Girl Day at UT Austin, presented by Halliburton, Texas Instruments, BAE Systems, and BASF, is a free event for K-8 students held on the Cockrell School of Engineering and Natural Sciences complexes on The University of Texas at Austin campus February 23rd, 2019 from 11:30 a.m. to 5 pm. Over 8,000 students are expected to participate in over 150 free-flowing hands-on activities and demonstrations hosted by volunteers, student organizations, corporate partners and community organizations. Students get the chance to explore engineering, science, math, and technology at their own pace throughout the event. All students are welcome!
Girl Day began in 2001 with only 92 participants and has grown to over 8,600 participants registered in 2018.
Girl Day is an international annual event held during Engineers Week! Engineers Week is always the week in February that encompasses George Washington's birthday, February 22nd, as he is recognized as the nation's first engineer.
What does Girl Day look like?
Girl Day is a free-flowing event open to the public. You should plan for lots of people and a good amount of walking across the UT campus. Students can choose which activities they'd like to attend and come and go at their leisure.
Activities are ongoing throughout the event with the exception of a few great science shows like our Fun With Chemistry show (show times are listed in the program). Come prepared and check out the program ahead of time to plan the activities you'd like to visit. Also, plan to wear comfortable shoes and clothes. We also recommend bringing a bag to take home all of the fun things you create during the day! You should expect lots of noise and people around you having fun. If an activity is crowded, we recommend returning to it later.
Discuss with your participants what to do if they get separated from you - they should immediately find a Girl Day volunteer wearing one of our shirts and they will take them to an info tent.
While we have lots of volunteers to help lead activities, we encourage you to help your participants make the connection to engineering, to help them question their activity designs (without leading them or doing it for them), and being a positive force encouraging them to see what they can do with math and science!
Girl Day is an opportunity for ALL students to get excited about engineering and for our community members and students to teach and share their passions for STEM!