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March 14, 2016

Introduce a Girl to Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Day

Students at work during Introduce a Girl to Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Day.

The New York City Department of Design and Construction’s STEAM Initiatives Division invited young women from the Robert F. Wagner Jr. Secondary School for Arts and Technology, and the High School of Construction Trades, Engineering and Architecture to celebrate Pi Day and participate in DDC’s 2016 Introduce a Girl to Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Day. This enrichment program was held to showcase science, technology, engineering, architecture/arts, and mathematics (STEAM) related disciplines to young women in high school and middle school.

“I’m excited to have such an inquisitive group of young women with us for our annual Introduce a Girl to Architecture, Engineering and Construction to learn about the great careers and opportunities STEAM fields,” said DDC Commissioner Feniosky Peña-Mora. “These young women will be the inventors and entrepreneurs of the future. Our goal is to expose them to the world of the built environment and provide them with the tools and framework to not only understands how things work, but also how best to make them work to the benefit of our society.”

Steam Initiatives implemented two workshops consisting of building a scale model from blueprint templates, and creating design and material boards for the interior spaces. The students worked in teams to build scale models of specific public buildings. Before construction began students were taught how to use an architect’s scale, and how to divide the interior structure space according to building requirements. The workshops were followed by a question and answer session with some of DDC’s leading women within the fields of architecture, engineering and construction management. Each panelist described her path to her profession and shared insights of what it takes to be successful in built environment careers. 

The teams completed impressive scale models and design boards, and the girls asked the panelist many thoughtful questions about their inspiration, motivation, and the day-to-day requirements of working in architecture, engineering and construction fields. At the close of the program, the students were provided with information on how to apply for DDC’s 2016 High School Summer Internship Program.