April 8, 2016

By Emma Alexander, Honors Communications Intern

This March, the sixtieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women was hosted at the United Nation’s headquarters in New York City. The conference theme centered around women’s empowerment and it’s link to sustainable development. Five Purdue students, sponsored by the Honors College, had the opportunity to attend this conference to represent their solar panel project. If this project sounds familiar, you likely read our first news release about it last fall. To refresh yourself on the project’s goals and purpose, you can reread that article here.

During the conference, which lasted from March 14th to the 24th, the students attended central events and keynote presentations as well as several smaller panels and sessions which were of interest to attending individuals. What’s more, the group was able to participate as panelists and share the work that they are doing with others in attendance. However, outside of scheduled conference activities, the group had another unique opportunity. The students had the chance to meet several of their partners, including a group of girls from the Inwelle Center that will be directly benefitting from the efforts of the project. One attending student, Jennifer Pohlman, declared this was her favorite part of the experience.

I really enjoyed the UN conference. My favorite part was meeting the girls from Inwelle Center. It was amazing to get to spend time with them, and it was really eye opening to see that they are so similar to us. It made the project more personal to interact with the girls who will be benefiting from it. I think that our project with Inwelle captures a lot of the elements of engineering that are taught at Purdue. As future engineers, we have a responsibility to use our abilities to benefit the lives of others. Aside from meeting the girls, it was really interesting to hear discussions from other panels about the impact that empowering women can have on sustainable development.

Another attending student, Kendall Kyle, commented on the experience as a whole.

The UN conference was a fantastic experience. We were able to meet lots of people who have done incredible things and it was inspiring to see how many people and industries are working to improve the lives of people all around the world.

The group clearly drew much inspiration from their experiences at the conference. However, their work is far from done, and they are looking to expand their influence beyond the Inwelle Center. Team member Caleb Kreis shared,

What we’re hopeful for is bigger than a project or a team. Hopefully it culminates into a permanent group, not only at Purdue University, but within the partners we have assembled.

Essentially, this group is bringing together like minded students and individuals with the same goals. And it is their hope that this union will allow ideas to be made into actions and to impact a change much sooner. The possibilities are truly endless for this group, with a chance to impact lives in every corner of the globe, and we cannot wait to see what more they will accomplish through their efforts.

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