1
00:00:09,049 --> 00:00:09,840
BARBARA HUGHEY: OK.

2
00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:11,620
So as Kristen said,
I'm Barbara Hughey.

3
00:00:11,620 --> 00:00:15,266
I teach in the Mechanical
Engineering Department at MIT.

4
00:00:15,266 --> 00:00:17,890
And I thought you might want to
just see a little bit about me.

5
00:00:17,890 --> 00:00:20,435
So I was more or
less from New Jersey.

6
00:00:20,435 --> 00:00:23,714
I was born in Philadelphia,
lived in New Jersey and outside

7
00:00:23,714 --> 00:00:25,620
of Philadelphia.

8
00:00:25,620 --> 00:00:26,790
There we go.

9
00:00:26,790 --> 00:00:27,820
I moved back and forth about
every two and a half years.

10
00:00:27,820 --> 00:00:30,415
Briefly moved to Southern
California when I moved.

11
00:00:30,415 --> 00:00:32,729
And in fact I was an
undergraduate at Princeton

12
00:00:32,729 --> 00:00:34,690
where I went in as
a physics major.

13
00:00:34,690 --> 00:00:36,190
I had always loved
math and physics.

14
00:00:36,190 --> 00:00:38,900
I ended up coming out with
an engineering physics

15
00:00:38,900 --> 00:00:40,530
degree in the
mechanical and aerospace

16
00:00:40,530 --> 00:00:42,826
engineering department, which
was awesome for what I'm

17
00:00:42,826 --> 00:00:44,700
doing now, and also for
a lot of the research

18
00:00:44,700 --> 00:00:47,610
I did before I came back to MIT.

19
00:00:47,610 --> 00:00:52,460
And then I came up to Boston to
get my PhD in physics at MIT.

20
00:00:52,460 --> 00:00:54,110
Very highly esoteric
subject that

21
00:00:54,110 --> 00:00:56,080
was great fun involving
quantum mechanics,

22
00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:57,464
but not terribly useful.

23
00:00:57,464 --> 00:00:59,380
And then I worked for a
couple small companies

24
00:00:59,380 --> 00:01:02,610
in the area mostly doing
applications of particle

25
00:01:02,610 --> 00:01:03,816
accelerators to medicine.

26
00:01:03,816 --> 00:01:05,190
And actually a
lot of it-- I know

27
00:01:05,190 --> 00:01:07,356
you're spending the day on
sort of imaging and image

28
00:01:07,356 --> 00:01:09,820
processing-- I did a lot with
positron emission Tomography

29
00:01:09,820 --> 00:01:13,410
images, magnetic MRI
images, things like that.

30
00:01:13,410 --> 00:01:15,960
And then in 2002
I came back to MIT

31
00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:18,520
to teach the undergraduate
measurement and instrumentation

32
00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,890
class, where I basically teach
students how to do experiments.

33
00:01:21,890 --> 00:01:24,197
And we have a project we
call Go Forth and Measure,

34
00:01:24,197 --> 00:01:26,780
where each student picks their
own project and does something.

35
00:01:26,780 --> 00:01:30,610
Actually, Kristen, what was
your Go Forth and Measure?

36
00:01:30,610 --> 00:01:34,041
What was your go forth
and measure project?

37
00:01:34,041 --> 00:01:34,540
KRISTEN: Me?

38
00:01:34,540 --> 00:01:34,952
BARBARA HUGHEY: You.

39
00:01:34,952 --> 00:01:35,452
KRISTEN: Oh.

40
00:01:35,452 --> 00:01:38,260
So does anyone like to run here?

41
00:01:38,260 --> 00:01:38,760
Track?

42
00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:39,680
Awesome.

43
00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:41,940
Me too.

44
00:01:41,940 --> 00:01:44,722
I took a pressure sensor
and put it inside a sneaker,

45
00:01:44,722 --> 00:01:46,430
and I tried running
on different surfaces

46
00:01:46,430 --> 00:01:48,980
and compared the
impact of running

47
00:01:48,980 --> 00:01:51,675
on a treadmill versus
running on concrete.

48
00:01:51,675 --> 00:01:54,050
BARBARA HUGHEY: And we have
a lot of really cool projects

49
00:01:54,050 --> 00:01:55,880
like that where people do
everyday things that they're

50
00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,170
interested in, including
food, things like that.

