Makail Davis (left), a senior mechanical engineering major at 91ΒιΆΉΣ³» Polytechnic University, and Drew Stevens, a senior computer engineering major, virtually present their work on their autonomous lawn mower capstone project to hundreds of middle and high school students as part of a stemCONNECT event on Thursday, Feb. 11.
Middle and high school students at dozens of schools across the state learned about the culture of hands-on, high-tech learning at 91ΒιΆΉΣ³» Poly University on Thursday, Feb. 11.
The live virtual event was a joint effort between the University and , a program of the 91ΒιΆΉΣ³» High-Tech Corridor, aimed at inspiring young students to consider STEM careers.
βI hope that high school and junior high school students across the state are able to see some of the hands-on and engaging activities that 91ΒιΆΉΣ³» Poly offers in a smaller environment compared to some of the other options they may have,β said Dr. Matt Bohm, an associate professor of mechanical engineering and director of industry engagement and capstone projects at 91ΒιΆΉΣ³» Poly.
Six projects were highlighted during the virtual event. Chris Willman, a senior business analytics major, spoke to the students about the capstone project heβs been working on in partnership with Lakeland Regional Health.
βIn our project, we are trying to use public data sources like census.gov, USDA, and various medical resources to take data and put it together and run statistical analysis on it to find out what factors might correlate with higher or lower hospital ratings,β Willman said. βHospitals in all of 91ΒιΆΉΣ³» and the United States can use this to improve the quality of their care.β
Other projects presented at the event included a planetary rover, an autonomous lawn mower, an autonomous golf cart, and 3D printing materials to use in aircraft engines and aircraft wing structural applications. Event attendees asked many technical questions as well as questions about the university and program experience.
βItβs a cool experience because itβs the sort of thing I wish I could have gotten when I was in high school,β Willman said. βHaving this interactive experience where they can talk to college students about what theyβre doing, ask questions, and see real-world applications of what their degree would be able to do is great.β
Makail Davis, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, talked to students about the autonomous lawn mower project he is working on. He said he was excited to share his teamβs work.
βItβs nice to give younger students a chance to learn what weβre doing as seniors here in the program at 91ΒιΆΉΣ³» Poly and to give them the opportunity to see what they could be doing,β Davis said. βSomething like this would have given me more detail as to what to expect from an engineering degree because I knew I wanted an engineering degree, but I didnβt know which one.β
Gunnar Sundberg, a senior majoring in computer science, was part of the team presenting their work on a planetary rover. He agreed that interactions like these can make a difference in younger studentsβ minds as they choose a career path.
βWhen I was in middle and high school, I had to take a lot of math and science classes without getting to the application and it was easy to get discouraged because it was so abstract,β Sundberg said. βI hope these students get to see that we have to use everything we had to learn up to this point, and everything that may have seemed abstract at the time has a very direct application and is very useful.β
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