User:Ktraino1/Nerd Girl

The term Nerd Girl is used to describe a member of the IEEE-sponsored Nerd Girls, or any woman who identifies with the groups' mission of encouraging girls to change their world through the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and math while embracing their feminine power. In particular, Nerd Girls embrace the idea that women do not need to choose between being feminine and being an engineer.

Nerd Girls was formed in 2000 by Dr. Karen Panetta, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tufts University. Although open to women of all disciplines, the original focus of Nerd Girls was Electrical Engineering, a major that often fails to attract women. Today, Nerd Girls provides a place for women in the science and technology fields to find mentors, develop technical skills, and collaborate on technical projects. Nerd Girls is several thousand members strong and includes female members from South Korea, Pakistan, Iran, China, and Turkey.

Characteristics
A Nerd Girl is an intelligent well-rounded young woman who exhibits traits of innovation and diversity while breaking the traditional negative stereotypes associated with smart women. In particular, Nerd Girls follow the mantra that smart is sexy and brains are beautiful.

A Nerd Girl challenges the idea of what a smart woman should look like by being confident and secure in her appearance and fashion sense. While the typical definition of a nerd includes an awkward or unattractive appearance, the Nerd Girl finds "no disconnect between (her) geeky pursuits and more traditionally girly interests such as fashion, makeup and high heels"  A Nerd Girl also challenges the idea of the one-dimensional nerd by engaging fully in a variety of other interests such as athletics, drama, music, and fashion.

Projects
In its efforts to promote women in engineering, Nerd Girls is collaborating with MPH Entertainment, producer of the Dog Whisperer, on a Nerd Girls reality show that will feature Nerd Girls between the ages of 18 and 23 attempting to solve real world problems. The goal of the reality show is to provide role models and to encourage young women to pursue careers in STEM fields.

Nerd Girls maintain an aggressive media presence in their attempts to dispell strerotypes about women engineers. Nerd Girls participate on-line in blogs and forums on the Nerdgirls website, and, in addition, Nerd Girls perform community outreach to promote interest in the science and technology fields.

Past Nerd Girls have collaborated on projects such as the construction of a solar race car and the conversion of homes on Thacher Island to solar power.