51
00:01:58,170 --> 00:02:01,290
So anyways, back to the
women's technology program.

52
00:02:01,290 --> 00:02:03,520
So I came to MIT in 2002.

53
00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:07,580
In 2006 I was asked to expand
the existing women's technology

54
00:02:07,580 --> 00:02:11,710
program which was founded in
2002 in electrical engineering

55
00:02:11,710 --> 00:02:12,740
and computer science.

56
00:02:12,740 --> 00:02:15,840
So most of what you're doing
today would fit more in that.

57
00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,630
And then we expanded it
to mechanical engineering.

58
00:02:18,630 --> 00:02:20,990
And the goal is to spark
high school girl's interest

59
00:02:20,990 --> 00:02:23,280
in studying engineering
and computer science, which

60
00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,810
is I think exactly the
goal of this program, too.

61
00:02:26,810 --> 00:02:30,070
So our approach is to pick
girls to pick students

62
00:02:30,070 --> 00:02:32,120
who are rising high
school seniors who

63
00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,300
are really good and really
interested in math and science,

64
00:02:35,300 --> 00:02:37,846
but don't really have a
background in engineering.

65
00:02:37,846 --> 00:02:39,720
Have maybe heard of
engineering, people maybe

66
00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:41,230
tell them you should
think about engineering,

67
00:02:41,230 --> 00:02:42,940
but they don't really
know what it is.

68
00:02:42,940 --> 00:02:44,940
They haven't taken a lot
of engineering classes.

69
00:02:44,940 --> 00:02:46,450
They're just
curious and not sure

70
00:02:46,450 --> 00:02:48,100
what they want to major in.

71
00:02:48,100 --> 00:02:50,700
So we give them a four week
exposure to engineering.

72
00:02:50,700 --> 00:02:53,170
There are two curriculum
tracks, electrical engineering

73
00:02:53,170 --> 00:02:55,253
and computer science, and
then the one that I run,

74
00:02:55,253 --> 00:02:56,847
which is mechanical engineering.

75
00:02:56,847 --> 00:02:59,430
I don't have a lot of time so I
can't go into too much detail,

76
00:02:59,430 --> 00:03:00,971
but I'll be happy
to answer questions

77
00:03:00,971 --> 00:03:02,560
about what we do in them.

78
00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,197
They're mostly hands on classes,
like what you're doing today.

79
00:03:05,197 --> 00:03:07,280
We of course-- especially
mechanical engineering--

80
00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:08,770
have to teach them
a lot of physics,

81
00:03:08,770 --> 00:03:10,894
because you can't do much
in mechanical engineering

82
00:03:10,894 --> 00:03:12,190
until you have physics.

83
00:03:12,190 --> 00:03:13,220
But physics is fun.

84
00:03:13,220 --> 00:03:15,300
It really is.

85
00:03:15,300 --> 00:03:18,360
And then try to correct ideas
about what engineers are like

86
00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:19,220
and what they do.

87
00:03:19,220 --> 00:03:21,450
And the students give
us wonderful quotes,

88
00:03:21,450 --> 00:03:23,060
such as that they
realize engineering

89
00:03:23,060 --> 00:03:25,960
has so much more depth and
so many more applications.

90
00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:28,600
Coming in they have some of the
preconceptions that you might

91
00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,570
have, which is that
engineers work alone,

92
00:03:31,570 --> 00:03:34,090
it's not very exciting,
not very people oriented.

93
00:03:34,090 --> 00:03:35,040
But in fact it is.

94
00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:37,870
You work a lot in teams, as
I think you're doing today.

95
00:03:37,870 --> 00:03:40,480
And you get to do a whole
range of applications

96
00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,210
and make products that
are helpful to people.

97
00:03:44,210 --> 00:03:46,410
We also want to increase
confidence of the students

98
00:03:46,410 --> 00:03:49,289
by exposing them to female
engineers of all ages.

99
00:03:49,289 --> 00:03:50,830
Give them an
opportunity to live away

100
00:03:50,830 --> 00:03:53,730
from home-- so it's four
weeks living away from home.

101
00:03:53,730 --> 00:03:56,340
The students live
in the MIT dorms.

