It’s the second day of the schools’ Easter holidays, but instead of taking time off, 50 young women are in the electro lab at Lyngby Campus for a close encounter with the technology being developed at DTU.
The participants sit at the long desks in a room with white extraction pipes jutting from the ceiling. They work in deep concentration in groups of two or three to weld electrical components onto a small carved wooden plate. All windows in the room are ajar to replace the smell of burnt metal with the fresh spring air.
“I’ve never tried soldering before,” says Emma-Maria Marup, holding a hot soldering iron in one hand and a thin soldering wire in the other.
Since graduating from Ørestad Gymnasium two years ago, she has wanted to enroll in a degree programme. An engineering degree is a good option, so she has chosen to spend three days during the Easter holidays attending DTU’s Engineering Camp for girls.
Hands-on technology
Research Assistant and electrical engineer Christian Kampp Kruuse is watching the girls from the sidelines and as soon as someone raises their hand, he’s on the spot, ready to assist.
This is the second time that he is taking part in DTU’s Engineering Camp as a lecturer. The camp is a special offer for female high school students or women who have graduated, but have not started a higher education programme. The aim is to increase the diversity of DTU’s technical study programmes—especially in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and energy systems, which still have a lot more male than female students.
At the camp, participants are introduced to the different subject areas through a number of practical exercises. On a table in the middle of the laboratory, a selection of different tools, screws, and cables have been put together in carefully measured plastic bags that the participants can use for the exercises.
The art of smart soldering
In an evaluation of last year’s camp, participants were asked to put into words what they think characterizes an engineer. Among the descriptions were 'quiet', 'smart', 'nerdy', and 'man'.
According to Christian Kampp Kruuse, the image of an engineer working and thinking alone in an office, is very far from real life. Most engineers today work in teams, simply because most projects are so extensive that doing things yourself is not an option.
“There are some elements in this exercise where it’s a big advantage to have more than two hands, for example having someone holding the soldering iron and the soldering wire, while someone else holds the component to be soldered on the element. And it’s also a trust-building element that you have something that is more than 300 degrees hot near another person’s hands,” says Christian Kampp Kruuse about the exercise, which is easier to solve if you work as a team.
Greater diversity for better solutions
During the lunch break, Christian Kampp Kruuse sits together with two participants in the green canteen, which only serves vegetarian food. However, the food on his plate remains untouched because he is too busy telling about and answering questions about all the opportunities an engineering programme offers.
When he started studying electrotechnology himself, he expected that, as a student, he would be given a set of ‘cookbook’ instructions, but that was not the case at all. Being an engineer is basically about being a problem solver and being willing to see things from new perspectives.
“That’s why diversity is so important, because if people come with different backgrounds and genders and think differently, we will have more innovative, sustainable ideas and answers to the world’s important issues,” says Christian Kampp Kruuse, who would like to see more women apply to DTU.
More informed about what to study
Emma-Maria Marup’s father is an MSc in Engineering and a DTU graduate and—in her own words—‘very math-oriented’. That’s not her.
“I’m called the family handyman because I like to build something from scratch and put different things together, just like LEGO. It’s great to be able to show off something you’ve done yourself. It boosts your confidence,” says Emma-Maria Marup, who is currently taking a video of herself on her phone while adjusting on a wire connected to the circuit board.
Participants also meet DTU students and can talk to them about what it’s like to be an engineering student.
Among the DTU students is Anna Raabo, who is participating in the camp for the third time. She is doing her Master’s in Sustainable Energy and will be guiding the practical exercises the following day to boost the participants’ knowledge on wind energy.
She notes that all participants are roughly at the same point in the loudspeaker exercise, and that many are good at both seeking and offering help, so no one really experiences falling behind.
“The participants try their hand at different technologies, so they become more informed about what to study. Some have a success experience when they solve the task and confirm their gut feeling about life as a DTU student, while others find out that this may not be their favourite task,” says Anna Raabo before she is hailed by a participant who wants her to check her soldering technique.
Music to the ears
The song “Shine bright like a diamond” by pop star Rihanna can be heard from one corner of the lab. The music flows from a small square wooden cabinet containing electrical components.
“It’s working,” a participant exclaims excitedly while she tests whether the speaker she’s spent most of the day building can play sound.
“Congratulations! You’ve solved the task,” Christian Kampp Kruuse says. It is almost 4 p.m. this Tuesday afternoon, and the research assistant is happy and relieved that the task of building a speaker has gone well for most participants.
