Seventh Grade Girls Will Change the World

I'm speaking this week to seventh grade girls in York, Pennsylvania at a STEAM conference. This is exactly the demographic that multiple studies regarding female students' interest in math and science addresses. In seventh grade, there is a consistent drop in interest compared to male students. Why do we care? Because we have some big stuff to tackle: energy use, food production, water distribution, disease prevention, and on and on. We need young women on the team! 

I'll do my best to show them how being an engineer is a helping profession. Also, I'll do my best to show them that being an engineer will make them a better drummer, poet, or dancer. 

Rock on, ladies! 

Too Much Good Stuff

This year has been packed with speaking events and engineering projects. My band, Swan Sovereign just played a festival in Alaska and will play a solstice festival this weekend.

So much good stuff!

In this tornado of wonderfulness, I had to make a tough decision. The second book wasn't ready for prime time and I opted to stop working on it. The material in it has been useful when speaking to teachers and students. I'm glad I spent that time writing about engineering - how I learned it and use it. Also, I got some more illustrations from Mark Nerys related to the material that I'm now using in presentations. 

I understand fluid dynamics, so I know how to go with the flow. Check your Reynolds Number, right? 

Nerd humor. It's the best. 

Trending Upward

Does anyone else graph trends in their personal life? I know there's a point at which it's obsessive, but a little data-gathering and plotting to see what direction I'm headed is sometimes useful....and comforting.

Handmade Life

I think I've finally done it. My life is the perfect mix of engineering, writing, music, and getting muddy. What is the best recipe for your life. What do you want to include?

The second book is official

It's happening! My second book will be published in summer of 2017. I'll deliver it in August of 2016. I'm so tickled that I get a chance to do this again. Writing is so easy and fun!

You just sit down and write whatever comes to mind, then read it back, burst into tears because it's terrible, and throw your computer down the basement stairs. Then you slump onto the kitchen floor with a warm bottle of cheap white wine and wonder how you ever got yourself into such a mess. You repeat that for a month. After that you buckle down and write a book.

So easy.

Second book

I'm writing the second book proposal now. The theme: Thinking like an engineer can get you out of any jam. Accidentally rode your bike into a war zone? No problem. Lied about your ability to operate an espresso machine to get a job? Covered.

Not that anyone I know would do those things.

Yes. I did those things.