102
00:03:56,340 --> 00:03:59,130
They live with MIT undergrads
are recent graduates who

103
00:03:59,130 --> 00:04:01,530
help them with their
homework, and also do

104
00:04:01,530 --> 00:04:02,810
social outings and everything.

105
00:04:02,810 --> 00:04:05,380
And the classes are taught
by graduate students

106
00:04:05,380 --> 00:04:09,060
in mechanical
engineering or EECS.

107
00:04:09,060 --> 00:04:12,330
And-- I already said
some of this-- so again,

108
00:04:12,330 --> 00:04:13,400
it's a hands on.

109
00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:15,590
There's 40 students
in the EECS track

110
00:04:15,590 --> 00:04:18,290
and 20 students in the
mechanical engineering track,

111
00:04:18,290 --> 00:04:20,529
so there's 60 students total.

112
00:04:20,529 --> 00:04:22,747
We have hands on lab
classes with projects

113
00:04:22,747 --> 00:04:23,830
in mechanical engineering.

114
00:04:23,830 --> 00:04:26,010
We like to have a sort
of capstone project

115
00:04:26,010 --> 00:04:28,470
at the end of each week,
which ranges from building

116
00:04:28,470 --> 00:04:31,910
cranes that can sustain a
certain amount of weight,

117
00:04:31,910 --> 00:04:33,620
through doing oral
presentations,

118
00:04:33,620 --> 00:04:35,470
making a poster presentation.

119
00:04:35,470 --> 00:04:38,060
And then there are two special
final week presentations

120
00:04:38,060 --> 00:04:41,400
where the EECS students
build DC motors,

121
00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:45,160
and the WTP-ME students
build Rube Goldberg machines,

122
00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:47,650
which are basically just
chain reaction machines.

123
00:04:47,650 --> 00:04:49,444
But the thing we do
to make it possibly

124
00:04:49,444 --> 00:04:51,610
a little more interesting
is they have to figure out

125
00:04:51,610 --> 00:04:52,926
what's going on in every step.

126
00:04:52,926 --> 00:04:54,300
So it's not just
trial and error,

127
00:04:54,300 --> 00:04:56,820
they have to apply the design
principles we've taught them.

128
00:04:56,820 --> 00:04:58,290
They have to use the
physics and the science

129
00:04:58,290 --> 00:05:00,340
we've taught them to
figure out what's going on,

130
00:05:00,340 --> 00:05:02,220
and then make their machine run.

131
00:05:02,220 --> 00:05:05,510
And we also do a lot of faculty
and industry guest speakers

132
00:05:05,510 --> 00:05:06,950
and tours.

133
00:05:06,950 --> 00:05:11,380
We also have, as I said, MIT
students and recent graduates

134
00:05:11,380 --> 00:05:14,060
are the instructors
and also the tutors

135
00:05:14,060 --> 00:05:15,670
that live with the students.

136
00:05:15,670 --> 00:05:17,340
And these are some
photos from the motor

137
00:05:17,340 --> 00:05:18,620
building for the EECS.

138
00:05:18,620 --> 00:05:21,200
So this is actually the
professor who runs it.

139
00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:22,960
They figure out the
design of their motor,

140
00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:24,190
then they do all the machining.

141
00:05:24,190 --> 00:05:25,231
They build them in pairs.

142
00:05:25,231 --> 00:05:27,190
So that's one of the
completed motors.

143
00:05:27,190 --> 00:05:29,550
And they use actually the
mechanical engineering shop

144
00:05:29,550 --> 00:05:31,520
to do all this.

145
00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:33,790
And then here's some
photographs from ME

146
00:05:33,790 --> 00:05:36,890
the track where you see
a Rube Goldberg machine.

147
00:05:36,890 --> 00:05:38,820
Dominoes are of
course often used.

148
00:05:38,820 --> 00:05:43,050
Various types of trip
wires and things.

149
00:05:43,050 --> 00:05:45,171
Usually pendulums
and Slinkys used.

150
00:05:45,171 --> 00:05:46,420
And then there's a final step.

151
00:05:46,420 --> 00:05:47,020
They can decide.

152
00:05:47,020 --> 00:05:48,280
This one for their
final step, they

153
00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:50,446
pulled aside a curtain that
then showed a photograph

154
00:05:50,446 --> 00:05:54,600
of all the students and staff.

