STEM XX - A podcast interviewing women in STEM

STEM XX* is a podcast interviewing remarkable women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Each episode will introduce you to a new guest so that you can learn about their journey and be inspired by their story. *XX optional  

[scishow]

Great Minds: Katherine Johnson, Human Computer

In the early days of spaceflight, if NASA needed to plot a rocket’s path or confirm a computer’s calculations, they knew who to ask: Katherine Johnson.

[stemxx]

STEM XX 029: Following your interest and passion with Leigh Brody

Last week we were joined by Dr Leigh Brody, Director of Genomic Services at Desktop Genetics. She talks about her work with CRISPR/Cas9, nanoparticles and taking responsibility for your own learning.

[stemxx]

29 Startups That Prove the Future of STEM Is Young Women

Passing your A-level in Computing at 11 is no mean feat, but more than a decade has passed since this happened and I'm unaware of a girl who has come up behind me. I know I'm special - but I also know I'm not *that* special.

[did-you-know]

On her childhood:

“I counted everything. I counted the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the number of dishes and silverware I washed … anything that could be counted, I did.”

On her NASA calculations:

“Early on, when they said they wanted the capsule to come down at a certain place, they were trying to compute when it should start. I said, ‘Let me do it. You tell me when you want it and where you want it to land, and I’ll do it backwards and tell you when to take off.’ That was my forte.”

Katherine really stood out in her field because she was the only woman who asked questions.

“The women did what they were told to do,” she explained. “They didn’t ask questions or take the task any further. I asked questions; I wanted to know why.“

In 2011, when asked if she still counts things:

 “Oh, yes. And things have to be parallel. I see a picture right now that’s not parallel, so I’m going to go straighten it. Things must be in order.”

Source

[startalkradio]

Teen Girls to Create Africa’s First Private Satellite

Africa’s first private satellite will be launched in 2016.

But scientists and engineers will not be behind this bold move – it is being powered by a group of South African high school girls. Pupils from across Cape Town on Youth Day attended the launch of the ambitious project, run by the Meta Economic Development Organisation (Medo). A shortage of technical skills required for building businesses motivated the company to launch a science, technology, engineering and maths focused programme, explained Medo CEO Judi Sandrock.

“The intention of this programme is not to be a once-off. It is to be the start of at least a decade-long drive to inspire young people to enter the science and technical fields,” she said.

(source)

[codeorg]

#ILookLikeAnEngineer

[kartari]

MY PEOPLE

[theycallmebrick]

*tsk* Gotta hate it when you chip a nail.

[kingpiss]

MAKES LOUD SHRIEKS AND GROANS OF FRUSTRATION AND ADMIRATION

[filthraven]

strife tho

[commodorez]

Is she RoHS compliant?

[stemxx]

STEM XX 028: Engineering and improving the human experience with Keri Collins

This week we are joined by Dr Keri Collins, the COaST Post Doctoral Researcher at Plymouth University. She talks about the human-powered submarine project, wave energy and sniffer bees.

[pata-nahii-deactivated20260125]

Pakistan-born, Komal Ahmad, develops phone app to feed almost 600,000 homeless people in San Francisco.

While she was walking near campus one fall day, a homeless man approached her, asking for money to buy food because he was hungry. Instead of giving him cash, Komal invited the man to lunch. As they ate, he told her his story. He was a soldier recently returned from Iraq and had a bad turn of luck. “He’d already gone on two deployments and now he’s come back, he’s 26 and on the side of the road begging for food,” Komal said. “It just blew my mind.”

It bothered her so she decided to do something about it. Within a few months, Komal set up a program at UC Berkeley that allowed the school’s dining halls to donate excess food to local homeless shelters. That program then expanded to 140 college campuses across the US in about three years.

Komal, now 25 years old and CEO of a nonprofit service called Feeding Forward, is looking to expand even more into what she calls on-demand food recovery. Through a website and mobile app, Feeding Forward matches businesses that have surplus food with nearby homeless shelters.

When companies or event planners have surplus food, they tap the Feeding Forward app and provide details of their donation. A driver is dispatched to quickly pick up the leftovers and deliver them to food banks. 

“These are huge cities that have absurd amounts of food thrown away every day,” Komal said. “We are trying to make the Bay Area a case study to say ‘Hey, if it works here, it can work anywhere.’ 

[prepaidafrica]

Godliver Businger, Civil Engineer, Uganda

Godliver graduated from St Joseph’s Technical Institute in Kisubi in 2012, and began her career as a civil engineer by joining the Global Women’s Water Initiative. Here, she works on teaching rural women about construction and setting up water, sanitation, and hygiene-businesses (WASH), such as latrines. She also hosted a radio show, “Ladies Night” which was focused on creating awareness of the values of educating girls. She was also listed as a Female Water Role Model by Reuters’ trust.org.

[generalelectric]

Jocelyn Bell Burnell, born July 15, 1943, is a British astrophysicist famous for her discovery of the first radio pulsars, the by-products of supernova explosions, in the late 1960s. The quote above reflects her journey to the discovery of pulsars, describing how she sees science as a quest for understanding rather than a search for truth.

[anaisrassat]

A little Friday morning video: “I want people to feel about mathematics the same way they feel about music”. 

[stemxx]

Happy National Women in Engineering Day!!!

National Women in Engineering Day was set up by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) to celebrate its 95th anniversary.

The aim is to celebrate the work that women do in engineering, and to showcase the great engineering careers that are available for girls.

This video looks at some incredible and inspiring stories of female engineers

[stemxx]

Making a difference through engineering with Sakthy Selvakumaran

This week’s guest is Sakthy Selvakumaran, a civil engineer. She talks about making the most of opportunities, not knowing what you want to be when you grow up and the challenges that we as a society face globally.

[prepaidafrica]

Togo: Solar Grandmothers 

The lives of four grandmothers from the rural village of Agome Sevah, Togo in West Africa have undergone an amazing transformation. The women travelled 5000 miles to Rajasthan in India where they trained over a six month period in Solar Electronics at the famous Barefoot College. There, they were mentored by like-minded Indian women, some of whom were themselves graduates of the College.

Leaving their families in Togo for such a long period of time was difficult for them but their reward was to become Solar Grandmothers with the prospect of electrifying their village on their return.

On completion of their training at the college, the Solar Grandmothers returned to their villages to install, maintain, and train others in solar electrification. Schools, clinics, places of worship and private homes could now have artificial light, with the potential to improve the education, health and social lives of the villagers.

The women Barefoot Solar Engineers of Africa aim to improve the lives of the rural poor living on less than €1 a day in remote inaccessible villages off the energy grids in the 21 least developed countries in Africa, supplying their communities with clean, low cost household lighting from solar energy.

The Barefoot Approach has reached remote, poor, rural villages in 25 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Illiterate rural mothers and grandmothers who have never left their villages before training in India have solar electrified their own villages.

The College believes that the very poor have every right to control, manage and own the most sophisticated of technologies to improve their own lives, Just becaause they cannot read and write, there is no reason that poor women cannot be solar engineers.

[blackgirlscientist]

My absolute hero Dr Maggie Adherin-Pocock PhD, MBE giving an awesome talk on her career and being a black female dyslexic space scientist with her daughter, Lauren.

[hydrogeneportfolio]

Women Of Color Who Changed Science. And The World. 

Part 1 • Part 2 • Purchase