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!