For questions on any of these programs, or if you would like to help us with one of these, please contact Outreach Chair.

SWE-NESS has educational outreach programs for youth of all ages, from elementary school through college. Our goal is to expand the image of engineering as a potential career for all young people, regardless of gender or race.

Members are encouraged to join in making our award-winning outreach programs fun and educational for all participants. ​

Annual Outreach Events:

Please read on for a description of events we either lead or support on an annual basis.

Hands-On STEM Library Outreach Program by SWE NESS

For more than two years, SWE-NESS has been bringing hands-on STEM workshops to libraries across Rhode Island and Connecticut. Libraries provide a unique opportunity to connect with smaller groups of kids (typically 10–20 participants) in a flexible, one-hour format—perfect for interactive STEM challenges that spark curiosity and creativity.
What began as a pilot program in 2023 (and a lot of hard work by SWE NESS member Kim McLean) has now grown into an established outreach effort including 85 participants in 9 workshops during the summer of 2025. Our workshops are built around the Design Squad Engineering Design Process and feature take-home challenges that encourage kids to keep exploring long after the session ends.

Target age group: students ages 8 to 13 years*.
Duration: 60-90 minutes
Volunteers provided by SWE NESS members.
Locations: Available to libraries in Rhode Island or New London County, CT.
Cost: Free

* High school group workshop (paper speakers) available upon request.

Available workshops:

• Using the Power of Wind: Pinwheels and Puff Mobiles!
  • Make a Pinwheel and learn how it catches the wind to spin. Design a car that will move with wind power. Test your car and try to improve your design.
• Mission to the Moon: Touchdown!
  • Design and build a shock-absorbing system that will protect two “astronauts” when they land on the Moon.
• Mission to the Moon: Launch It!
  • Design and build an air-powered rocket that can hit a distant target.
• Zip, Zip, Zip-Line!
  • Learn about how to build a ping pong ball carrier, balance it to run down a zip line and how to decrease friction to make your carrier go faster!
• Electricity and Motion
  • Discover how an electrical circuit works to light a lightbulb and then explore other ways of making electricity do work.

We continue to expand this program and are excited to partner with even more libraries in the future.
This program is funded by a Society of Women Engineers Program Development Grant.
Interested in hosting a program at your library? Contact Kim at gsworkshops@sweness.org to learn more.

Engineers Week Library Outreach

Engineers Week book displays at local libraries promote STEM careers for both girls and boys by displaying STEM focused books with posters and bookmarks. This occurs yearly during Engineers Week in February throughout Rhode Island and Connecticut.

2026 E-Week is February 22-28th.

Providence Children’s Museum

Held every year at the Providence Children’s Museum during Engineer’s Week in February.

Girl Scout Badge Workshops at RI and CT Universities

Engineering Your Tomorrow
Physics is Phun
​
Junior age girl scouts rotate through hands-on activity stations learning about different types of engineering.  They go through exercises like building their own rolling toys to take home, designing an egg bungee jump, making an electrical circuit booklet to share with younger girls, designing a Rube Goldberg machine to crush cans, creating an engineering collage, and building a challenging paper tower.  Since the stations are run by engineering and science collegians, they can address any questions the girls (or you) may have on what courses to take for these careers. Girls will take home the Society of Women Engineers patch in addition to some of their engineering activities. The event is run and sponsored by SWE – New England Shoreline Section. The cost is $3 per child. The badges are shown below.

Certificate of Achievement

RI Science Fair Judging

SWE NESS members are invited to volunteer annually in a support role.

Connecticut Invention Convention

SWE NESS members are invited to volunteer annually in a support role.

Other Events

Girl Scout Senior Leadership Conference (Science & Technology) in March.

Girl Scout Think Like an Engineer Journey.

Design, Discover, Build, Teach! Girl Scout overnight event with High School age girls, encouraging them to pursue a STEM education while we do hands-on on STEM activities.  Due to the small group size, we really get to interact and get to know these girls over the course of the evening.  Activities usually draw from Design Squad Activities guides.

Girl Scout Leap Bot Design Workshop. Part of the Design, Discover, Build, Teach event at Pattagansett in East Lyme, CT.  Help Design, Discover, Build, Teach! and lead a Brownie Badge workshop.  Groups of 2 or 3 third graders will be building leap bots to earn one of the mechanical design badges. What’s a Leap Bot?  Leap Bots are built from thread spools and use springs to “leap” up a dowel. • Joint events with the local collegiate sections.

SWENext

SWENext is a way for students to become part of the Society of Women Engineers through the age of 18. Become part of SWE and #BeThatEngineer! Joining is free. Who can be a SWENexter? Any girl 13 or older may join SWENext. For those younger than 13, a parent will need to be the primary contact. We also encourage parents to join regardless of the age of their daughter. Click here for more information.

For questions on any of these programs, or if you would like to help us with one of these, please contact Outreach Chair.