Robots and girls

Abstract

This paper is about a project, which aims to encourage girls to pursue math, science and especially engineering careers. We chose Lego Mindstorm/spl reg/ robots to introduce engineering concepts to a high-school physics curriculum at an all-girls' school. The project lasted about four weeks. The equipment and framework for the program was provided by the Wireless Micro Systems (WIMS) Research Center at the University of Michigan. The cochlear implant was picked as the device around which the projects were loosely based because most of the girls seemed particularly interested in biological applications. The result of the said project is discussed in this paper.