2019 Madeline Bartek
Operation Minerva Essay
By Madeline Bartek
I am on the far right in the blue jacket.
In this world, people say that we have equal rights, equal opportunities. They say that women have many different role models and people to look up to. They say this, but women are paid less than men for the same work if not more work. People say that we have equal opportunities but women are ridiculed for chasing their dreams. Women are put down and told to stay down. So when I got the email, saying “Congratulations! You will be job shadowing a women who has a career involved in science, technology, engineering and or math (STEM)!” I was ecstatic. I was given the opportunity to get to meet women who didn’t let the world beat them down. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I couldn’t wait for May 2nd. I talked to my science teacher and guidance counselor, trying to gain as much information as humanly possible. With the second email, announcing who I was going to job shadow, I began researching anything and everything about the Global Research Initiative (GRI) at the University of Calgary. The GRI is a initiative that aims to reduce our carbon footprint significantly. Along with this, the GRI contributes to finding a climate-neutral energy system. It was fascinating to see how the GRI was going to achieve their ambitious goals.
On May 2nd, I arrived at my set pick up area, ten minutes early, bouncing with nerves and excitement. Once the on the bus, all the girls and I were talking and trying to see who might be going to the same company. It was then, I realized, how many different companies and career options STEM could lead to. And all with women as a huge contributing factor! That, to me, was amazing. We have so little women role models now a days. When we got to the girl guide centres, separated off into the appropriate buses, I was again struck in awe at how many different STEM careers that just the University of Calgary had to offer. At my stop, I couldn’t help but gawk at the building that was the GRI headquarters. The building on the outside had silver and green panels on it. Later, we found out that they were there to let sunlight into the building. Inside the building, we found lots of open space, with a high ceiling and lots of places to work. We met the manager of the GRI and played an interesting ice breaker game. We were paired up and given a slip of paper with a famous female singer. Our partner then had to ask yes or no questions to try and guess who the singer was. It was lots of fun and a great way to get to know the other girls.
After getting to know one another, we were brought up to the GRI office and were introduced to the amazing GRI team. Soon we were out of the GRI building on off to different labs. As we made our way to the first lab, I got the feeling that there would be lots of walking that day and boy was I right.
The first lab we went to was the department of chemical and petroleum engineering, lead by Ranjani Kannaiyan. There, we were shown all the different equipment and given an intriguing description of each one. Once done the tour of the lab, we were shown how water is affected by oil and vice versa. We made observations and guesses as to why we thought water and oil interacted the way they did. The reason? Surface tension. Oil has a lower surface tension than water. We were then shown, using computers, water, palladium and a stand of some kind, the exact moment the palladium pulled away from water and how that affected the water’s surface tension. It was amazing and so intriguing to witness.
All to soon we had to move on to our next lab, across the building, and up a few floors. In this lab, we met Beatriz Molero Sanchez, a chemist, business women, and musician. There we were again shown around the small lab and given a description on each piece of equipment. After, we were given a brief lesson that explained what was happening in the lab. They were using electricity to separate gases. We were shown how this technology can be used in day to day life by using a small, hydrogen powered, toy car, that proved the point nonetheless. We were shown a quick video that showed the technology being researched in this lab used in a bigger, real car that one day, may be on the market. It was incredible!
We were soon shown to a conference room, where we had lunch with the GRI team, including the vice-dean, Dr. Cindy Graham. Dr. Graham told us her riveting story of becoming a vice-dean, coming in as someone with their mind straight on one thing and coming out with something completely different. We were then asked what image we imagined when thinking about scientists. The answers they received ranged from middle aged man in a white coat to a floating, headless, white lab coat. It was interesting to see what others thought of when thinking about scientists.
After lunch, there was one more lab to go to before the end of the day. This lab, unlike the other two which held scientists, held engineers. Some might ask what is the difference between a scientist and an engineer? The answer is that an engineer uses a scientists’ discovery to create new things that the world can use. In that lab, we were shown exactly that. We were shown how people can mix different fibers to create different polyesters and materials that can be used for 3D printing. One engineer showed us her project that worked on detecting oil spills in pipelines. It was incredible to see how the ingenious minds at the University of Calgary and around the world, worked to create so many different things.
On the way back to the girl guides centre, all the girls and I couldn’t stop talking about all the amazing and unique things we learned that day. When I got home to my mom, I couldn’t stop talking about all the things that I had experienced.
Operation Minerva gave me an opportunity to learn, meet, and see strong, independent women. I got to meet women who believed in themselves and became a role model to all. I am so incredibly thankful for Operation Minerva, for giving me the chance to meet such incredible people. Operation Minerva showed me to stand up for what I want to do and for what I believe in. It showed me the different possibilities that I have if I believe and work hard. I can only wish that more girls could have experienced what I experienced. Thank you.
