On Wednesday, the UC Berkeley Society of Women Engineers (SWE) hosted Mini University! This one-day free event introduces underserved high school students to the college environment and research involved in pursuing STEM careers. Undergraduate students from SWE led lab tours for high-school students to help them learn about the different engineering disciplines available and the cutting-edge research happening on campus.
The students visited the Structures Lab in Davis Hall. They learned about exciting research projects in the lab, including using fiber optic sensors remotely monitor pipelines to gauge their likelihood of future damage and take measures to build more intelligent infrastructure through distributed fiber optic sensing (DFOS).
Mini-University is a free event meant to encourage underserved Bay Area high school students to pursue careers in STEM by increasing their knowledge about the field. Participants in the program interact with engineering students and STEM professors, participate in interactive engineering activities, learn about the various STEM career paths, tour academic labs, and more. The event is geared tow rds 9th,10th, and 11th-grade students considering majoring in science, technology, engineering, or math-related fields or wanting more exposure to what a STEM career entails.