The Society of Women Engineers held a welding seminar where women in the engineering college were able to come to the Technical Education and Manufacturing lab and make their own union chairs on Tuesday evening.
Emily Theirri, a sophomore majoring in biological systems engineering, ran the seminar, stating that it helps “get women involved in some more technical education.”
Although there are a plethora of welding seminars throughout the year, the majority of the women who attended Tuesday came because they felt much more comfortable in a setting that was female-dominated.
Feeling more confident in an environment filled with like-minded individuals, the women learned to weld and use a laser cutter in order to make a replica of a union chair that they could take home.
“It makes them feel more comfortable,” Theirri said. “Shops environments are generally more intimidating, especially for women, considering it's a male-dominated space.”
Kalley Anderson, an industrial engineering student, said she feels more comfortable in the predominantly-female space because she is not judged.
She said the seminar provides a good way to get involved in a more hands-on form of engineering.
“I wanted to learn to weld because in industrial engineering you don't really do anything hands-on,” said Anderson.
Anderson said she was not given the same opportunities as the men who surrounded her growing up. Her grandfather was a skilled welder, yet she was not allowed in the shop when he was teaching her brother.
“As a kid, my grandpa would teach my brother, but I didn't have that opportunity, so just learning a little bit of the basics, and getting myself out of my comfort zone at the seminar is fun,” said Anderson.
