Engineering is a field for creative problem solving and imagination -- not only love of math.

   About 200 young women from high schools throughout Midland got this message Tuesday as part of Girls in Engineering Day at the Roadrunner Room in the Scharbauer Student Center at Midland College. The second annual event was sponsored by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and also focused on the need for engineers in all fields.

Cathy Norwood, a petroleum engineer for T. Scott Hickman and Associates, said only 10 percent of all engineers are women and there are a variety of engineers to become ranging from agricultural to structural.

An engineer for 25 years, Barbara Slaton of Burlington Resources said an event like "Girls in Engineering Day" is a priority. When she started off in the field, she estimated about 5 percent of engineers were women.

"We definitely need engineers and getting (women) to understand what an engineer is at this age is very important. This lets them know it's an option because women don't necessarily get courted to do that," Slaton said.

Salary is one of the main reasons people go into engineering, said Libby Einhorn, a petroleum engineer for Cimarex.

"Engineering salaries go up every year," Einhorn said, adding the average salary for petroleum engineers is $92,840, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Average salary for engineering graduates is $75,000 a year.

However, one of the things engineering suffers from is an image problem, she said. According to a Wall Street Journal article, high school students tend to think the field is intimidating and uninteresting. The article also states one reason for the engineering shortage is poor public school math and science curriculum.

Contrary to the view that the profession is boring, Einhorn said one of the more satisfying experiences for her was working in the field as a production foreman where she supervised seven pumpers. "My office was my pickup truck," she said. "é If something broke, I got to figure out why and put it back together (better) so it wouldn't fail again so soon."

Slaton told students she loves her job.

"I hope to pass on some of my excitement about my job to you," she said, adding she has a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

Like Einhorn, Slaton said she has worked in the field, learned how to get oil and gas out of the ground, figured out where to drill wells and worked as a construction engineer, consultant and chemistry teacher at Lee High School. She worked in the petrochemical and refining businesses. Refining took her to Siberia.

"You think it's cold today. Nothing is like the cold in Siberia," she said.

Debi Smith, an environmental engineer who has the consulting firm Sport Environmental Services, brought out a blue hazardous materials suit for the students. She told them about the freedom of consulting and being able to travel as an engineer.

"When I was in high school, we didn't have anything like this," Smith said.

Vanessa Samora, a 2002 Texas Tech University graduate with a degree in industrial engineering, reviewed what's needed to get into engineering school and options available afterward. She is now an environmental engineer for Oxy Permian.

"Not long ago, I was sitting where you are listening to lectures about engineering," she said, little realizing engineering was even better than she thought it would be.

Representatives from schools including Midland College, Oklahoma State University, Texas Tech and University of Texas of the Permian Basin were on hand to talk to students.

Midland College Dean of Math and Science Margaret Wade went over the core courses needed to go on to a bachelor's in engineering, and Raj Desai, coordinator of the new engineering transfer program at UTPB, told students about his program.

UTPB's pre-engineering program with the University of Texas at El Paso starts in the fall. Students can take engineering courses their first two years at Odessa, then transfer to UTEP in civil, metallurgical, industrial and civil engineering, Desai said.

"We will be adding electrical if there is enough interest," Desai said.

Several students found the program useful and picked up brochures and information from tables set along the edge of the Roadrunner Room.

"I love math and science. I'm planning to take calculus and three sciences my senior year," said Jennifer Tang, a 17-year-old Midland High junior.

Roberta Afrifa, a 16-year-old Lee High School junior, pronounced the event "cool" although she doesn't like math and science.

"I don't like it. I take it because I have to so I might as well do my best," she said, adding engineering now doesn't seem as "horrible as I thought it was."

Sagarika Satyavada, a 17-year-old Lee High School junior, thought it was very informative. She wants to be an engineer, but she's not sure what kind, although environmental engineering is appealing.

"In this day and age, there are so many problems with the environment" and there is the challenge of formulating synthetic fuels, she said.