WISEST (Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology), extended an invitation to Camrose MLA Jackie Lovely to join a white paper presentation last Wednesday, Aug. 14, to celebrate the research work conducted by 41 Grade 11 students this summer at the University of Alberta.
Two Flagstaff area students, Amanda Cepeda and Madison Mickla, from Hardisty and Daysland respectively, were part of the group.
WISEST is a unit of the University of Alberta which has existed since 1982.
“For over 40 years, we have continued our commitment to empowering youth who are interested in pursuing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) opportunities in which their gender has been underrepresented.
“Our WISEST Summer Research Program is a six-week paid research experience that incorporates numerous professional development experiences to build students’ confidence and skills in STEM fields.
“This summer we have placed 41 young women and gender diverse individuals in varying science, engineering, and computing science labs.”
Mickla and Cepeda were successfully accepted into the 2024 Summer Research Program.
Lovely says, “The accomplishments of these bright young students was shared at the annual Celebration of Research, which spotlights the research the students have completed throughout the Program.
“Amanda Cepeda is from Hardisty and attends Irma school. Her project focused on a deployable robot for mobile inspections, working with a team through the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the U of A.”
Cepeda says, “WISEST was a very memorable and unforgettable experience that I would definitely recommend to other girls such as myself in rural communities where STEM is not often a focus.”
Mickla is from Daysland and will be entering Grade 12 this fall. She was also placed in a mechanical engineering lab at the UofA through WISEST. Her project focused on applying image-based pose detection algorithms to tello drone. The program ran from July 3 to Aug. 14, 2024.