Shorewood 8th-grader participates in ‘Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day’ at Argonne

On Feb. 18, Maddie McBride, an eighth grade student at Trinity Christian School in Shorewood, along with 148 other eighth grade girls in Illinois, spent the day at Argonne National Laboratory’s 20th anniversary of “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day,” according to a news release from Trinity.

The event was held virtually this year, according to Argonne’s website. Students apply for the event and then are chosen by a lottery system, according to the website.

Special guest speakers included Geraldine Richmond, the undersecretary for science and innovation from The U.S. Department of Energy, and U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, according to the release.

Scientists from Argonne National Laboratory also presented.

Ed Berry spoke about the Oleo Sponge, which is “technology developed for recovering oil and other petroleum products from water,” according to the release.

Trevor Crain spoke about the EcoCAR Mobility Challenge. This is the latest U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Technology Competition series, according to the release.

The students participated in a STEAM Q&A Panel session with Argonne scientists including Rosemarie Wilton, molecular biologist; Lisa C. Childers, technical development lead; Carrie Siu, postdoctoral appointee; Sonya Soroko, designer; and Marieme Ngom, postdoctoral appointee, according to the release.

In addition, scientists performed experiments with liquid nitrogen and analyzed the results. The girls has the opportunity to ask questions, according to the release.

In the afternoon, students met in small groups with an assigned Argonne mentor, according to the release.

Other activities included creating an Argonne time capsule and navigating a cybersecurity escape room, according to the release.

“The girls were challenged to identify a phishing email, decode a Caesar cipher with their cryptography skills, crack an embedded image using steganography and utilize social engineering to gain access to the hacker’s accounts,” according to the release.

For information, visit trinitychristian.info and anl.gov/hr/introduce-a-girl-to-engineering-day.