A little about me
Hi, I'm Charlotte, and I'm a STEM ambassador and also a student at Hull University. I study computer science, but currently work in Bristol for an industrial placement.
As a minority in CS, I've always been wanting to increase the amount of girls that sign on and find it depressing seeing the statistics bleated repeatedly as they're pretty low. This is why I became a STEM ambassador, in large part - ambassadors are people from a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematical background who want to help inspire kids and help teachers to learn how to teach kids STEM skills.
Your Project
One of my volunteering roles I picked was to go to a Guide pack in Bristol and do a wearable technology workshop to show the girls there that technology can be fashionable, fun and creative, which is why I love it.
I think it's important to do these workshops for all children so that they can see a different side to technology, and wearable tech is also an awesome way to tempt girls as this is a more creative and accessible form of making.
The Million Dollar Question
The funding will go towards a board for every girl to program, at least 1 LED, battery and some thread to make their design. If I reach my minimum, it will be 1 board between 2 girls, and maximum 1 board each which is what I'm aiming for.
I need funding to be able to do this because as I mentioned, I'm a student, and whilst there's a small amount of budget from the Guides and I've managed to find electronics stores that are happy to give a discount, each kit will cost £10-15 and I can't afford that on my own. That breaks down to:
1 GEMMA wearable microcontroller board: £6
2x wearable neopixels: £3.15 (sold in packs of 4 - £6.30 per pack)
1 Lithium Polymer battery: £2.92-£4
Consumables such as conductive thread and needles should hopefully be covered by the Guides, though if I recieve any extra than what is needed it will go into getting more consumables for this and future workshops.
I'm hoping to reuse the kits in schools and STEM clubs in order to spread the technology love a little further since this is a pricey project.
Money Isn't Everything
If you can't provide a donation but want to help, please share this project with others. Every little really helps
Contact/information
If you want to know any more about me, please see my blog - charlottegodley.co.uk
If you want to sign up as a STEM ambassador, see http://www.stemnet.org.uk/
And if you have any questions, tweet me at @charwarz
Thanks for all your help!
