Seventh-grader Hannah Cussen and her all-girl robotics team the
"Banana Bots" took first place in a regional LEGO League
competition with their custom robot designed to assist senior
citizens. In January, they'll head to a state championship -- a
slot in the competition earned after they beat two dozen other
teams. Hannah, who lives in Englewood, takes electives at her
middle school that include "robotics engineering" and
"industrial tech using Google SketchUp." When she grows up, she
said, she wants to be a science adviser to the White House. "For
me, part of the allure is I want to go and beat all of the
boys," Hannah said. Hannah's early enthusiasm for science is
inspiration for University of Colorado educators who are
doggedly working to close the gender gap as few females are
choosing to pursue fields in Science, Technology, Engineering
and Math, or STEM. Nationwide, there is a shortage of graduates
in those fields, but only 18 percent of STEM graduates are
women, according to the Society of Women Engine