Beyond expectations - EEE students create an 'epic' outreach experience

Imperial's Women in Electrical Engineering Society has designed and hosted the "Tech for Good Hackathon" — their first school's outreach event.

75 Year 9 girls from five London secondary schools took part in a day of technical and creative activities alongside women students and staff.

The student-led programme aimed to spark an early interest and awareness of engineering as an application of maths and physics, filled with exciting real-world impact, and to see themselves as future innovators in STEM.

A team of 25 student volunteers helped to provide a warm welcome and ensure this large and ground-breaking event ran smoothly, including key organisers Bhavya Sharma and Shreya Kamath (WiEE President and Vice President) and the Women in Electrical Engineering (WiEE) society committee.

Photography: Monika Koppuravuri Watch a video reel from the event on Instagram

"Less than five hands went up when we asked the students if they knew what an engineer does. By the end of the day they weren’t just answering the question — they were thinking like engineers" Bhavya Sharma WiEE President

Beyond expectations

A central part of the day was a panel discussion featuring four of our women academic staff — Dr Sonali Parbhoo, Esther Perea, Dr Chen Qin, and Dr Tania Stathaki.

Each shared personal journeys into engineering, highlighted key innovations in their research fields — from healthcare-focused AI to security-enhancing computer vision — and offered words of advice to the visiting students.

One Y9 student reflected, “I was surprised by how engineering can link to any subject. Before today, I thought it was just about mechanics and cars.”

" I loved hearing from all of the students and professors and learning more about engineering. I learnt so much about electronic engineers today and found it really fascinating."

Confidence and creativity

In our busy Level 1 teaching lab, the Y9 students took part in an electronics workshop designed and led by Aditya Deshpande and Lorenza Giovannetti. Under the friendly guidance of our student volunteers they tackled wiring LED circuits, building smart switches, and working with real components — what Bhayva calls "the full engineering student experience". For Bhavya, one Y9 visitor summed it up perfectly: "Circuit building was frustrating and refreshing at the same time. I really liked it!" 

Another highlight was the "Tech for Good Design Challenge," led by Yomna Mohamed, Irene Meletopoulou and Alex Dhayaa. Participants collaborated to develop solutions addressing real-world challenges in sustainability, healthcare, and education using their creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving sklills. 

The Y9 teams generated thoughtful, detailed and inventive solutions, leaving many with newfound confidence in their creative engineering abilities. One student said, “[I was surprised to learn] that I have quite good ideas with apps."

“It allowed us to design solutions to problems we were passionate about or interested in.. it has inspired me to look into engineering.”

The success of the whole day was evident not just in the immediate enthusiasm, but in the reflective feedback from both students and teachers, which was overwhelmingly positive, with many students expressing new curiosity and excitement for engineering. 

"I got to try using gloves which controlled a robot dinosaur's movements, and Lorenza's circuit challenge was challenging in a super fun way!!!”

"Loved the day. Had so much fun. More colleges should allow young students of secondary to see and give them ideas about what to pick for GCSE, and what you may take on from that."

One of the visiting teachers said, 'Events like this provide valuable opportunities... particularly for those in state co-educational schools. At our school the ratio is around 2:1 boys to girls, so initiatives like yours play a crucial role in inspiring and encouraging more girls to explore STEM subjects. I'd love to get my students involved again."

STEM sisterhood

The WiEE Society has grown into a strong and visible community under its current 15-member committee, who represent all year groups from first year undergraduates to MSc.

This event, which has taken months of careful planning by the WiEE team, represents the largest of many new initiatives including a Sister Scheme connecting older and younger years for mentoring and support, a pilot mentoring programme partnership with Apple, and regular social and networking events.

WiEE is all about representation, visibility, and active encouragement, inside and outside Imperial, with this school's day just the beginning of their efforts to inspire future women engineers. Bhavya said, "I know that people in the year below are passionate to run it as a recurring event, so I'm excited to see that happen."

Praise for the event

"The positive feedback from students and teachers alike highlights the profound impact of this initiative, and the dedication and passion of the student volunteers and organisers were truly commendable. We are all incredibly proud of you.” Prof Kristel Fobelets Deputy Head, EEE

Professor Kristel Fobelets is Deputy Head of EEE and Chair of our DICE (Diversity, Inclusion, Culture and Equity) committee; she praised the The WiEE Society for an "exceptional event."

"Witnessing the plan in action was a unique and delightful experience, with the lab buzzing with energy and enthusiasm, and we hope this leads to more girls in the labs for years to come. The positive feedback from students and teachers alike highlights the profound impact of this initiative, and the dedication and passion of the student volunteers and organisers were truly commendable. We are all incredibly proud of you.”

A huge shout out to the student organisers and volunteers for creating such a wonderful and inspiring day. The students have been also supported in the process by EEE staff including Education Support Officer Emma Rainbow, and Admissions, Outreach and Education Projects Manager Kay Hancox.

Our favourite comment from a Y9 student? — "Engineering is epic."