Schools

NJIT Professor Speaks to Westwood Girls About Engineering

Dr. Rima Taher spoke to eighth grade students for National Engineers Week.

Engineer and NJIT professor Dr. Rima Taher spoke to a group of eighth grade girls at Westwood Jr./Sr. High School Friday for an "Introduce a Girl to Engineering" program.

Taher, who is a civil engineer with her own firm, made a presentation and took questions from the students about engineering, education and job opportunities. Then, the students participated in a building activity using toothpicks and marshmellows.

The goal of the program was to make the girls more interested in future engineering careers. Women make up only 13 percent of professionals in engineering, according to Westwood High teacher Adelyn Perez.

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Taher said part of the problem is that many young people don't even know what engineers do.

"The more they learn about engineering, the more they might think about getting into it," Taher said.

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She also touched on some of the other engineering fields, like mechanical, electrical and pharmaceutical engineering. No matter what specific type of engineering interests a student, Taher recommended they put in hard work, especially in math class.

"You cannot have elevators, cars or airplanes — none of that technology would be possible without applied mathematics," Taher said.

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