A very different kind of doll house.   I’m Fred Fishkin with technology BootCamp, a report on gadgets and gear.   Roominate is the name of a doll house kit designed to spark the interests of girls in science, technology, engineering and math.   Co-founder Alice Brooks….

“So my co-founder Bettina and I, we are both engineers.   We met at Stanford in graduate school.  She came from Cal Tech and I came from MIT and we were both expecting to see more women around us, but we were very disappointed.”

And so Roominate kits with motors, lights and free form construction… are aiming to change that in the future…

“So with Roominate it’s not just a doll house.  We’ve seen girls build things like the Golden Gate Bridge.  We don’t even come up with these ideas.  It’s very exciting to see an 8, a 9 year old coming up with cooler designs than we could have dreamed of.”

Worthwhile?  You bet.  The kits begin at under 30 dollars….and girls may find it pretty easy to get their brothers to collaborate too.   There’s more info at Roominatetoy.com.    You can find us at BootCamp.com.   I’m Fred Fishkin.