155
00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:59,120
So since 2002-- reminder
again, ME started in 2006,

156
00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,220
but EECS started in 2002.

157
00:06:01,220 --> 00:06:07,110
Up through last summer we've had
744 females finish the program.

158
00:06:07,110 --> 00:06:11,149
They all have a-- they say
WTP has a big impact on them.

159
00:06:11,149 --> 00:06:13,690
Many of them-- as I'll share on
the next slide-- many of them

160
00:06:13,690 --> 00:06:15,660
go into engineering.

161
00:06:15,660 --> 00:06:17,209
Some of them after
going through WTP

162
00:06:17,209 --> 00:06:19,250
decide that they actually
don't like engineering.

163
00:06:19,250 --> 00:06:20,030
It's not for them.

164
00:06:20,030 --> 00:06:21,680
That's a perfectly
great outcome for us

165
00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,099
as well, because then they
have learned and saved

166
00:06:24,099 --> 00:06:26,640
their parents money of sending
them to an engineering school.

167
00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:28,340
They've learned, oh I don't
really like engineering.

168
00:06:28,340 --> 00:06:29,560
I want to do something else.

169
00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:31,070
So either outcome is fine.

170
00:06:31,070 --> 00:06:33,210
We just want to expose
them and give them

171
00:06:33,210 --> 00:06:37,190
a real more realistic view of
what engineering actually is.

172
00:06:37,190 --> 00:06:39,720
Many of them would not have
thought of an engineering major

173
00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:41,860
or applying to MIT.

174
00:06:41,860 --> 00:06:44,260
And as you see,
actually many of them

175
00:06:44,260 --> 00:06:46,670
end up majoring in either
engineering or computer

176
00:06:46,670 --> 00:06:47,170
science.

177
00:06:47,170 --> 00:06:50,100
More than 60% of the
alumni have majored

178
00:06:50,100 --> 00:06:52,720
or are majoring in engineering
or computer science.

179
00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:55,525
Many others in
science, math, there's

180
00:06:55,525 --> 00:06:59,570
a big bunch in business,
and then a few of others.

181
00:06:59,570 --> 00:07:02,210
So it's highly successful
for its goal, which really

182
00:07:02,210 --> 00:07:05,830
is to get girls interested
in majoring in engineering,

183
00:07:05,830 --> 00:07:09,710
or at the very least to let them
know what engineering is about.

184
00:07:09,710 --> 00:07:13,440
And this is, I think, the
class of 2014, probably.

185
00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:15,280
And that's our website.

186
00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:17,140
And so if you have
any questions--

187
00:07:17,140 --> 00:07:19,189
no-- acknowledgements first.

188
00:07:19,189 --> 00:07:20,230
I couldn't do this alone.

189
00:07:20,230 --> 00:07:22,040
There's a woman
who runs the EECS

190
00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:24,120
program and the whole program.

191
00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:26,489
The ME program is funded
by an amazing woman who

192
00:07:26,489 --> 00:07:28,030
is in her-- actually
I think she just

193
00:07:28,030 --> 00:07:30,370
turned 80, who is a
mechanical engineer.

194
00:07:30,370 --> 00:07:32,150
And she funds our program.

195
00:07:32,150 --> 00:07:33,950
And then various other people.

196
00:07:33,950 --> 00:07:35,200
So, any questions?

197
00:07:38,850 --> 00:07:40,720
Nothing.

198
00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,080
OK.

199
00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,229
OK, and if you are not-- I know
there are some juniors here,

200
00:07:46,229 --> 00:07:48,770
which unfortunately have missed
the deadline for this summer.

201
00:07:48,770 --> 00:07:51,840
But if you are not a junior,
if you're an eighth, ninth,

202
00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:53,870
or 10th grader, look
in around November

203
00:07:53,870 --> 00:07:57,700
of your junior year on
that website right there

204
00:07:57,700 --> 00:07:59,462
and look for
application information.

205
00:07:59,462 --> 00:08:01,670
And the applications are
usually due at the beginning

206
00:08:01,670 --> 00:08:02,820
of January.

207
00:08:02,820 --> 00:08:04,020
OK?

208
00:08:04,020 --> 00:08:06,720
OK.

209
00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:08,270
[APPLAUSE]