27th DiBiFiLiTi brings 300+ for $4000

The 27th annual Drop it, Build it, Fly it, Launch it, Thrill it Engineering Competition was held Saturday, March 9 at the South Florida Science Museum. More then 300 kids from elementary to high school competed for $4,000 in cash prizes in five different design contests: built bridges, protection for eggs, paper airplanes, model rockets and roller coasters. The competition was judged by the Florida Engineering Society.

Cody Summerlin talking with Royal Palm Beach HS SECME students before the Launch It water rocket contest

Summerlin's rocket Osprey on the launch pad

Palm Beach Post: Engineering competition draws 300 to South Florida Science Museum
WLRN: U.S. Lags In Science & Tech Education, While Science Fairs Boom In Palm Beach County

Mission Solar System

NASA and DESIGN SQUAD NATION team up to inspire a new generation of engineers. This guide has six space-based hands-on challenges for school and afterschool programs.
http://pbskids.org/designsquad/pdf/parentseducators/dsn_nasa_missionsolarsystem_complete.pdf

In a universe filled with planets and moons, comets and asteroids, imagine a robot-controlled spaceship that can send a drill deep below the surface and pull up materials never before seen by human eyes. What secrets does an alien core hold? What mysteries will it reveal?

For more than half a century, NASA has inspired the scientific imaginations of young people through the challenge of space exploration. Now, the excitement of space engineering is available for kids in the classroom and in after-school programs through Mission: Solar System; from NASA and Design Squad Nation.

Mission: Solar System is a free, curriculum-based educational resource that includes everything you need to bring the exciting challenges of real NASA engineers to life. There are

• leader notes with detailed instructions for each challenge and ideas for making curriculum connections
• kids handouts’ with helpful tips and illustrations that enable kids to come up with their own unique solutions to each challenge.
• video profiles of young engineers that explore the direct link between each challenge in Mission: Solar System and real-world problem-solving at NASA.
• and do-it-yourself videos are included to model how a group of kids can brainstorm a variety of creative solutions.

Roosevelt Middle Students Learn Real-World Applications For Engineering

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.

Seeking Female Engineering Majors! – Students Learn from MIT Women Graduates

The School District of Palm Beach County was one of 10 school districts nationwide selected to participate in the MIT Women’s Initiative Program. The Women’s Initiative is a non-profit student group from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that seeks to increase the number of females enrolled in engineering majors.

Female MIT undergraduates visited seven middle and high schools in Palm Beach County to speak with female students at each school about the importance of mathematics and science courses in preparation for engineering careers. All participants were given the opportunity to interact with two female engineering students as well as participate in a challenging engineering activity.

Lindsey Hornyak, a freshman at Boca Raton High School, said, “It was really fun and interesting to learn about the different types of engineering with my friends. I never knew there were so many kinds of engineering, and that I would consider engineering as my career.”

The following schools participated in the program: Boca Raton High School, Glades Central High School, Forest Hill High School, Lake Worth Middle School, Olympic Heights High School, Palm Beach Lakes High School, and West Boca Raton High School.

“The MIT Women’s Initiative provided our students with an opportunity to interact with female role models who have succeeded in the STEM fields. It is our hope that this will help our female students develop positive beliefs about women excelling and taking leadership roles in these fields. We are proud to have been selected for this program,” said Wendy Spielman King, K-12 Science Manager for the School District of Palm Beach County.

Kathryn Neinas, STEM Instructor at Boca Raton High School, said, “Having MIT female students come and present to our top STEM freshmen female students was an amazing experience. Exposing my young students to career opportunities that they may have never known about was very rewarding to me.”

For more information about the MIT Women’s Initiative, visit their website at http://web.mit.edu/wi/.

For more information, contact Wendy Spielman King at 561-357-1152 or via email at wendy.spielman@palmbeachschools.org.

