Video: Meet a Future Engineer

Debbie Sterling is an engineer from Stanford who has created a new kids’ toy aimed at attracting young girls to the field of engineering. The toy company, called Goldie Blox, consists of a book series and construction toy (now available at Toys R Us). The book follows Goldie and her friends as they go on adventures and solve problems by building simple machines. The goal is for young girls to read along and build what Goldie builds using their toolkits.

According to Ms. Sterling, she only knew engineering even existed because her math teacher from high school said she should explore it. “I’m creating a toy company that teaches little girls what engineering is, making it fun and accessible. I’m making sure that girls don’t have to rely on a serendipitous comment from a teacher to realize their passion for engineering,” she says.

Wouldn’t it be cool if we wrote another “Meet a Manufacturing Engineer” story—about 15 years from now in which something as simple as a kid’s toy convinced somebody to go into engineering or manufacturing? It will be interesting to see what resources and tactics actually work to attract, educate and train the next generation.

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