The Ocean Explorium welcomes Faith Ball as this week's speaker in the series Girls Interested in Real Life Science (GIRLS).Ms. Ball is the Engineering Senior Manager at Lockheed Martin Sippican in Marion, where they design and build countermeasures, underwater vehicles and Sea/Air sensors.

Ms. Ball has been working in the field of engineering since graduating from University of Rhode Island in 1983 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Prior to her current position with Lockheed Martin Sippican, Ms. Ball participated in the design and production of a diverse list of products including the B2 stealth Bomber, underwater vehicles and sensors, Radar systems test equipment and support services and fiber optic gyros. Ms. Ball and her husband live in Mattapoisett with their two young daughters.

The Ocean Explorium, with generous support from the Women's Fund of the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts, presents the third annual speaker series aimed at promoting the "STEM" subjects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to girls and young women.

The Girls Interested in Real Life Science (GIRLS) series runs each Thursday in March.Formerly named Women in Science + Engineering (WiSE), the series features inspiring speakers drawn from professions wherein the STEM subjects play a major role.

The series continues with:

March 24:Faith Ball, Engineer with Lockheed Martin Sippican

March 31:Rhonda Moniz, Dive Safety Instructor, Entrepreneur

Doors open at 5:00 pm each Thursday in March for refreshments and mingling in the Ocean Explorium before the talks begin at 5:30 pm.This series is free and open to the public thanks to the support of the Women’s Fund.

Girls and boys in grades 5 – 12 are encouraged to attend.Students will receive a special pin to indicate attendance at each week's event.The Ocean Explorium is happy to work with local educators so students can earn extra credit.Contact Abbey Spargo if you would like to arrange a more formal program.

The Ocean Explorium is located at 174 Union Street in downtown New Bedford and is handicap accessible via the rear entrance.Call 508.994.5400 for after-hours access.

For more information, contact Abbey Spargo at aspargo@oceanexplorium.org or 508.994.5400, or visit the Ocean Explorium website at www.oceanexplorium.org.