"IM" IS OUT - THINK IT'S POSSIBLE! Hawks Fly 2nd Place Finish

THINK IT'S imPOSSIBLE? THINK sySTEMatically. THINK SECME! Seminole Ridge SECME takes second place during district engineering Olympiad

Seminole Ridge SECME is the winner of five trophies and ribbons at the 2013 SECME Olympiad engineering competition, including second place overall for Palm Beach County! Teams from sixteen high schools in Palm Beach County participated in the engineering contests at Santaluces Community High School in Lantana on Saturday, February 23, 2013. Students squared off in competition to race mousetrap powered model cars, launch model rockets, build and break model balsa wood bridges; in general knowledge games during the "Brain Bowl"; and in literary and artistic competitions with essays, banners, and posters.

(Photo: the SRHS SECME team; front row, L-R: Mr. Ed Batchelor and Mr. Erich Landstrom; back row: Nicholas Smith, Kimberly Smith, Kyle Reilly, Patrick Dickson, Kyle Whirlow, Victoria Simmons, James Carter, Cody Summerlin, Jarrett Rimel, and Sam Smith.)

The competition of cogitators was fierce. And the Hawks soared high: honorable mention - balsawood bridge; second place - banner; second place - water rocket (Team Seniors); first place - water rocket (Team Osprey); second place overall in the entire district! Coaches Erich Landstrom and Ed Batchelor, the school SECME coordinators, and principal James Campbell congratulate the Hawks on their awesome achievements.

(Click on the first picture to flip through the Seminole SECME team competing at Santaluces High School for the 2013 Palm Beach County School District SECME Olympiad on Saturday, February 23, 2013)

20130213 SDPBC SECME Olympiad

National Engineers Week

At the Board of County Commissioners meeting on February 5, 2013, Commissioner Shelley Vana presented a proclamation to Florida Engineering Society President Jimmy Richie declaring February 17 to 23, 2013 as National Engineers Week in Palm Beach County, FL.

WHEREAS, National Engineers Week was established in 1951 to help increase public understanding of the engineering profession and to recognize those who professionally protect the public’s health, safety and welfare; and

WHEREAS, Engineers have used their scientific and technical knowledge and skills in creative and innovative ways to fulfill society's needs; and

WHEREAS, Engineers face the major technological challenges of our time—from rebuilding towns devastated by natural disasters to designing an information superhighway that will speed our country through the twenty-first century; and

WHEREAS, Engineers are encouraging our young math and science students to realize the practical power of their knowledge; and

WHEREAS, we will look more than ever to Engineers and their knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of the future; and

WHEREAS, we applaud the Engineers working in Palm Beach County for the significant contributions they make to enhance our local quality of life;

Now therefore, I, Shelley Vana, Chair of the Palm Beach County Commission, do proclaim February 17 – 23, 2013 National Engineers Week in Palm Beach County, Florida.

NASA for Kids: Intro to Engineering

Engineering Family Fun Day Promotes Interest In Math and Science

On Saturday, November 3rd, Seminole SECME will be participating in the fifth annual “Engineering Family Fun Day” in Dreher Park – Pavilion 3 (across from the Dreher Park Zoo) in West Palm Beach. The Society of Women Southeast Florida Section and the Palm Beach Alumni Extension of the National Society of Black Engineers are co-hosts.

The event will involve eight booths. Each sponsored booth presents a hands on engineering related activity by which the students, parents, teachers, councelors and engineers can interact with each other. For example, the Bottle Rocket involves aerospace engineering and Making Polymers involves science and chemistry. SECME will be presenting "Inspector Detector" from the upcoming Design Squad "Beyond the Moon" guide.

We challenge you to…

…build a device that can that you can pass above a surface and detect magnetic fields.

1.    Brainstorm and Design

• How can you make sure that the metal shards stay in your detector and not fall off?

· How can you make it easy to see when the metal shards move?

· How will you hold the detector as you move it above the surface?

2.    Build

Invent your own designs.

