Manga has grown in reputation lately amongst younger adults. The Japanese comics and graphic novels dominated final yr’s Circana BookScan graphic novels gross sales charts.
The IEEE Girls in Engineering group determined to make use of manga’s reputation with younger folks as a option to encourage women to contemplate a profession in STEM fields.
WIE held its first competitors final yr to seek out the best-written manga that centered round a personality WIE created: Riko-chan, a preuniversity scholar who makes use of STEM instruments to unravel on a regular basis issues. The competitors, which was supported by the IEEE Japan Council and the IEEE New Initiatives Committee, was open to all IEEE members and scholar members. They may submit a number of authentic tales individually, in groups, or on behalf of a preuniversity scholar.
Out of 43 submissions from all over the world, six winners have been chosen.
The successful manga tales can be found to learn on-line.
Explaining how blockchain and aerodynamics work
One of many winners was IEEE Member Carolyn Sher-DeCusatis, who teaches software program engineering at Western Governors College, in Salt Lake Metropolis. Her areas of curiosity embrace physics, semiconductors, and laptop programming. WIE has printed her two successful comics on its web site.
Sher-DeCusatis says she entered the competition as a result of she enjoys encouraging kids—particularly women and younger girls—to pursue a STEM profession and to indicate them how nice the sphere is.
She has loads of expertise writing fiction as a result of it’s her passion. That is the primary time her work has been printed.
“Once I noticed [IEEE WIE] was searching for tales a couple of younger girl who was fixing issues with engineering, I assumed that it was proper up my alley and that it could be enjoyable,” she says.
Hoping to attach with younger readers by way of a Pokémon-inspired card sport, Sher-DeCusatis’s first comedian,Riko-chan: Cybersecurity Engineer, facilities round two of the title character’s classmates who’re involved whether or not a uncommon buying and selling card used of their favourite sport is genuine.
Riko-chan makes use of blockchain know-how to assist confirm the cardboard’s authenticity. Folks use blockchains to maintain information of transactions and exchanges of information with out counting on a government. The system is designed to make use of cryptography to guard data from being altered or stolen.
The thought for Sher-DeCusatis’s second comedian, she says, got here from a private expertise she had whereas volunteering for IEEE.
“By the group, I’ve helped [preuniversity] lecturers conduct hands-on actions in native colleges,” she says. “One of many school rooms I went to didn’t have supplies to show college students about STEM topics, so the instructor taught a lesson on aerodynamics utilizing paper airplanes.”
On the finish of the lesson, college students needed to construct a paper airplane and throw it at a goal. The expertise impressed Riko-chan: Aeronautical Engineer.
Whereas strolling by way of a forest, a paper airplane abruptly lands in entrance of Riko-chan, almost hitting her. Her pal, who additionally was within the forest, had constructed the airplane and defined to Riko-chan that she hadn’t meant to hit her; the airplane was speculated to land farther away. Riko-chan makes use of her data of aerodynamics to indicate her pal find out how to enhance the airplane’s design.
Sher-DeCusatis says she hopes readers can establish with Riko-chan.
“I feel having various illustration in media, like books, comics, and graphic novels, will assist convey extra children into STEM,” she says. “Fiction reaches our hearts, and when younger folks learn tales about somebody who appears like them, they will say: ‘That may very well be me.’
“It’s actually essential to excite college students from quite a lot of backgrounds about engineering,” she provides, “as a result of it’s important to the way forward for STEM to have loads of completely different voices contributing.
“A lot of our world relies on know-how, so we have to have loads of voices to form its future.
“I additionally suppose it’s enjoyable and thrilling,” she provides. “That’s why I’m nonetheless doing it in spite of everything these years.”
Confronting local weather change and cybersecurity threats
The opposite 4 successful comics cowl synthetic intelligence, local weather change, and cybersecurity.
Riko-chan and the Good Circuit, written by IEEE Member Lais Lara Baptista, follows the character as she and a pal attempt to restore the outdated lights in her grandmother’s home. The 2 ask an internet AI circuit-design program for instructions on find out how to restore the lights’ outdated circuitry.
“I see Riko-chan as a robust motivator,” says Baptista, a full-stack developer primarily based in Brazil. “I hope my comedian conjures up women to see themselves as problem-solvers, able to mastering the world of STEM.”
Highschool scholar Julia Griffin wished her comedian to encourage kids to guard the setting. Her mom, IEEE Member Denise Griffin, submitted her story, Movement Detected, on her behalf. Within the story, Riko-chan and a pal are in a position to escape being hit by a automotive whereas crossing a busy street. They discover that the pedestrian crossing signal was obstructed by a department from a 100-year-old tree. To enhance the street’s security measures with out damaging the tree, the ladies set up a movement detector that units off a flashing mild to inform drivers when persons are crossing the road.
“A love for the world round us can encourage younger minds to pursue STEM and resolve a few of the world’s greatest challenges: environmental points,” Griffin says.
Maira Ratnarajah, writer of Lifetime of Our Lovely Earth, harassed STEM’s function in confronting the local weather disaster in her comedian. Ratnarajah is a highschool scholar in the UK. IEEE Member Equipment August submitted the story on her behalf.
In Ratnarajah’s comedian, Riko-chan sees a toxic cloud within the sky and works to scale back the carbon footprint people go away on Earth.
“STEM abilities and data may also help engineers design renewable power programs and examine how local weather change impacts our ecosystems,” Ratnarajah says. “Manga, just like the one I wrote, can encourage women to pursue STEM to develop inexperienced applied sciences.”
The ultimate manga entry, Riko-chan: The Science Solver, was written by Devidas Kulkarni, an IEEE graduate scholar member. It focuses on the significance of cybersecurity. In it, Riko-chan’s pal Reizei discovers that his cellphone has been hacked. Riko-chan is ready to observe down who did it.
Submissions for this yr’s manga story competitors are actually being accepted. Try the guidelines and deadlines.
In case your group want to assist the competitors, contact the WIE employees.
