Area girls invited to ‘STEM Experience’

HARTFORD — Thanks to a partnership with the Petit Family Foundation, the Space Foundation is extending its STEM education outreach this school year. The Hartford STEM initiative will launch on Oct. 27, with a free Girls STEM Experience for local girls ages 12 to 18, to be held at the Connecticut Convention Center from 8 a.m. TO 2 p.m. Premier sponsor for the event is Aetna.

The Experience will include a “Women in Science” panel discussion with panelists: Mary Lockhart, President and CEO, PEMDAS Technologies and Innovations; Karolyn Maloney, Senior Director of IT Hygiene Program and Identity and Access Management, Aetna; Bridget Oei, Miss Connecticut, Researcher, UConn Health; and Dr. Kathy Thornton, Professor, University of Virginia, former NASA astronaut, Space Foundation Board Vice Chairman.

The event also will include hands-on STEM activity stations for the girls, including robotics coding, LIDAR surface mapping, rocket engineering and a design lab. An instructional workshop for teachers during the Girls STEM Experience will show teachers the same activities so they can take them back to the classroom.

"Through its education programs, the Space Foundation is inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals. For some students, this will be their first exposure to this kind of technology, or these types of activities, and this will be the experience that inspires them to pursue a career in a STEM-related field," said Bryan DeBates, Space Foundation Vice President – Education. "We are working to shape a dynamic and exciting future for these students.”

The morning will culminate with a luncheon and inspiring STEM presentation by former NASA astronaut Col. Paul S. Lockhart, USAF (Ret.). The luncheon will be attended by the participating girls, their parents, teachers and invited guests.

Seating is limited to the first 200 girls who register at http:// bit.ly/PetitSF.

Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation is a nonprofitorganization that seeks to inspire, educate, connect and advocate on behalf of the global space community. Learn more at www.SpaceFoundation.org and DiscoverSpace.org.