(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Megan Duclof and Erika Rigby take a selfie at the SheTech Explorer Day event, at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Claire Cannady and Hanna Phelps build an arch out of potato chips, during the SheTech Explorer Day event, at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Liberty Gardner, from Alta High makes smoke rings, during at experiment during the SheTech Explorer Day event, at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Jannie Dena from Wasatch High, makes sparks during at experiment at the SheTech Explorer Day event, at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Emma Newby, from Mountain View High, checks out the robotic cars at the SheTech Explorer Day event, at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Alejendra Arias and Munira Abdi make smoke rings, at the SheTech Explorer Day event, at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Emma Newby, from Mountain View High, checks out the robotic cars at the SheTech Explorer Day event, at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Participants make smoke rings at one of the exhibits during the SheTech Explorer Day event, at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Anna Jensen (left), from AISU, holds super absorbent polymer in her hand, as volunteer Melanie Clark (right) assists, at the InstaSnow exhibit, during the SheTech Explorer Day event, which helps integrate girls with 150 technology companies, at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Claire Cannady and Hanna Phelps build an arch out of potato chips, during the SheTech Explorer Day event, at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Claire Cannady and Hanna Phelps build an arch out of potato chips, during the SheTech Explorer Day event, at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Tuesday, April 9, 2019.
More than 2,000 high school girls in Utah spent Tuesday flying drones, operating robots and testing virtual reality headsets.
Beyond having some fun — and there was plenty of that — there was a bigger purpose behind the event: Introduce these students to possible careers in math, science and engineering with the hope of getting more of them to pursue jobs in the field.
The annual hands-on day of technology, called “SheTech Explorer Day,” was held by Women Tech Council, which works to partner female students with mentors and get more involved in computing. The day included presentations from companies including Adobe, AT&T and Vivint Smart Home.