UF’s first women’s nuclear engineering organization held its inaugural meeting Wednesday.
About 30 students attended the meeting for UF’s chapter of U.S. Women in Nuclear.
The organization is open to both women and men. In fact, there were more men than women at the meeting.
Samantha Mitchell, a 22-year-old nuclear engineering senior, is co-chair of the chapter. Mitchell said the organization will focus on networking and outreach.
“Women and men are wired differently and have different needs,” she said. “This is a support system.”
Katherine Goluoglu, faculty sponsor for U.S. Women in Nuclear, recently moved to Gainesville from Tennessee. She decided to start a chapter after meeting UF students at a national conference in July.
“They’re an energized bunch of students,” she said.
According to Goluoglu, U.S. Women in Nuclear will work closely with UF’s Society of Women Engineers and the American Nuclear Society. The club also plans to visit local elementary schools and teach students about nuclear energy.
But it’s not all about women - Andrew Cartas, a 24-year-old nuclear engineering graduate student, came to the meeting because he wants to help build up the club.
“This is the beginning of a very strong network,” he said.
