Igniting children’s interest in science with circuits, semiconductors at STEM Girl Day at UT Austin

Inside the Samsung Austin Semiconductor classroom at STEM Girl Day at UT Austin, a line of students eagerly awaited their turn to try on the cleanroom smocks and test their science skills by building snap circuits.

Dozens of volunteers from the Women in Technology at Samsung (WITS) employee resource group (ERG) helped guide the students through the activities. This year marks the 11^th year of WITS hosting the “Circuit Science: Semiconductor” activity at STEM Girl Day at UT Austin.

Zarrah Pasigna, WITS outreach coordinator, says throughout the day, they had more than 1,000 students come through the classroom. 

“Being an outreach chair is ensuring that Samsung gives back to the community and this event gives families a chance to get a sneak peek into Samsung Austin Semiconductor,” says Pasigna. “We aim to engage with young students and help ignite their interest in STEM.”

Thanks to a larger space this year, WITS was able to let the children keep the smocks on while they participated in other activities in the room.

“They actually love the smocks! They can work on the snap circuits while wearing the smocks, so they get a feel for what it’s like to wear one for a period of time,” adds Pasigna.

Miranda Rose’s 4^th-grade daughter, Katie, was immediately drawn to the snap circuits. Within minutes, she had the saucer flying and rewired it for other configurations.

“I call her a baby STEMinist,” jokes Rose, whose daughter attends Georgetown ISD. “She's been into science and engineering since she was young. It's fun to see her come to this event and create rogue circuits, build things and see her be creative with the engineering activities. It makes me really excited that you guys put this on.”

Event organizers expected more than 12,000 children to attend the event.