Revenge of the Nerdette

Newsweek ^ | Jun 16, 2008 | Jessica Bennett and Jennie Yabroff

[forkinsocket]

It's sweltering in Boston, and a dozen Tufts University coeds are out in shorts and tanks, attracting the usual stares. Only today the stares are for a different reason: the girls are huddled around a 750-pound machine that looks like a spaceship, long and wide with a bubble-shaped cockpit open to reveal a mass of pipes and wires. It's actually a solar car—one they've built from the ground up and hope to race next year. Suddenly sparks fly, and the girls jump back. They may be engineering whizzes, but they know a hazard when they see one. They call a teacher over to help solve the problem, as Alex McGourty, 21, gets ready to take the wheel. A junior with blond hair and freckles, she built her first car engine in high school: a biodiesel "veggie mobile" she ran on McDonald's fryer oil. McGourty revs out of the driveway, and almost immediately dislodges the car's chain. Campus police block off the street, and the baseball team, just returned from practice, lines up to watch. "Look out," a construction worker yells. "It's the Nerd Girls!"

The Nerd Girls may not look like your stereotypical pocket-protector-loving misfits—their adviser, Karen Panetta, has a thing for pink heels—but they're part of a growing breed of young women who are claiming the nerd label for themselves. In doing so, they're challenging the notion of what a geek should look like, either by intentionally sexing up their tech personas, or by simply finding no disconnect between their geeky pursuits and more traditionally girly interests such as fashion, makeup and high heels. In fact, calling them "nerd" is no insult at all—the Nerd Girls have T shirts emblazoned with the slogan.

[forkinsocket]

.

[wastedyears]

Not guilty

[ThreePuttinDude]

Dr. Karen Panetta, an engineering professor at Tufts University is head of a
program called Nerd Girls, which aims to enlist more women into engineering.
The group’s current project is a renewable energy effort on Thacher Island off the coast of Rockport.

I'd Hit It

[AmericanVictory]

Amasingly, she looks like the lady engineer in Dilbert!

[Psycho_Bunny]

Stop spamming.

[ThreePuttinDude]

Ha Ha Ha, you're right....good catch

[GOP_Raider]

...the girls are huddled around a 750-pound machine that looks like a spaceship, long and wide with a bubble-shaped cockpit open to reveal a mass of pipes and wires

They huddled around Algore??

[Fiddlstix]

Ellen Spertus

Alex McGourty

Found these two pix. There's probably more but I don't have time to look right now. Click the Pics for links.

[JRios1968]

[Old Sarge]

For the Geek shall inherit the Earth...

[ThreePuttinDude]

ha ha ha, thanks time traveler...
thats great

[Clock King]

I wonder if she posed like that on purpose. You can bet Dr. Panetta is a well-acquainted with the character. On another note, chick with brains are uber-sexy!

[null and void]

Yep!

[sionnsar]

The Nerd Girls may not look like your stereotypical pocket-protector-loving misfits—their adviser, Karen Panetta, has a thing for pink heels—but they're part of a growing breed of young women who are claiming the nerd label for themselves. In doing so, they're challenging the notion of what a geek should look like,

Eldest daughter, with her MSME in hand, is now designing fuel-efficient vehicles.

[sionnsar]

A junior with blond hair and freckles, she

Newsweak, it figures. Can't tell blond from blonde.

[Monkey Face]

Ahyezzz! You two do marvelous work! She is truly a beautiful bride!

[sionnsar]

Got everything but the blonde hair (and The Knack) from her mother.

[Monkey Face]

LOL!

No wonder I like Dilbert!

[sionnsar]

Well, her good looks come from her mother too, but I claim the Engineering mind! *\;-)