As hard as it might be for some Marc Jacobs or Dolce and Gabbana aficionados to grasp, this season's most chic and sexy accessory may be a voluptuous brain.
One on-campus group, the Nerd Girls Team, is trying to dispel the geeky stereotypes associated with women in engineering and promote females in the sciences by exerting confidence while tackling tough science-related issues.
The group's Web site, Nerdgirls.com, states its motto that "Brains are beautiful. Geek is Chic. Smart is sexy. Not either/or."
The group was started in 2000 by Dr. Karen Panetta, an associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tufts.
Panetta explained that the lack of women in the sciences throughout her education -- including her time at Tufts -- motivated her to single-handedly start the group.
"When I was an undergraduate, there were no women in engineering," Panetta said. "And when I decided to get my Ph.D. and come to Tufts, there were still no women in engineering, so I decided that had to change. I noticed that most women were not drawn to engineering because of the negative stereotypes -- like that [engineers] are awful-looking and have to act and dress like a guy in order to compete -- and those are totally false."
In order to change these circumstances, Panetta's group of Nerd Girls has completed dozens of projects ranging from solar car races to environmental clean-ups to improving the mobility of disabled people.
But while the Nerd Girls at Tufts have been devoting themselves to working on various engineering tasks, Panetta has been working on a project of her own: a reality-television series based on the Nerd Girls group. The show, which would be comprised of a cast of women engineers from around the country, would feature an engineering problem to be solved each week.
"The reality television show in the works is going very well," Panetta said. "The projects will be very different because every week there will be a different engineering challenge where they'll go in and respond to it."
The show has already been discussed with producers at stations such as The Oxygen Network and The Discovery Channel.
As chair of the Women in Engineering committee for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a professional organization that promotes engineering and science for the benefit of humanity, Panetta says that all of the Nerd Girl project ideas stem from helping others in some way.
"Everything has to do with helping people and everything has to have a greater purpose, whether it's helping an individual lead a better life or helping a community or the environment," she said.
Currently, the girls are working on a solar car for the World Solar Challenge that will take place in Australia this fall. The project involves designing and building a solar car from scratch, which will then be driven 3,000 kilometers across the continent, from Darwin to Adelaide. The Nerd Girls will be the first all-female race team ever to compete in the competition.
Nicole Slaughter, a junior in the Nerd Girls group who is studying mechanical engineering, said that the project has come together without many problems, and that the group is currently looking into companies that can build the car.
"It's fun, and it's great to be working as a team," she said. "We each have our own assignments, and then we get together once a week to put it together."
Slaughter added that the all-girls environment is a refreshing change from the mostly male classes she takes as part of her mechanical engineering major.
"I'm an engineer, so most of my classes are full of guys. It's nice to be in an all-female environment. We all have the same mindset: to promote women in engineering," she said.
Despite the success that the team has had, some do not approve of the attitude that the group promotes about expressing female beauty and pairing it with intelligence. Panetta said she has been criticized for trying to sell science with looks, but asserted that, contrary to what some may think, Nerd Girls is about bringing out the best in engineers and inspiring confidence.
"We're not just about women, and one of the things I do want to dispel is that ... it's all about just showing that we're pretty," Panetta said. "But it's got nothing to do with looks; it's all about the fact that you can do anything, and it's about incorporating your talents, your imagination and your creativity, and showing that engineers are not one-dimensional."
Regardless of the negativity of some critics, Panetta finds that mentoring the group is a rewarding experience. She said that seeing the girls transform from shy sophomores to polished seniors is especially gratifying.
"Just to watch that evolution take place is absolutely amazing; that's got to be the best part," she said.
