Community

Promoting diversity in engineering is an important part of making the lab a better place to work, enrich our research ideas, and to improve the engineering talent in the community. Members of the O’Connell Lab have contributed to numerous outreach programs, including programs focused on encouraging girls in the East Bay to explore math and science as a fun exciting career.

A great watch: Manu Platt’s 2017 BMES Diversity Award Lecture

Society of Women Engineers
Professor Grace O’Connell has been selected as the 2015-2016 Scholarship Chair for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Golden Gate Section. Each year the Golden Gate Section provides scholarships to young Bay Area women graduating from high school and going on to pursue degrees in engineering and other related degrees.

Funds for scholarships are raised from corporate donations, member donations, and from fundraising activities. If your company would like to make a contribution to this year’s fund, please contact Professor O’Connell.

Girls in Engineering
Girls in Engineering (GiE) is a program conducted by female engineers at UC Berkeley each summer. Professor Grace O’Connell has created and runs a workshop on biomechanics. Girls learn about tendons, cartilage, and bone and how these tissues change with injury and age. Check out the YouTube video below to learn more about the program.

Professor O’Connell working with Girls in Engineering

 

Berkeley Engineering Stars in Technology (BEST)
Professor Grace O’Connell participated in the first annual BEST symposium cosponsored by the College of Engineering, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and the Black Graduate Engineering and Science Students (BGESS). The objective of the workshop was to showcase the accomplishments of outstanding Berkeley Engineering alumni and to encourage and support students from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in engineering. The inaugural workshop of this series celebrated accomplishments and discussed challenges for African-American engineers.

Press Releases
1. October 2015 Drawing Girls into Engineering, 30 at a Time
2. July 16, 2015 Camp gives middle school girls hands-on experience in engineering
3. June 17, 2015 More women in engineering – what’s working?