DENTON (UNT), Texas -- The University of North Texas Society of Women Engineers will co-host the 2016 Design Your World conference for girls in grades 6 through 12, parents and educators. Parents and educators will learn how to encourage girls to become involved in STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – fields.

The conference will take place April 2 (Saturday) at UNT's Discovery Park campus. Parents can register for the event online and should register by April 1. Participants will choose from three engineering design activities from several fields, including robotics, gaming, future city, energy conservation, automotive and biomedical engineering.

"Design Your World enables new populations to experience the combination of creativity and quantitative skillsets an engineering career provides," said Nandika D'Souza, UNT Regents Professor of engineering, associate chair for research and graduate affairs in UNT's College of Engineering, and advisor to the UNT Society of Women Engineers.

A 2012 study conducted by the Girl Scouts of America found that 74 percent of high school girls across the U.S. are interested in STEM fields. However, only about 5 percent of women who enter college graduate with engineering degrees. To change those numbers, the Dallas Society of Women Engineers partners with Dallas-Fort Worth universities and organizations to present the Design Your World conference. The Dallas chapter of the national Society of Women Engineers supports the event with funding from Exxon Mobil, Abbott, State Farm, Rockwell Collins and professional development grants and sponsorships.