Girls in Tech + MM + PPPRS

GiT MKE SOLVE

A few months ago we connected with some of the women behind Girls in Tech Milwaukee and we talked about collaborating and sharing the joy of making with some local Girl Scouts troops. Well, things are still progressing, but if you’re a supporter of increasing the number of girls and women interested in technology, computer science, engineering, and design, you might want to check out the 2014 Girls in Tech SOLVE Launch Event.

And if you do, be sure to say “Hello!” to Audrey, one of the stars of our Power Racing Series team, as she talks about the engineering involved in designing and building an electric race car. Audrey joined the space last July, and in less than a year she’s gone from “Sure, I’ll drive a car” to “Sure, I’ll rip this old car apart and rebuild it better than before!”

(Oh, Audrey is also a Research Technologist, has attended MIT, and will be doing her graduate studies at Boston University. That’s what keeps her busy when she’s not building electric race cars!)

Red Lotus

A few facts about the Power Racing Series: Karen “Cannonball” Corbeil has the most wins (10) over any driver in the series. No other racing series boasts as many wins by women drivers. 6 women have won races in the Power Racing Series. Dozens have contested. This actually gives the PPPRS the highest gender balance of any “motorsport” in the world, and most every other sport too.

Ada Lovelace Day

Ada Lovelace Day

October 16th, 2012 is Ada Lovelace Day, and it’s about sharing stories of women… women who are makers, engineers, scientists, technologists and mathematicians. Women makers inspire us with their accomplishments, and we should let people know about it.

My own list of women who I find inspiring include Limor Fried (of Adafruit Industries), Jeri Ellsworth (all-around hacker), and Erin aka “RobotGrrl”. My own daughters also inspire me with the things they make, and I want to make sure they’ve got some great female role models to look up to.

Here at Milwaukee Makerspace we’re used to people calling us “a bunch of guys” because, well… we do have more male members than female members, but it’s not by design. Currently we have just a few female members, but we also work with many talented women in the community, from Kompost Kids to Wrapraround Milwaukee, we have plenty of women stop by the space for help with projects or just to find out what we’re all about.

We’ve never made a distinct effort to get women makers to join Milwaukee Makerspace, as our mission has always been to get makers to join Milwaukee Makerspace. Men, Women, Robots… as long as you love making things, you’re welcome at the space. If you’re curious about what we do, or the tools we have, just stop by any Tuesday night at 7pm for our weekly meeting. And what better day to stop by than Ada Lovelace Day!

Find out more about Ada Lovelace Day, and how to encourage women to take part in STEM-related activities at findingada.com. And don’t forget to check out the stories!