DAYTON, Ohio — From water quality to exploring natural disasters, Sinclair Community College is working to give young women a boost in the STEM word. 

It’s the 29th year for the annual Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or WiSTEM, Institute.

This year, more than 30 young women in grades 10th through 12th took part in a week-long series of workshops and labs.

For students like Maanasa Miriyala and Elena George, this isn’t the first time they’ve come to the college for programs like this. 

“It’s very empowering for women who want to be in STEM in the future,” said Miriyala.

“I’ve always loved building and inventing, so that’s why I did this and I’ve been interested in Sinclair for a while,” George said.

This year’s theme is "STEM Solutions to Natural Disasters."

“We’ve been hit with many natural disasters over the past year, including here in the Dayton region, and so the girls are really excited to learn about how they can find solutions or create solutions in the future to accommodate the needs of our community,” said Marita Abram, a biology professor and WiSTEM chairperson.

Students got to see careers in aviation, welding, building and robotics up close.

“We want to make sure they understand that these are fields that they can actually master and be leaders in. So we expose them to different women of various backgrounds who are represented here in our local community in STEM,” Abram said.

For Miriyala and George, it’s a week of inspiration. 

“I want to be an environmental engineer. I’ve always known that I wanted to help fight climate change and I really love problem solving and everything and hands on building, so I really want to be an engineer,” said Mirilaya.

“I really want to go into architecture or maybe biotechnology. I’ve always loved both of those things, probably architecture though,” George said.