On April 9th, six SHSID students were invited to attend the “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” activity hosted by Pratt & Whitney, Collins Aerospace, and the Royal Aeronautical Society. The event aimed to inspire girls’ interests in STEM learning and to get first-hand experience in future careers, exploring different roles they could play to change the world. Along with several other schools, 6 female students from three grades visited Shanghai Qingpu Pratt & Whitney Engine Repair Factory.

The activity involved 3 sections. First, they toured the Engine MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operating) shop, an engine dissembling and assembling line. They saw the process of repairing a whole engine. Next, they attended the Female Leader Panel. Four ladies shared their experiences in becoming a leader in their areas. This enriched the girls' knowledge in four different career paths related to aerospace engineering and increased their interest in STEM.

Finally, Tony Shen, the representative of the Royal Aeronautical Society – China, held an Aerochallenge STEM Competition, a car-racing competition. They assembled a car with simple materials: a plastic water bottle, four caps, several skewers, as well as a propeller. Apart from victory or defeat, they enjoyed the process of making a model by themselves.

The whole trip was incredibly rewarding. We hope the attention on female leadership as well as STEM increases here at SHSID and around the world.

(Written by Yeji Ju, Anya Yan Pictures by Frank Jiang Edited and Supervised by Qiongyu Zeng, Tianzhou He)