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The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) organized a SWENext engineering competition for girls from 14 Southeast Texas middle and high schools in the Cherry Engineering Building on March 31. SWENext is an initiative taken by the International SWE, to encourage young girls to be involved in science, engineering, and other technical fields and to become members of SWENext.

Students participated in a challenge where they had to design a contraption to prevent a raw egg from breaking during falls of 15-30 feet.

“I was surprised to see how many groups whose eggs survived after the fall,” said Progga Chirontoni, Lamar SWE President. “The contraptions that these girls designed were all very creative--using only newspapers, manila folders, straws, and duct tape.”

Students used examples from nature to create their work.

“Their designs simulated parachutes and other similar features seen in nature, such as the helicopter seeds that are dropped from some trees,” said Chirontoni. “The process of slowing descent to resist the force of gravity has been used in a number of instances in history, and continues to be an important science.”

Chirontoni hopes to leave a lasting impression on students with this program.

“Middle school is when I was drawn to math, physics and chemistry, which eventually made me interested to pursue chemical engineering and math in college,” said Chirontoni. “It is the most impressionable age to expose them to all the wonderful things that engineering and technical fields have to offer. I believe that’s the age to inspire curiosity and generate long-term interest in the STEM fields.”

“It has always been exciting to share my knowledge of science with students in the community in innovative ways,” said Chirontoni. “It is such a joy to bring scientific smiles on their faces.”