SPIE paves way for local middle school girls to attend Tech Trek summer camp

If you were to imagine a group of 7th grade girls spending a week at summer camp, would you picture them jumping off docks into glassy lakes and making friendship bracelets, or would you envision them looking at slides through microscopes and digging into cyber security? If those girls are attending the annual American Association of University Women in Washington (AAUW-WA) Tech Trek, the latter are the exact kinds of activities you’d see those girls doing.

Every summer, around one hundred 12- to 14-year-old girls spend a week diving into physics, engineering, astronomy, and more. The goal is for these young women to see how science, technology, engineering, and math connects with their lives, and that they have a role in these fields. Math and science teachers from middle schools in Washington can nominate female students interested in STEM. Nominated students submit an application and essay, then are interviewed by AAUW-WA representatives at the schools.

Pam Sankey, co-chair of the AAUW-WA Tech Trek Selection Committee, recalled a Ferndale middle school student who attended Tech Trek. The student was so inspired by how STEM can be used to solve problems in different areas of life that after graduation she decided to pursue an MS in Pediatric Occupational Therapy.

Held at Seattle Pacific University in Washington this summer, Tech Trek will give students opportunities to participate in various hands-on activities. Staying in the dorms and dining in the cafeteria, the campers will get a glimpse at life on a college campus. The week will also include a Professional Women’s night, when campers meet and talk with local women in STEM. By connecting these girls with women in the field, they can see there is a place for them.

According to the World Economic Forum, as of 2024, women made up less than one-third of employees in STEM. AAUW-WA’s Tech Trek gives girls the opportunity to learn that they belong in STEM at an age when societal messaging is teaching them that being smart isn’t cool. It’s also a way to address the gender pay gap for women, which still lingers around 81% of what men earn.

When Amy Hanlon, SPIE Director of Technology Outreach, was attending Lake Washington High School in Washington, she applied for a scholarship from AAUW. She was awarded $3,000 toward her tuition at UC Santa Barbara, California, where she earned her BS in Chemistry.

“As a scientist, I know firsthand how much early encouragement can matter. The financial support from the AAUW scholarship was impactful, but so was the sense that there was a community of women who believed in me and wanted me to succeed. That encouragement stayed with me throughout my career, especially in the early years when I was often the only woman in the lab. It feels especially meaningful now, through my work at SPIE, to support girls in Tech Trek at such an important age and help open the door to STEM in the same way the AAUW once did for me.”

Hanlon went on to earn three MS degrees: Materials Science from UC Santa Barbara, Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, California.

Tech Trek is supported through funding provided by individuals, companies, corporations, foundations, and service organizations. SPIE has a designated fund to be able to be a positive contributor to other area non-profits and charities. These funds are allocated by the SPIE Good Corporate Citizens committee (GCC). Established in 2002, the fund has provided SPIE the opportunity to donate more than $415,000 to various organizations, including the Max Higbee Center, Animals as Natural Therapy, Lydia Place, and YWCA Bellingham. To advocate for girls pursuing careers in science, SPIE proudly provides $1,600 to cover the Tech Trek camp costs for a young woman in Whatcom County, Washington.

“We are honored to support organizations like Tech Trek that are committed to helping girls get involved in STEM. If we're lucky, we'll see them become involved in SPIE someday too,” said Shari Nephew, Chair of the SPIE GCC committee.