Young girls build weather station during STEM event at UNCW

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - Young girls from Pender and New Hanover County middle schools worked in teams to build a weather station during Thursday’s GE Hitachi Girls in Technology summit STEM event at UNCW’s Watson Hall.

The students worked for two hours using small exercises to guide them through simple coding to build a smart device that senses humidity, temperature, and barometric pressure.

GE Hitachi Chief Information Officer Mona Badie said she wants the girls to think of technology as something to use in their future careers.

“What we want to do is start exposing these girls at that young age to technology," Badie said. “It’s a safe environment. They learn stuff they understand at school. They know they can do it. They gain that confidence so that is a bigger chance for them to consider a career in technology.”

This is the 11th year GE Hitachi has held the event but Badie said they are considering changing it to a twice-a-year event because it is so successful.

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