Will robots take over the world and who is a Trash Engineer? CISC students tells us about STEM future

Can girls be successful in the sphere of STEM? Sure they can!

Sofia Chernikova, student of CISC_Kyiv 9th grade, participated in the program of engaging girls into science activities «STEM-Girls», became the finalist of the contest and obtained an opportunity to work on her own project for three months under professional supervision. Sofia shared her thoughts with us and told us why we should be developing in STEM direction.

Why is STEM attractive?

In my opinion, STEM is the future. It is an interesting occupation, and it will be both beneficial for humankind and profitable for the employees in that sphere.

I like it that the professions of technical line gain more and more popularity in the world. For example, such profession as Trash Engineer. Those are the people dealing with the problem of environmental pollution. There are also such popular professions as Big data analyst, teacher of machines. In the sphere of medicine nowadays the robots manufacturing new organs are developed. It will help people heal from various diseases.

I’m deeply interested in STEM. I want to progress together with the world.

What is the purpose of the program you participated in?

To help Ukrainian girls understand what they want in the future. And to show that STEM is highly demanded, interesting and accessible for everyone.

As a matter of fact, there are few girls in STEm sphere. There is a stereotype that this is men’s work. I think that our Ukrainian girls should pay more attention to this direction, since it brings new opportunities and new discoveries. Pretty soon there will be no such professions as secretary or call-centre operator. If you want to be highly demanded in the future, you have to develop in STEM direction. But there is one crucial aspect – first of all, you have to like it.

How did you prepare for the defense?

The preparation lasted for three months. A supervisor was appointed for each of the finalists, who coordinated the work on the project and shared her experience with the supervisee.

I’ve been chosen by Iryna Vovk, CEO of Dell EMC computer company. Together with Ms Iryna we set the goal to show the people that artificial intellect and robots are made to make peoples’ lives easier, so that they would not have to waste their skills and time for uninteresting professions that can easily be made by machines. Humans can progress in so many ways, and they can do so many awesome things! We just have to use such opportunity, and instead of wasting our powers and minds we must apply them properly in order to make something useful for the world and for the future.

We had several meetings during the three months, we discussed and analyzed a lot, defined the strategy of our project and the main aspects we want to get across, prepared the presentation.

What were the remarkable moments in your work with the supervisor?

I liked it so much that Ms Iryna, despite her vast experience and important occupation, has a great sense of humor, she is tolerant and ready to share her experience with generosity.

There is a stereotype that people working in STEM sphere are a bit «like Einstein». But it’s not so. My supervisor is interesting, clever and very talented. Thanks to her and to this project, I became even more convinced that I want to develop in STEM direction.

What are the stereotypes related to AI?

The most widely spread stereotype is that robots will take over the world. It’s not true. Robots are created to help us.

What internationally popular STEM products do you like?

In my opinion, the coolest projects are robotic vacuum cleaner and smart boiler.

Some advice for Ukrainian schoolgirls?

Never fear to participate in new projects, engage in new type of activities, realize your ideas. If you are afraid of failure, you might loose many amazing opportunities.