Oct. 9, 2018
ExxonMobils women introduce girls to science and engineering
ExxonMobil affiliate Women Interest Network (WIN), Nigeria, recently hosted the 2017 edition of the annual "Introduce a Girl to Science and Engineering Day" (IAGTED), welcoming 20 female students and four accompanying teachers from four secondary schools: Kuramo Junior and Senior Secondary Schools, and Victoria Island Junior and Senior Secondary Schools. The students had an exciting day learning and participating in engineering and science activities.
Oct. 9, 2018
The Introduce a Girl to Engineering event is part of ExxonMobil's efforts at encouraging young girls to consider careers in Engineering and Geoscience. The event was designed to create excitement and generate interest in math and science among Junior and Senior Secondary girls.
This year's edition kicked off with a welcome and introduction segment led by the WIN President, Ekene Osinubi. This was followed by the Kick-off address taken by Omolola Ani, in which she highlighted the essential characteristics of a scientist.
The students were then given an overview of ExxonMobil detailing the roles of the Company and the necessary steps to take to facilitate recruitment into ExxonMobil Nigeria affiliates. This segment was led by a Human Resources representative, Foluke Opaleye.
Subsequently, the students were briefed on the basics of everyday life as a female engineer or female geologist in the company. The presentations were delivered by Yetunde Adegbesan and Nina Bassey respectively. Then, the fun experiments commenced.
The students were put into four groups and challenged to create homemade lip gloss which would be branded and advertised to the other teams. The next activity was to create a colorful 'volcanic eruption' from the chemical reaction between sodium bicarbonate and vinegar.
The last experiment — the most exciting for the students and volunteers alike — was the Puff Mobile race. Students were given minimal supplies (paper, lifesavers, tape, safety pins, etc.) and expected to create a 'puff mobile' which would be judged based on design, creativity and the ability to travel the furthest distance when blown with one gust of breath.
The 2017 IAGTED was a huge success, thanks to the active participation from both the students and all the WIN MPN volunteers. At the close of the event, Sandra Hopko of MPN presented the students with souvenirs and awards.