3.    Test

· Try out your detector. At our booth, use the small magnet to test how well your detector works.

· Find the hidden magnets. Take your detector to the newspaper grid. (it represents a map of Mars' surface.) Find the magnets by slowly passing your detector over the grid, one section at a time.
· Map the magnets. Using the grid lines to identify the locations, mark each magnet with a dot on your map (NOT on the newspaper).

4.    Evaluate and Redesign

· If it’s hard to see the shards move… Design a window or remove parts that block your view.

· If your detector doesn’t respond… Check that you have enough metal shards and that nothing is interfering with how they move. Also check that you’re not holding it too far above the surface.

5.    Go Further

• Upgrade your detector. Make it sensitive enough to work six inches above the surface.
• Magnet Treasure Hunt. You’re surrounded by magnets! Use your detector and see how many invisible fields you can find. Check things like speakers and electric motors.

20121018 Popfly Launcher

Click on the first picture to flip through a photostream of 2012 Popfly Launcher)

Pop-Fly Launcher.
 http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/pop-fly/

Summary:

In this lesson, student teams in grades 3 – 12 will explore the engineering design process by building a device that can launch a ping-pong ball high enough for them to catch it. We challenge students to make something that launchs a ball high enough for them to catch it, using the materials and their feet.

Learning Objectives: After this activity, students will understand how levers convert a small motion into a large motion, and how engineers consider resource constraints and the laws of physics when developing and improving their designs.

Common Core State Standards
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.SRT.D.11 Understand and apply the Law of Sines and the Law of Cosines to find unknown measurements in right and non-right triangles (e.g., surveying problems, resultant forces).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.3 Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks, attending to special cases or exceptions defined in the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.6 Analyze the author's purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text, defining the question the author seeks to address.

20121017 Raingutter Regatta

(Click on the first picture to flip through a photostream of 2012 Raingutter Regatta)


Gotta Regatta Raingutter Race: Seminole Ridge HS physics students were challenged to make the fastest ferry for a Ping-Pong passenger. Using limited supplies teams had to design and build a boat that travels across a container of water.

Complete challenge is available here:
https://a629d397-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/seminolesecme/curriculum-of-the-consortium/2012LowesLBSTrulesRaingutterRegatta.pdf


The Raingutter Regatta Racde is adapted the Design Squad "Watercraft" and "Paddle Power" activities.
http://pbskids.org/designsquad/parentseducators/resources/watercraft.html
http://pbskids.org/designsquad/parentseducators/resources/paddle_power.html

AES Engineers Scholarship Deadline Oct. 5

Scholarship Deadline - October 5, 2012


We will be awarding $500 to the winner(s) each year.

Application Process

Students will submit an essay on one of the two topics that appear on the scholarship page of our web site http://www.aesengineers.com/scholarships.htm Full details are available on our site.

Free Heroin, And Other Ideas That Won't Get You Elected

Earlier this summer, NPR's Planet Money assembled five prominent economists from across the political spectrum and gave them a simple task: Identify major economic policies they could all stand behind. In this podcast, they talk to those economists again. Episode 402: Free Heroin, And Other Ideas That Won't Get You Elected This time, we hear a bunch of the ideas some of them liked but others shot down — including free heroin for addicts, and $2 trillion in new deficit spending on infrastructure projects. It's amazing to hear the economists clash over engineering, beginning at the 7m30s mark. ASME has identified roads and bridges that nationwide need repair or replacing, to the cost of $2 trillion. Robert Frank, professor of management and economics at Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management, is for government spending. Russ Roberts, George Mason University economics professor, is his ideological opponent. Not so fast, Russ says. You can't trust engineers to make a decision where they might make money. As the saying goes, the fix is in. What do you think?

