Hartford, CT, April 18, 2019 – On Saturday, May 4, 2019, the American Association of University Women’s Connecticut Chapter (AAUW CT) will host its sixth annual Tech Savvy Conference from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Trinity College. Chairing Tech Savvy is Trinity engineering alumna Shakira Ramos Crespo ’02, deputy manager, Asia-Pacific, at Pratt & Whitney.
The conference is open to sixth- through ninth-grade girls who want to learn about careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and for parents and educators who want to encourage girls to realize their potential in these fields.
Led by female leaders in biology, engineering, math, and science, workshops will include 3D Design & Printing, Amazing DNA Science!, ELISA Diagnostic Testing, Get Your Rube-On, How Many Black Bears Are in CT?, Leg Savvy, Let’s Do the Jitterbug!, Make Your Own Android App, and Using Natural Pigments for pH Analysis of Household Products. Lunch for the girls will be in the student cafeteria at Trinity’s Mather Hall.
Adult workshops and panel discussions, including with women in STEM careers and current STEM women college students, will provide parents, guardians, and teachers the tools to encourage girls’ exploration of STEM careers.
Check-in and Continental breakfast begins at 8:00 a.m., with opening remarks by Trinity College President and Professor of Neuroscience Joanne Berger-Sweeney.
In 2018, The Brookings Institution reported that
AAUW CT is working to improve those numbers. Connecticut’s Tech Savvy program is funded in part by AAUW CT, the Petit Family Foundation, and the generosity of individual local donors.
Tech Savvy and similar programs are one way to increase the number of women in the STEM pipeline. Other recommendations, including suggestions for employers, appear in AAUW’s 2015 research report, Solving the Equation: The Variables for Women’s Success in Engineering and Computing.
Listen to a podcast interview about this year’s Tech Savvy: “For the People” program, hosted by John Voket (interview with Alison Draper begins at 2:43 and continues through 18:40.)
The Elizabeth Elting Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will be built on Vernon Street. Construction is scheduled to begin in late spring 2026, with an anticipated opening in fall 2027.
The HartBeat Ensemble residency at Trinity’s Austin Arts Center will launch with ‘Citizen James, or The Young Man Without a Country,’ February 12-21.
Trinity College has named the students with outstanding academic achievement who have earned Faculty Honors for the fall 2025 semester.
In recognition of its strong institutional commitment to community engagement, Trinity College has received the prestigious 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement.
