Amazon donations benefit UNR’s Young Women in Engineering Camp

Amazon gave 24 young women a special surprise in the form of a donation of $5,000 and textbooks to the University of Nevada, Reno’s Young Women in Engineering Camp, during a July 2 behind-the-scenes tour of Amazon’s Reno fulfillment center.

University of Nevada, Reno’s Young Women in Engineering Camp (YWE) introduces students to the various engineering disciplines through fun, age-appropriate activities such as building bottle rockets, experimenting with chemical engineering and learning about all fields of engineering. Field trips and campus tours introduce students to some of northern Nevada’s engineering landmarks. Camp sessions are led by university faculty and graduate students.

The donation will allow more students to take advantage of UNR’s summer engineering programs and encourage girls to pursue STEM education outside of the classroom. Each camper took home a copy of the book “Unlocking Your Brilliance” as part of their summer camp experience. The campers received a tour of the facility from Amazon Site Leader Joe Witsos, who showed them how engineering is used at Amazon to get thousands of packages from the facility to customers in Reno and beyond.

“On behalf of everyone at Amazon’s Reno fulfillment center, I want to thank UNR and their Young Women in Engineering program for joining us today and being part of growing the next generation of scientists and engineers,” said Reno Site Leader Joe Witsos. “Amazon is committed to giving back to our communities, and we’re proud to encourage young women to pursue their dreams in the STEM fields.”

“Today’s tour was an incredible experience, and we deeply appreciate Amazon’s commitment to our Young Women in Engineering program,” said Elyse Bozsik from UNR. “Their donation today will help us take a big step forward to expand our programs which will be able to support more participants. We’re grateful for their help to encourage more young women to consider a career in science, engineering, and technology.”