High Point girls tour Thorlabs

NEWTON — On April 20, Thorlabs personnel treated 16 girls from High Point Regional H.S. to a tour of their new corporate headquarters in Newton.

The girls are enrolled in a course entitled �"Women in Engineering," taught by Mark Wallace. High Point Regional H.S, and particularly Wallace, are devoted to promoting STEM in its curriculum. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math; there has been a push to promote these fields recently, especially for girls.

AAUW-Sussex Co. Branch contacted Wallace and suggested Thorlabs as a field trip for the girls in his class, as part of STEM education. AAUW is a national organization and the leader in advancing equity and education for women and girls.

Thorlabs was founded in 1989 in Newton and has since expanded internationally into eight countries. It is a leader in the photonics industry. The students were given a comprehensive tour of the facility, starting with shipping on the ground floor and ending up in the customer service offices on the third floor. Stops along the way included a talk about crystals and lens manufacturing, as well as fiber optic cable manufacturing.

Numerous employees took the time to explain their function within the company. The girls also spoke with some of the female engineers, and got an appreciation for the types of jobs available for women with STEM education.

All of the field trip guests were treated to a pizza lunch, and were given T-shirts and other gifts.