Ursuline Academy STEM Day was held on Feb 24th, 2016 for the students to experiment, play, create, and discover all the possibilities available in STEM. Ursuline Academy is a college preparatory school for young women in Dallas, grades 9-12. Careers in Science are undeserved by women. This is probably due to the way we teach science and engineering, as well as our social norms that dictate that science and engineering professions to be a “Man thing”! When I see my daughter so enthusiastic to experiment and work with me in the lab during her summer break and spring break, I feel the need to empower more young women her age. So, when Ursuline asked for professionals who would be willing to participate in their very first STEM Day, I was thrilled. I immediately decided to sign up. Being a Cosmetic Formulations Chemist, a business woman and a mother, I wanted girls to take home the message that you can do it all and have fun!
We did just that on STEM Day. I started off telling the girls about my profession and about how I started in this field of cosmetic science having a background in Organometallic Chemistry and having worked in drug synthesis. They were then able to witness the actual making of a gel mask using natural ingredients and learn the science of emulsifiers and surface chemistry. They were all hands on and got to make their own exfoliating gel mask with colorful Jojoba ester beads. They had lots of questions and were fascinated at the end of the day. I felt great as well and with my daughter, Shreya, being my assistant, even solidified my purpose in life!
About Shilpi:
About Shilpi:Shilpi is a Research and Development Scientist and Consultant with over a decade of hands-on experience with product development in FDA- regulated cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. She has extensive experience formulating personal care, medicinal cosmetically, OTCs, sunscreens, pet care, household cleaning products, and hair care products. She currently manages pilot production, reverse engineering, supervision of production staff and lab personnel, review of artwork and use of all analytical instrumentation. She is the Founder and Director of the Skinveda cosmetics line. You can read her previous blog post on talkSTEM here.
Dr. Koshi Dhingra has dedicated her career to STEM education and is passionate about having every child live up to their potential. Seeing a lack of girls and other underrepresented youth in STEM programs, she founded talkSTEM in 2015 to address the imbalance. She has a doctorate in science education from Teachers College, Columbia University, has years of experience teaching in graduate and undergraduate programs, and has held leadership roles in universities. She advises and collaborates with a broad range of educational institutions globally. Dr. Dhingra began her career teaching science in middle and high school in New York. She lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband, three children, and two dogs.
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