In celebration of National Engineering Week, February 18-22, over 30 engineers from Lockheed Martin visited the pre-engineering magnet students at Roosevelt Middle School on Thursday, February 21.
The engineers worked on a series of building activities with approximately 240 pre-engineering students over a five hour period. The students were divided into small work groups and assigned the task of building a tower at least six inches tall that would support at least one can of tuna. The only materials the students were given were toothpicks and Dots candies. The small collaborative work groups brainstormed ideas, agreed on a concept, and constructed towers of all sizes and shapes under the watchful eyes of the team of Lockheed Martin engineers. Prizes were awarded to teams that achieved the goal.
“We learned real-world applications for engineering,” said sixth grader John-Mark Phillips. “We also learned that teamwork is very important when putting something together.”
Lockheed Martin engineers discussed the work being conducted at their Riviera Beach location. The engineers brought video, allowing students to see the products currently being worked on, including the Marlin Autonomous Underwater Vehicle™. Marlin is a small yellow submarine that inspects deepwater oil and gas structures, especially important following severe weather, to make sure the structure is safe to resume production. Its sensors and imaging equipment make it ideally critical to Florida’s maritime industries, resources and economy.
The Lockheed Martin engineers also talked about and showed video of the Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle. This is an unmanned, semi-submersible, semi-autonomous vehicle that uses sensors and imaging equipment to detect underwater mines to keep the sailors out of the minefield.
Other engineers then discussed their backgrounds, why they became engineers, and what they do on a daily basis. This was followed by a lengthy question and answer period, which gave our engineers of the future a chance to talk to current engineers. Students were curious about types of engineering jobs currently available, the types of math classes the Lockheed engineers took when they were in school, and how much money engineers make.
Lockheed Martin is a business partner with Roosevelt Middle and sits on the school’s magnet advisory board.
For more information, please contact Todd LaVogue, Magnet Coordinator, at 822-0261 or todd.lavogue@palmbeachschools.org.
