the participants. At first the basic mechanism of “Arduino LED Display” were discussed and the working principles along with the basic daily life usage of the project were shown to the participants. After that, the basic mechanism and working principles of a “Game Buzzer” were displayed.
For the next part of the session, Kashfia Tajmim Nabila, Event coordinator, IEEE AIUB Student Branch WIE Affinity Group took the stage and initiated her part of the session by giving a short speech on IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE), IEEE Bangladesh Section and IEEE AIUB Student Branch WIE Affinity Group. For the next segment, the students participated in a treasure hunt which involved solving mathematical problems.
Followed by the treasure hunt prize giving ceremony for the winners of the quiz contest and treasure hunt took place. Later, Kazi Habibur Rahman, Principal, Kuril- Kuratali Ideal High School and Rumi Talukdar, Assistant Head Teacher, Kuril- Kuratali Ideal High School were presented with a token of appreciation by the executives of IEEE AIUB Student Branch WIE Affinity Group and IEEE AIUB Student Branch. Afterward, a photo session with the students took place which concluded this remarkable outreach program.