Bold Visions: Women in Science & Technology

To coincide with National Engineers Week (February 17‑23) and National Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (February 21), American Public Television has announced the airing of Bold Visions: Women in Science & Technology, which aims to dispel the myths commonly associated with science and technology and with female professionals who work in those fields. The program premieres on Public Television, February 1st. (Check your local listings.*)

The program profiles three fabulous women: Anne Carpenter, a research scientist for Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, who is searching for genetic causes of diseases; Joan Higginbotham, a former NASA astronaut who applies her engineering expertise in space; and Duy‑Loan Le, a senior fellow at Texas Instruments, who is as agile leading a team of colleagues as she is kicking a soccer ball with her sons. Their work is exciting and collaborative, and it's making a positive difference in the quality of our lives‑a message we must promote if America is going to keep its competitive edge by fostering home‑grown talent.

Bold Visions also features Hispanic high school girls who, together with other students, have built a wind turbine to generate electricity for lights at a community center. (They were recently featured in People en Espanol.) Emmy Award‑winning executive producer Helene Lerner hosts.

DVDs of the program and accompanying Discussion Guides are being distributed nationwide to be viewed by teenagers. Among the groups receiving them are Girls Inc., The Infinity Project, National Girls Collaborative Project, Sally Ride Science, National Coalition of Girls' Schools, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Project Lead The Way classrooms, International Society for Technology in Education, International Technology Education Association and the National School Boards Association.

1. In an area of Texas where some homes lack basic services such as electricity, high school students helped make a difference by building a wind turbine to provide power for lights at a community center.
Photo credit: Mark Eveslage

2. At 30, Broad Institute scientist Anne Carpenter is leading a team involved in genome research to improve understanding of diseases and accelerate the search for cures.
Photo credit: Mark Eveslage

3. Former NASA shuttle astronaut Joan Higginbotham applies her expertise as an electrical engineer to her work in space.
Photo credit: NASA

4. Duy‑Loan Le is a technologist and Senior Fellow at Texas Instruments, where she oversees highly advanced technology development projects.
Photo credit: Mark Eveslage

These images may be used only in conjunction with print or online promotion of Bold Visions: Women in Science & Technology. Any image that is used must be accompanied by the photo credit provided.

*The program is presented by KCTS/Seattle Public Television and distributed by American Public Television (APT).

Funding for the documentary airing on public television was provided by Cisco, ITT Corporation, Microsoft Research, Shell Oil Company, State Farm and Sun Microsystems.

Funding for the DVD and Discussion Guide being used with teenagers was made possible by Microsoft Alliance, Rockwell Automation, Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation, State Farm and Xerox Corporation.