This June, Girls in Engineering Academy students participated in the pilot Detroit NXG Academy MA100 Road Ready class. Their first day on the track is shown above.
Vroooooom! GIRLS IN ENGINEERING LEARN THE INS AND OUTS OF AUTO RACING
BY SUSAN THWING
H
elping girls push past the traditional and make their mark on all aspects of engineering careers—that’s one of the goals of the Engineering Society of Detroit’s Girls in Engineering Academy (GEA). And what better way to do that than take them out to the racetrack? “Automobile racing had its origins in Europe during the late 1800s and eventually made its way to the United States in the 20th century. Historically, men have dominated the sport of auto racing since its inception,” says Dr. Gerald Thompkins, GEA Program Manager. To help change that, GEA partnered with NXG Youth Motorsports to get middle and high school girls more engaged in motorsports and motorsports competition. “Fewer than one percent of all the motorsports drivers are women. We want our students to have a well-rounded understanding of STEM education, and every aspect of
motorsports has some relevant element pertaining to STEM concepts,” Thompkins said. The partnership kicked off at last summer’s Detroit Grand Prix with two GEA participants joining in on the NXG Youth Motorsports program—designed to show minority students the world of motorsports. NXG is a nonprofit that originated 15 years ago in Indianapolis in response to the lack of African American involvement in motorsports. NXG teaches life skills and puts kids behind the wheel aiming to bring the next generation into the sport. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan made a multi-year commitment to sponsor the program which introduces urban children to opportunities available in the industry. The program offers experiential learning programs to students from under-represented communities using go-kart driving. It has an academy of courses that uses performance driving as a tool for life skill development, the application T H E E N G I N E E R I N G S O C I E T Y O F D E T R O I T esd.org | 21
