South Dakota-based company hosts annual iNSPIRE event to help encourage more women into STEM

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) - A South Dakota-based organization aims to encourage more women to get into STEM fields.

Six years ago, South Dakota software engineering company Omnitech came up with the idea to host an iNSPIRE event at South Dakota Mines.

“We’re trying to promote events like today’s iNSPIRE event, focused on girls alone, so that we can get more women in the industry,” said President and CEO of Omnitech, Joe Krizan.

Krizan said iNSPIRE originated from a Microsoft DigiGirlz event that was only for girls. However, when the COVID pandemic struck, Microsoft pulled the plug on DigiGirlz.

“Omnitech had seen the benefit of it, so we wanted to continue it on,” said Krizan. “So, we took it over 100% and renamed it iNSPIRE.”

The event was back for another year on Thursday. iNSPIRE provides middle and high school girls a chance to be exposed to different career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.

“Even though there are few, the women that do get into engineering fields, they’re very talented,” said Krizan. “Because scientifically, how a woman’s brain approaches problem solving is much different than how a man approaches it.”

The school’s CAMP Director, Amy Dirienzo, has a background in mechanical engineering and said the school’s mechanical engineering class is less than 15 percent female.

“I definitely have been one of the few women in the room,” said Dirienzo. “ But, I’ve always had great mentors to help pave the way for me, so I’ve been really grateful for that. But it is definitely intimidating to be the only girl.”

Students were also given the chance to connect with local professionals in STEM fields and participated in workshops that included building catapults, exploring artificial intelligence, and analyzing music trends.

“You gotta collect different data from thousands of songs so you could get popularity levels, the tempo, the energy levels,” said Sturgis Brown High School student Jenika Leonhardt.

Some of the students are aware that STEM fields tend to be male-dominated.

“Sometimes in like male-dominated fields, it can feel like they’re belittling you,” said Sturgis Brown High School student Sophie McQueen. “And you’re like, ‘Oh, like I’m not like that good because like I’m a girl.’”

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