Ara the Star Engineer

Read the book, download hands-on activities, follow further learning resources. Experience the story in immersive ways never done before. Visit www.arastarengineer.com!

This is a STEM book and more! An inspiring, inclusive, whimsical way to learn about computers and technology from real-life trailblazers.

Ara is a young girl who loves BIG numbers. She wants to count all the stars in the sky… but how? This is an upbeat adventure of Ara and her sidekick droid, DeeDee (“Beep!”). They use smarts and grit to solve a BIG problem and discover an amazing algorithm! A quest that takes them through a whirlwind of intriguing locations at Innovation Plex -- Data Centre, Ideas Lab, Coding Pods, and X-Space. Along the way, they encounter real-life women tech trailblazers of diverse backgrounds, including a Tenacious Troubleshooter, an Intrepid Innovator, a Code Commander, and a Prolific Problem Solver. They tinker-and-tailor, build-and-fail, launch-and-iterate, and in the end discover an amazing algorithm of success -- coding, courage, creativity, and collaboration (“Beeeeep!”).

“‘If she can see it, she can be it.’ With this story, girls can see leaders and be inspired to become one. A book for all ages and genders!” GEENA DAVIS, FOUNDER AND CHAIR, GEENA DAVIS INSTITUTE ON GENDER IN MEDIA

Komal Singh is a techie by day and a storyteller mom by night - one who loves coding and cupcakes, data crunching
and daydreaming, pottery making and program planning. This is her second book about Ara’s STEM adventures. The
first, Ara the Star Engineer was inspired by her 4-year-old daughter's hypothesis that "engineers are boys". Singh is
passionate about using technology as an enabler and an equalizer for all. Komal grew up in India and studied
Computer Science at Delhi University and later moved to Canada to complete her Masters’ degree in C.S from Simon
Fraser University. She has worked as a software engineer with tech consulting firms and is currently an Engineering
Program Manager at Google. Komal lives in Waterloo, Canada, with her husband and two little kids.

Ipek Konak is a former art director and illustrator for an animation post-production company. She has worked as a
freelancer for the last several years for companies such as Oxford University Press, London-based Nucco Brain and
was a guest artist for Google Doodles. She has a fine arts degree in animation from Anadolu University, and she lives
in Turkey.