When was the first female crash test dummy used to accurately gauge the impact of car accidents on women’s bodies? Was it 30 years ago? Twenty years? Ten? Shockingly, it was only in November 2022 — a fact that drew gasps and laughs of surprise when it was revealed to the young audience at Girls in Tech.
Presented by Commonwealth Bank and sponsored by Telstra, Girls in Tech is an annual event that aims both to demonstrate the vital ideas and perspectives women bring to how technology is designed, built and executed; and to help young women explore potential careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
“It’s not just about coding or gaming and it’s definitely not just for boys,” said Girls in Tech MC Evie Endacott, an analytics researcher in Cyber Defence at CommBank.
Hundreds of young students from schools across Sydney gathered at The Foundry, a Commonwealth Bank office in inner-city South Eveleigh, where they heard industry-leading women in STEM talk about their careers, and gained hands-on experience with cutting-edge technology at interactive exhibition stands.
“What we’ve heard about this event in the last seven years is that the girls are going back [to school] and changing the subjects they choose as electives to be more STEM-related,” said CommBank’s Paula Nolan, the producer of Girls in Tech. “We hope more of them continue to study STEM and hopefully flow in STEM industries later in life.”
Watch the video above for highlights from Girls in Tech 2023.
Girls in Tech is hosted at The Foundry, a Commonweath Bank office in South Eveleigh, Sydney.
Hundreds of young students from high schools across Sydney attended the event, where they listened to industry-leading women in STEM talk about their diverse and rewarding careers.
Girls in Tech’s keynote speakers (left to right) Chelsea Capizzi-Walsh, Commbank Executive Manager Crisis Management; Dr Vanessa Pirotta, wildlife scientist and conservationist; Fatemeh Salehi, Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Macquarie University; Evie Endacott, event MC and CommBank Analytics Researcher, Cyber Defence; and Tori Birch, CommBank technology graduate.
A student poses for a selfie with Dr Vanessa Pirotta, who spoke about how she has used drones to collect “whale snot” to assess whale health.
At Girls in Tech’s interactive exhibition stands, students gained hands-on experience with technologies including robots, drones and visual effects.
The demonstration pods showed students how technology can be used as a force for good — for example, to help children in developing countries.
Students learn how technology can be used to build prosthetic limbs for landmine victims.
Students participated in workshops hosted by the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) to help them build their voice and physical presence, and speak and present with confidence.
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