---

E-girls find lessons on aggregate in form of cookies

Asphalt cookies anyone? Erika Bowen and Mary Lockwood led a group of female high school students through an exercise designed to demonstrate how a road surface is constructed as part of the annual e-Girls Workshop at Boise State University recently.

Instead of the typical aggregates – crushed rock, sand and limestone dust or cement – the students worked with chopped walnuts, coconut and oats. For tar, the group used melted chocolate.

The e-Girls workshop is a two-day summer program that explores engineering and computer science careers. It is designed for women who will be high school sophomores and juniors this fall. 
 
Society of Women Engineers’ professionals and BSU students led participants through a variety of engineering-related activities. ITD volunteers have been active in the education program since 2007.

---

Photos: Participants in the e-Girls camp load up on “aggregates” for their asphalt cookies (top); Mary Lockwood compares pavement core samples while Erica Bowen watches during part of her e-Girls presentation at BSU (lower left).

Published 7-1-2011