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The 10th annual Girl Power event on March 6, in the Kossiakoff Center at the ����ֱ�� University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, drew more than 500 girls for an afternoon of exploration, discovery and career advice.

The expo, sponsored by APL, consisted of various hands-on activities and demonstrations to encourage middle and high school girls to get interested and excited about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. This year’s Girl Power was kicked off by APL’s Alice Bowman, mission operations manager for NASA’s . She shared stories from her team’s success in STEM fields and encouraged the girls to never give up on their dreams.

Students interacted with over 30 hands-on activities including magnetic slime circuits, ultraviolet bracelets and soda straw rockets provided by APL’s Society of Women Engineers (SWE). They were also able to choose from seven workshops held throughout the afternoon, focusing on 3-D imaging, cyber security and nanotechnology along with a host of other technology-related subjects; the workshops were created by the Women in Technology of Central Maryland. Members from also attended, dressed as historical women in science such as Dottie Lee, Hedy Lamarr, Kathryn Thornton and Ada Lovelace.

“I love seeing the girls engage with the STEM professionals and the demonstrations,” said Elise Buckley, of . “The girls were able to gain a breadth of knowledge by visiting with our 40 STEM booths ranging from anatomy and physiology, to space, to engineering, as well as learn in depth by attending the technology workshops.”