MORE THAN 3,600 VISITORS AT THE 6TH EDITION OF THE WOMEN AND GIRLS OF SCIENCE EVENT AT THE SCIENCE CENTRE

MONTREAL, Feb. 16, 2023 /CNW/ - Last Saturday, on February 11, the Montréal Science Centre hosted the 6th edition of its Women and Girls of Science event. The day's educational and exciting program was presented to mark the UN's International Day of Women and Girls in Science and designed to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of women and girls in the fields of science and tech. Event organizers were thrilled to have welcomed more than 3 600 visitors for the Science Centre's biggest event of the year, proof that young people are increasingly captivated by science and eager to learn more about career opportunities available to them in STEM fields. 

The Science Centre was honoured to have Québec's very own aerospace engineer Farah Alibay as the event's special invited speaker. Alibay shared stories about how she became a member of NASA's team and also shared about the challenges she overcame as a woman and a woman of colour. Her talk sought to inspire young girls to pursue their dreams of making their own mark in an exciting career in science. 

"Less than 30% of those working in STEM fields are women, yet we represent more than 50% of the world's population. Encouraging young girls to enter and establish themselves in these fields will help us take on the challenges of the future," explained Alibay. "The world of tomorrow will be full of technical and environmental challenges, and we will need everyone's contributions to help us find solutions and put them into action. STEM fields owe it to themselves to be increasingly inclusive. Women must be encouraged to enter these fields, and be welcomed in these fields, and given the opportunity to make their mark."

The event program also featured more than fifteen exhibitors that offered visitors an opportunity to interact with inventions, discover new scientific advances, explore projects, and learn about career opportunities in their respective fields. Visitors also had the chance to meet exceptional women of science doing exciting things in science and tech. The program also included a wide variety of interactive mini activities, exciting hands-on workshops, and demos on topics from AI and robotics to molecular gastronomy and coding, showing all visitors in attendance just how fun and exciting science can be.

"The event showed us that the return of our in-person program was highly anticipated and contributed to its tremendous success," explained Montréal Science Centre Director Cybèle Robichaud. "Seeing as less than a third of those working in STEM fields are women, our goal with the Women and Girls of Science event is to try and close this gender gap, not only for there to be more women in science, but to allow these fields to benefit from the diversity of ideas that can only be possible by giving a diversity of people an opportunity to take part. The more minds we engage in science and tech, the more challenges we can overcome and the more problems we can solve."

A World of Thanks to Our Event Partners

The Montréal Science Centre would like to thank Farah Alibay and all the event exhibitors, as well as Amazon Web Services and UQAM's Faculty of Science. Their engagement and enthusiasm helped make the event a resounding success. Furthermore, the Women and Girls in Science Day generated a net profit of approximately $70,000 for the Science Center Foundation - an amount that will be used to finance exhibitions, educational programs, and other one-time events.

About the Montréal Science Centre

The Montréal Science Centre, a division of Canada Lands Company, is a complex dedicated to science and technology that welcomes more than 700,000 visitors annually. It is best known for its accessible, interactive approach and for showcasing local innovation and know-how. Its major partners are Volvo, AWS, Énergir, The Beat 92.5, TELUS, and La Presse.

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SOURCE Montreal Science Centre

Kaven Gauthier, Public Relations Manager, Old Port of Montréal Corporation, Cell: 514 838-4593, [email protected]; Source, Montréal Science Centre