MOMENTUM - April 2024 - 7

STUDENT GENERATION
had several 3D printers on it, which caught Taverna's attention. She saw a
woman sitting at one of the tables and Taverna immediately felt at ease and
decided to go talk to her. That woman was an engineer working on additive
manufacturing applications within engineering. This female engineer gave
Taverna a 3D printed item; from that moment on, Taverna knew she wanted to
be an engineer. She remembers thinking: " If she can do this, I can do it too. "
According to SheHeroes, the number of girls interested in STEM is halved
from the time they are first introduced to STEM concepts to the time they hit
eighth grade, which is when they enter a period of " gender intensification " and
begin to identify with specific gender roles. When Taverna reached that point,
she began seeing the effects of this systemic pruning of women in STEM fields.
By then, she had witnessed many of her female counterparts become
discouraged and drop out of science- and math-based clubs. When she was
the only remaining female member in one of these student organizations, she
realized the patterned sexism that enabled these male-dominated fields to
continue to exclude women. She stuck with it though, overcoming the
suggestions from her male counterparts that she was " the token female
member " and to " try something less challenging. " These types of comments
only fueled her fire to do more and perform better.
When she reached high school, she was well aware that engineering was a
male-dominated environment, but she recalls " it was cool to be able to look
up to a woman in engineering and think that one day, I'm going to be that
same inspiration for other young women. " Although her high school did not
have an engineering program or STEM club, she was able to join the
Architecture, Construction, and Engineering (ACE) club.
" ACE club was my favorite part of high school, " Taverna beamed. " I looked
forward to it every week. " ACE is project-based student organization that
exposes students to engineering in their local community. " We had to go
scout out land in the city, evaluate it for construction efficacy, and then design
a building that fit the needs of the project specifications " Taverna explained.
She got to be in charge of the computer-aided design (CAD) modelling,
something of which she remains very proud, even though many years have
passed since her time in ACE. " It threw me into the entire scope of
engineering and made me fall in love with it even more, " she said. Her team
placed first in both her freshman and sophomore years and undoubtedly
would have been successful in her junior and senior years if it hadn't been
for the pandemic limiting the ability to participate in extra-curricular
activities in school.
Although school was virtual, Taverna made sure that this would not
deter her pursuit of engineering. She maintained her interest in math and
science, did exceptionally well in her classes, and was a part of four honor
societies, earning a special designation on her diploma for her
accomplishments in the sciences when she graduated.
Upon graduation, she enrolled at the University of Central Florida,
majoring in mechanical engineering. She's in her second year and, so far,
physics has been her favorite class. " It's fascinating to learn about how the
world works, " she reflected. " It's reminiscent of what captivated me about
engineering in the first place. "
Outside of the classroom, she applies her education to the Knights
Racing Formula SAE ergonomics team; she recently learned how to weld
and hopes to aid the team more in manufacturing this year. She also helps
with the team's outreach efforts, hoping to create a more welcoming
environment for women in their workshop. She hopes to work in
automotive or motorsports engineering upon graduation.
Taverna's story is not uncommon. Many other women that end up in
STEM fields have experienced and continue to experience the same
MOMENTUM
Zoie Taverna helping with the manufacturing of the UCF
Formula SAE vehicle.
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MOMENTUM - April 2024

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