The Andover Robotics Club (ARC) at Andover High School hosted the first Girls in Engineering and Robotics Symposium (GEARS) on October 1st. The event was open to all gender minorities, promoting networking among FIRST Tech Challenge teams and celebrating women and gender minorities in engineering and robotics. GEARS had over 50 attendees ranging from middle to high schoolers from all over Massachusetts.

GEARS featured professional speakers from various backgrounds sharing their experiences, including talks about finding jobs and handling interviews in a way that highlights your strengths. In more than 20 sessions, role models from across the Greater Boston area and even a virtual speaker with a recent doctorate from the University of Maryland talked about engineering and robotics. Boston University and Merrimack College also sent representatives to present on how students can continue to pursue engineering in college. In addition to these speakers, GEARS consisted of technical workshops on topics such as soldering and prototyping. Participants also had the chance to watch Boston Dynamics’ SPOT, an agile mobile robot, provided by Code and Circuit. Students took the time to not only learn from professionals, but also build a community among themselves, discussing their experiences in robotics with other girls across the state.

GEARS was an amazing experience for the host team, ARC, as well as the attending participants from across Massachusetts. ARC is glad to have been able to give the girls of FIRST Tech Challenge teams an opportunity to meet, network, and learn, and they plan on continuing to do so in the future.