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For the past decade, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division; the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania; and Jefferson University have united to provide young women from the Pennsylvania area an opportunity to gain knowledge and inspiration to pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-related fields.
And this summer was no exception.
Over the course of two weeks, from Aug. 8 – 18, 2022, the young women observed speeches, discussion panels, and presentations, as well as gained first-hand experience of what it is like to participate in healthy debates and lead a mock company as part of a poster session competition.
“This is such a great opportunity for you all, and I want you to take full advantage of this. You are all very intelligent girls with such bright futures,” said Dr. Fernando Tovia, engineering professor at Jefferson University and the program’s director, reminding the participants daily.
NSWCPD Command Welcome
NSWCPD Cybersecure Hull, Mechanical & Electrical (HM&E) Control Systems & Networks Department Deputy Allison Hollish helped kick off the STEM Summer Camp by sharing with the students how her attendance at Math Summer Camp was her segue into engineering.
“When I started engineering after graduating from high school, engineering was new, and especially for women. So, I was one of seven girls in my engineering class,” Hollish said, emphasizing the value of getting into programs at a young age to enhance one’s craft and expressing how engineering, a less traditional profession for women, has evolved.
“There are about one million more STEM jobs that will be available in 2029 compared to 2019. This just shows you how much the field is growing,” Hollish said, providing the students with statistics of women in engineering.
“I put my head down and did the best I could do. I would also ask a lot of questions. With that, I could learn a lot more. I could gain knowledge and resources and use it to my advantage,” Hollish said, serving as an example of a woman working in a male-dominated field.
Internship Experience Presentation and Discussion
The camp also featured a presentation by NSWCPD mechanical engineer Kathryn Avanzato followed by a discussion with two recent NSWCPD interns, all emphasizing the advantages of internships.
Avanzato started off interning at the command through the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program (NREIP) to get her foot in the door, and during her presentation shared the benefits of working for the Navy and the international experience one can get while working for NSWCPD.
“With everything being on the water, you’re able to travel to some cool places. For example, I was just in Pearl Harbor for two weeks. I was just in San Diego and Norfolk, Va.,” Avanzato said, adding how she was able to participate in the NREIP all throughout college.
Avanzato also gave students tips for success by using their current resources.
“You should use your professors’ peers or even us to get involved and stay involved,” she said.
“That can be you! Internships like this can open the doors for you to have a sustainable career for life,” Tovia added.
Two recent NSWCPD interns, Caryn Chandler, a senior at the Philadelphia High School for Girls, and Adriana Drones, a freshman at Drexel University studying mechanical engineering, offered students additional resources outside of the Navy that would also benefit their future endeavors.
The students questioned the speakers about work-life balance and time management related to their role and dedication to the industry.
Chandler shared her experience in the Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP) and how her mentor instilled the importance of maintaining a work-life balance.
“I make sure that work does not become too overwhelming, and honestly in my department we have the best mentor, Ron Williams. He knew that the work we were doing was hard, but he also understood we are still young, which made the process a lot easier,” Chandler said.
Communications Skills Presentation
Another highlight of the camp was a presentation by NSWCPD Contract Specialist Grisel Velazquez, who gave the girls tips on how to enhance their communication skills.
She also had the students read aloud notable passages from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s book “My Beloved World”.
In addition, Velazquez reiterated the three tips she wanted the girls to remember about communicating privately and publicly:
1. Finding a venue where you can practice your public speaking skills.
2. Proper spelling and grammar has a direct impact on how you communicate.
3. Learning 10 unfamiliar words a day can increase your vocabulary.
Velazquez also left the students with tips for their upcoming energy debate.
“Listen to what the other person says,” she advised, and for some last words of wisdom before their energy debate she reminded the girls that “being prepared is not half the battle, it is the battle.”
Energy Debate
The students were then able to incorporate Velazquez’s tips when they presented their projects that focused on six sources of energy.
“The girls have researched the statistics of energies such as nuclear energy, hydroelectricity, shell energy, wind energy, coal and solar,” Tovia said.
NSWCPD mechanical engineers Emily Boda, Allison Hice, and Catherine Abbott, as well as environmental engineer Makayla Holt volunteered to judge the students’ presentations based on quality, content, clarity, and delivery.
Following the presentations, the round robin started with teams debating on coal versus hydro, solar versus nuclear, and shell versus wind. Solar, coal, shale, and wind faced off for the final two spots during the second round robin.
After the three rounds of the round robin, the final two teams were solar and coal who tied for first place.
