Guides are the ‘Girls Who Innovate’ at future tech day
Guides were shown a window into future technology on Sunday as they marked the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
The Girls Who Innovate event took place on Sunday afternoon at St Martin’s Community Centre, involving 35 Guides aged between 10 to 14 years of age.
The day was organised by local software and data company Cortex Technologies and in particular software developer Amy Madden, who is a Guide section adviser for Girlguiding Guernsey.
A Guide herself when she was young, she said that Girlguiding was a space where girls could be themselves and have an opportunity to find out all about the world.
‘It’s amazing to merge my work in tech with my role at Girlguiding and offer the girls a glimpse into how technology shapes our lives,’ she said.
‘With this event, we want to emphasise the notion that innovation belongs to everyone and ensure the girls see the diverse paths available in the tech world through meeting inspiring women in the industry.
‘I hope the girls will go back to the others in their unit and help spread the message about the fun they had.’
During the afternoon the girls got the chance to design and then build their own computer game, build robots, learn to think like an engineer through team building challenges and hear from several inspiring women working in tech industries.
Jessie Bullock, 10, said they had a great day learning about future technology.
‘We have a great time so far. We started with robot building – and we choose a robo-dog, and we have learned all about data,’ she said.
‘These are things that will be really important in the future. We have done some real hands-on engineering too and built a catapult to try and fire a ball through the hoop ten feet away. It took us nine minutes to build and complete the challenge.’
Marc Bevan, the co-founder of Cortex, said he wanted to see more girls in technology industries.
‘I’ve been really impressed with the girls here today,’ he said.
‘They have such hungry minds and pick things up so quickly.’
More information on Girlguiding in Guernsey can be found at www.girlguiding.org.uk or by emailing girlguidingguernsey@suremail.gg.
