Sixty-three Edgewood Middle School girls participated in the “Forget Princess, I want to be an Engineer” event Thursday.
Since its inception, this program has introduced over 350 young women to the possibilities of a career in engineering in an enjoyable, engaging environment, according to information provided by Project Lead the Way teacher Abbi Richcreek.
Students took part in a hands-on engineering challenge to take two eggs, put them in a wooden car and have them go down a ramp and hit a block without cracking the eggs. If the eggs did not break, the team got a 3D-printed “sacred unicorn.”
The event partnered with the Northeast Indiana Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), with 16 female engineers volunteering as mentors for the students.

    Juliana McGinnis (L) and Cece Sheetz-Holland (R) set up cars with eggs in them to roll down a ramp Thursday. Photo by Jackie Gorski, Times-Union
  

Richcreek gave directions to students Thursday of what they could and could not do with their cars and eggs. Students could not do anything that would slow down their cars. They could also not glue the egg itself to the cart.
Supplies students could use include glue guns and sticks, pieces of foam, index cards, Dixie cups, pipe cleaners, aluminum foil and straws.
Girls can participate in the event one time, but students who participated in last year’s event helped with this year’s challenge. According to Richcreek, there were nine helpers during the event Thursday.
Eliza Paton, a senior at Warsaw Community School, told Edgewood students she knows a big thing in middle school is choosing classes for when students get into high school. She said she knows it can be stressful.
Paton recommended a couple classes for students, including digital electronics. She also recommended welding classes to students. She said welding has more to do with engineering than the students may think.
Paton said she thinks it’s more important for students to think of pathways as an opportunity to learn things they may find useful later on.