"This is the first time in history since starting the camp that we had two winners! The group of girls that we had this year has excellent knowledge, and this has been one of the best debates that I've ever had," Tovia said.
STEM Careers Panel Discussion
Before kicking off the poster presentations and science fair portion of the camp, NSWCPD mechanical engineer and NSWCPD STEM Girl Scout Camp Coordinator Elyse Merkel moderated a panel of NSWCPD women who spoke about their careers and their experience of being a woman in engineering, science, logistics, management, and leadership, as well as answered questions from students.
Panel members included mechanical engineers Hice, Abbott, and Tania Teissonniere-Almodovar; environmental engineer Makayla Holt; logistics manager Cathryn Barnett; branch manager Colleen McKillips; and Sail, Hull and Deck Machinery Systems Division Head Susan Carter.
Carter started the discussion by taking the time to give the girls insight into her journey as a woman in engineering and expressing the importance of the various areas of engineering beyond science.
“If you are an artistic person, you can still be an engineer,” Carter said, reassuring the girls that the sky is the limit no matter what facet of life they choose.
Merkel opened the discussion to the other women, who then discussed their successes and areas of development throughout their time in the Navy.
“Now if you don’t know something you can look it up or find out how to do it on YouTube, which gives you endless opportunities for knowledge,” Carter said, shedding light on the variety of external resources the girls now have in the digital age.
Merkel then closed the discussion by asking the panel, “as an adult, what would you tell your middle school self?”
"Have more confidence in yourself; you are all exceptional. I remember being so shy and I just look back and think I am a different person. If I would have started that confidence a little sooner, who knows," Holt said.
“Find other people who do what you like to do and do it together. Hang out and get better together. Encourage and motivate one another to build each other’s confidence,” Carter advised.
Poster Presentations
In addition to competing in a debate, the students also went head-to-head during a poster presentation session spearheaded by Albi Vata, a camp counselor and junior studying pre-med at Thomas Jefferson University. He is the man behind the scenes, who created the concept of the poster presentation to give students the real-life experience of being the CEO of an engineering entity.
“I led the girls to make a mock engineering firm and logo prototypes that they then reverse engineered, and they did this all as a group as if they were in an engineering firm,” Vata said, adding that the project comprised of the scout making “a company logo that was 3D printed … They then had to make a PowerPoint presentation to sell off this prototype to the Navy, and then we had the Navy (from NSWCPD) judges come in and score the presentations to see if they would be interested in buying it or not. These logo prototypes were to be used in aiding the Navy in something such as transporting material or to purify water to meet the Navy’s needs.”
Science Fair
One of the most interactive parts of the camp focused on students trying out various experiments such as magnetism, electricity, and bio-medical stations that showed the functionality of the heart and the ear waves.
Another activity provided the girls with medical experience.
“The first (activity) explained the intricacies of the human lungs through an interactive model, using a stethoscope to hear the physiology behind the lungs. The second centered on the intricacies of a human heart and using an interactive model to describe that as well. Then we used a stethoscope to hear and calculate someone's heart rate,” Vata said.
“Lastly, we taught the girls the importance of the inner ear in terms of balance and coordination, not just hearing. We started off this activity by giving each girl a simple anatomy lesson on the inner ear and then did an activity showing them how the inner ear works. We experimented with this by putting the girls on a spinning wheelchair, blindfolding them, and spinning them around a couple of times to see if they could locate where in the room they were. When they couldn’t, we explained that their ears are capable of only detecting so much due to the physiology of the ear,” he continued.
NSWCPD mechanical engineers Brian Lau, Kelsey Fittipaldi, Keina Thorpe, Steven Crowell, Shreyansh Shah, and Robert Valtos assisted with the event.
“Helping to connect NSWCPD employees with young women in engineering is one of the most rewarding experiences each year. Often my fellow volunteers and I are inspired by the students. It is an honor to help develop an environment for future engineers to discover and learn about STEM in the beginning of their journeys,” Merkel said.
NSWCPD employs approximately 2,800 civilian engineers, scientists, technicians, and support personnel. The NSWCPD team does the research and development, test and evaluation, acquisition support, and in-service and logistics engineering for the non-nuclear machinery, ship machinery systems, and related equipment and material for Navy surface ships and submarines. NSWCPD is also the lead organization providing cybersecurity for all ship systems.
| Date Taken: | 09.29.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.29.2022 17:11 |
| Story ID: | 430423 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 463 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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