Design and Discovery

This week, I had the privledge of joining the Girl Scouts of the USA for an event. We were recently asked to come up with a fresh and new look for the Design and Discovery Destination Event. This is an annual event that partners the Fairplay chapter of the Girl Scouts with Intel, to promote non-traditional carreer paths for young women. The focus is on Engineering and Design paths.
I was not involved with groups like the Girl Scouts, Brownies, or Bluebirds when I was growing up, so it was great that the girls at the event welcomed me, and let me be a Girl Scout for a day. Well, summer camp has changed a lot since I was a kid. During free time, the girls wandered around in the surrounding trees, looking for a private corner that also had a cell phone signal, or they busied themselves with catching up on emails in the computer lab, chatting on myspace, or putting together powerpoint presentations.

We had a delicious meal and watched as the Girl Scouts presented the ideas they had developed on a foray into town that afternoon. They identified products with good and bad design, and considered how they might utilize or improve upon them. It was fascinating, and great to see young people considering these things.