Feb 29, 2012 - Claremont, Calif. - About 200 high school girls are expected to attend the Women Engineers and Scientists of Tomorrow (WEST) Conference March 3 at Harvey Mudd College.

Hosted by the HMC chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the event offers young women the chance to learn more about careers in engineering, math and science. 

“The encouragement to pursue education in the sciences, math and engineering after high school is the main goal of the WEST Conference,” said Martha Cuenca ’13, SWE co-president. “We are also hoping that attendees who may not have had strong math and science backgrounds will grow to see these subjects in a positive light.”

Throughout the day, participants will have the opportunity to meet and talk with HMC faculty and students from all majors to gain insights into college life and post-college career options.

Participants have a choice of two workshops—one in engineering and the other in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics or physics. This year’s workshops include robotics, using math to make decisions, exploring subatomic particles and the chemistry of perfume.

The four available engineering workshops offer the chance to design and build something—a “marble” track, kicking machine, LED circuit or digital design.

Engineering workshops will be led by Associate Professors of Engineering Liz Orwin, Lori Bassman and Qimin Yang and Professor of Engineering David Money Harris. Biology workshops will be led by Anna Ahn, associate professor of biology, and Steve Adolph, Stuart Mudd professor of biology and biology department chair. Physics workshops will be led by Theresa Lynn, assistant professor of physics, and Greg Lyzenga, professor of physics. Additional workshops will be led by Lelia Hawkins, assistant professor of chemistry, Susan Martonosi, associate professor of mathematics, and Ran Libeskind-Hadas, Csilla and Walt Foley professor of computer science and department chair.

The WEST conference also includes a luncheon and a keynote speaker, HMC student research demonstrations, a college admissions talk or student life panel, and an optional tour of the HMC campus.

The event is open to female high school students. For more information or to register, visit the conference website.