Published: September 19, 2009 01:04 am      

PEOPLE PROFILE: Liz Larimore of Newfane is exploring engineering

NEWFANE — Liz Larimore is busy.

The Newfane High School junior does a lot during the school year, with most of her time spent between schoolwork and extracurricular activities. That kind of lifestyle even continued in the summer, where Larimore participated in the University at Buffalo’s annual New York State Center for Engineering Design and Industrial Innovation’s Cyber Engineering Workshop. The workshop, which ran for a week in the beginning of August, introduces high school girls to the field of engineering and allows them to explore the related technology and skills through hands-on activities.

“We had a chance to work with Fisher-Price engineers and talk about engineering. It was pretty cool,” Larimore said.

Larimore was one of 13 high school girls who participated in the workshop, held in Norton Hall on the UB campus. Some of the hands-on activities the girls did included writing a program into a graphing calculator. That program was used to race a small car along a course, which could be challenging at times, Larimore said.

“If that first wheel didn’t turn enough, you went off the track,” she said.

Other activities included a product “rip down,” where the participants got to dissect a

Fisher-Price toy to see how everything worked. The girls had to also create a toy that would move a small sphere a short distance, like a catapult or sling shot. They also designed a virtual roller coaster.

To be admitted into the workshop, high school girls had to apply to the NYSCEDII. Part of that included writing an essay explaining what they would bring to the program, Larimore said. There is no fee to participate in the engineering workshop, as it is sponsored by Fisher-Price, General Mills, Lockheed Martin and Praxair.

Ken English, NYSCEDII deputy director, said the workshop began in 2001. But in 2006, NYSCEDII noticed in five years there were only 10 girls who applied for the program. So in an effort to increase female participation in engineering, the center decided to change the program and make it girls only. The result was that more than 20 girls applied for the engineering workshop in 2007. Two dozen girls applied for the 2009 program.

“A lot of girls are finding that there are other girls developing an interest in engineering,” English said.

Larimore said she took a computer-aided design class last year, which is where she learned about the UB engineering program. She is not sure what she is going to study in college, but Larimore participated in the workshop to check out the field.

“Just wanted to see if I like it,” Larimore said. “I’m interested in it and I wanted to learn more about it.”

In school, Larimore also participates in Model United Nations and Student Senate clubs. She has also played junior varsity basketball and volleyball for Newfane. During her first two years in high school, Larimore was the vice president of the graduating class of 2011.

Outside of school, Larimore is in Girl Scouts and currently working on her Gold Award, which is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. In order to do that, Larimore has to complete a complete a community service project. Larimore is training a dog, named Viking, to become a Guiding Eye dog for the blind.

“You have to teach the dog obedience skills — it can take some time,” Larimore said.

As evidenced by her accomplishments, that has not deterred her before.

Contact reporter Joe Olenickat 439-9222, ext. 6241.