Girl power drives interest in STEM

Sydelle is passionate about STEM. Photo: SUPPLIED

A young Warragul school girl is among 40 girls who have been offered a place in The University of Melbourne’s Girl Power in Engineering and IT Program.

Sydelle Isaacs, in Year 9 at St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School, is embracing her girl power and grasping opportunities to learn more in her quest to broaden her knowledge in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) related fields.

Melbourne University’s Girl Power in Engineering and IT Program is a four-year mentoring program aimed at encouraging female high school students to pursue opportunities and careers in STEM.

The program includes work experience, mentoring opportunities and a three-night camp at the University of Melbourne as a means to foster gender parity in engineering and IT disciplines.

The Girl Power in Engineering and IT Program, according to Sydelle, will help her in choosing her future career path.

“The main reason I applied is because I love engineering. I love the whole aspect of creating different things, but I don’t really know what options are out there,” she said.

“Applying for this program was an opportunity to try and explore the different career paths and options available so that I can have a better idea of what I want to do when I’m older.”

She is confident she will benefit greatly from the program.

“I’m really looking forward to meeting all the girls there because they’re all like-minded people and it’s really cool to meet people who have the same interests as yourself,“ she said.

“Being surrounded by so many like-minded and really smart people brings you up to that next level and I feel like I can learn so much from people like that.”

Sydelle has also been invited to register for the BIOTech Futures Challenge and recently attended the Here Comes the Future 2022 Youth Summit at Federation University.

Through the program, Sydelle is also in the early phases of collaborating with a Melbourne University PhD student to develop and design the fabrication of tissue engineered blood vessels.

Sydelle’s invite to the BIOTech Futures Challenge resulted from her continuous involvement with The University of Melbourne’s STEM camps and programs for young girls.

Sydelle says they are currently learning about stent antennas and is excited about the knowledge she will gain from the BIOTech Futures Challenge.

“It will really educate me on the science side of things,” she said.

“Learning about neurology and the brain, and how the stent antenna will work, I think will be really helpful and help me understand a lot more in science classes at school too.

“My mentor is such a hands-on smart guy. There is so much I can learn from him. He created an app when he was in high school, so he’s a pretty cool guy. I’m really excited just to learn from him and the other girls because I’m with a bunch of really smart girls from Melbourne.”

Sydelle also recently participated in the Here Comes the Future 2022 Youth Summit at Federation University which provided students with the opportunity to learn about and express their own ideas for climate action.

Sydelle has learnt a great deal by pursuing her potential in STEM and is excited for what lies ahead.

“I just love STEM in general. I love creating things and learning how things work so it’s about the whole learning process. It’s been amazing learning so much and I feel like I’m still going to learn so much more as this all goes on – I can’t wait!“ she said.