Our nationally recognized Women in Nuclear (WIN) Pittsburgh Chapter recently held a virtual event with students in the region as part of Nuclear Science Week
Monday kicked off this year’s Nuclear Science Week (NSW) – an international celebration of all things nuclear science.
Celebrated every third week of October, NSW is our global industry’s time to shine as we highlight nuclear science’s contributions, innovations and opportunities.
And there’s lots of them!
In celebration of NSW, our Women in Nuclear (WIN) Pittsburgh Chapter held a virtual career panel yesterday that was open to sophomores and juniors at high schools located throughout southwestern Pennsylvania.
In total, more than 250 students from 13 high schools in the region tuned in to hear our WIN Pittsburgh Chapter panelists discuss the history behind NSW, provide an overview on Westinghouse and what it is that we do as well as answer students’ questions in an interactive Q&A career session.
The questions ran the gamut – from “What has your favorite project been throughout your professional career?” to “What is Westinghouse doing in the field of small modular reactors?”
Sylena Smith, Westinghouse senior engineer and WIN Pittsburgh Chapter’s public outreach co-chair
Sylena Smith, Westinghouse senior engineer and WIN Pittsburgh Chapter’s public outreach co-chair, participated in the panel to keep students engaged and motivated to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) careers.
“WIN’s public outreach events, such as this one, also demonstrate to underrepresented students that these opportunities are for them,” Sylena said.
“When students see this career panel and how people like them can succeed in these fields, they are more likely to see themselves in these roles,” she said. “This is why it’s vital that WIN continues to bring these opportunities to students to not only support the community as a whole, but Westinghouse’s future.”
This marks the second year that our WIN Pittsburgh Chapter has led this virtual educational outreach event.
In fact, their engagement with students in the region on STEM earned them the 2020 U.S. WIN Public Outreach Award for a Large Chapter at WIN’s 2021 National Conference earlier this year.
For more information on NSW, including a variety of resources for educators, please visit www.nuclearscienceweek.org.
And don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook with #NuclearScienceWeek as we share “did you know” nuclear-related facts throughout this week.
Happy Nuclear Science Week!
#WestinghouseProud #CarbonFreeFuture
