Women in Engineering Event Gives Info on STEM Careers

On March 30, The Cooper Union hosted a program entitled Women in Engineering. The event gave young women considering careers in STEM fields a chance to meet with faculty, administrators, alumna and current students to discuss educational requirements, job opportunities and professional networking. Vice President of Enrollment and Dean of Admissions Mitchell Lipton said, "The range of attendees was quite diverse.  We welcomed over two hundred prospective applicants, admitted students, parents, teachers and school counselors.  A few of our admitted young women stayed overnight to get more of the Cooper experience."

Speakers included Prof. Richard Stock, Acting Dean of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering, and Prof. Anita Raja, Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Programs. The event was organized in part by the Cooper branch of the Society of Women Engineers, which is led by Jamie Chan ChE'16. Their members helped foster discussion among the visitors and their parents.

 "Events like these not only encourage young women to explore the STEM fields but also empowers them to understand their potential effect on solving some of society's greatest challenges," Dean Lipton said.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.