Drop It, Build It Engineering Competition 2012

Drop It, Build It, Fly It, Launch It, Thrill It 2013

Di-Bi-Fi-Li-Ti is a design competition for cash prizes challenges kids to build an unbreakable balsawood bridge, create the perfect carton to protect a raw egg from a 3-story drop, fold and fly the farthest-flung paper airplane, blast off the best water bottle rocket for max time airborne, and create a thrill-packed roller coaster. The South Florida Science Museum in partnership with the Florida Engineering Society provides a premiere out-of-school STEM competition to elementary, middle and high school students offering substantial cash prizes for the top four finishers in each of the five engineering categories:

1. Drop It: Design and build a shipping container that will prevent an uncooked egg from breaking when dropped from two successive heights, up to 50 feet.
2. Build It: Given a range of physical dimensions and using appropriate building materials, construct the lightest truss-frame bridge capable of supporting the greatest weight.
3. Fly It: Given a sheet of paper, design an airplane that will fly the longest distance.
4. Launch It: Construct a rocket propelled by “fuel” (12 ounces of water) and air compressed to 60 psi that will be launched at a predetermined angle to reach the maximum height and flight time possible.
5. Thrill It: Design a roller coaster to convey a marble or steel ball within designated parameters, so that it stays rolling the longest, is the most interesting to view and has a theme.

Enjoy a fun filled family day of science and engineering exploration on Saturday, March 9, 2013 from 8 AM to 3:30 PM. Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from the event.

More information is available online at http://www.sfsm.org/

AES Engineering scholarship

AES Engineering
AES Engineering is pleased to be able to continue offering scholarships to motivated students to help in the furthering of their education.


Scholarship Criteria

Our belief is that achieving a high grade point average should not be the only criteria for determining who deserves to be helped. For that reason we are offering a scholarship that will be awarded on the basis of character, as determined by evaluated the essays that are submitted.

Scholarships are intended for our future leaders across a wide spectrum of fields of study. This award is available to high school seniors and all students attending a post secondary educational facility.

You are not required to be taking Engineering courses to be eligible.

How to Apply

Students must submit an essay of no more than 1000 words in answer to the following question:
What are your dreams for your future? When you look back on your life in thirty years, what would it take for you to consider your life successful?

Amount of award: $500.00
Deadline for entry: October 5, 2012

Submit essay to: scholarships@aesengineers.com

There is no application packet for this award. Please do not include your resume at this time.

Be sure to include your full name as well as the name of the school you are attending this year and your plans for next year.

Student Opportunities : Johns Hopkins Engineering Innovation

Student Opportunities : Johns Hopkins Engineering Innovation

Through Engineering Innovation, high school students put engineering concepts to the test. Applying their knowledge of math and science to labs and hands-on projects, concepts they’ve learned in their high school classrooms are suddenly linked to real-world practice. Students’ confidence grows as they attend college-level lectures, tackle problems, test theories, and ultimately learn to think like engineers.


DEADLINE: MAY 15
Eligibility Requirements

Completion of sophomore, junior or senior year of high school
Successful completion of a laboratory science, algebra II, and a knowledge of trigonometry
Knowledge of a spreadsheet application, such as Excel

Expand Your Possibilities
Curriculum developed by Johns Hopkins University.
Nearly 90% of Engineering Innovation graduates have gone on to study engineering or science in college.
10:1 student/teacher ratio.
Students learn from practicing engineers about careers, internships, and educational opportunities in the field.
Students with a final grade of A or B receive three transferable Johns Hopkins University credits.
Certificates of Completion are awarded to all students who successfully complete the course.
A residential option is available at the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus site.
The program runs four to five weeks, depending on the location.

Johns Hopkins Engineering Innovation
3400 N. Charles Street, 103 Shaffer Hall
Baltimore, Maryland
United States

Ready on the S.E.T. and... ACTION!

Pauley Perrette (Actress, NCIS) promotes S.E.T. fields in this public service announcement

The Entertainment Industries Council, Inc. (EIC) through its Entertainment & Media Communication Institute (EMCI), has developed Ready on the S.E.T. and…Action! a program that is tackling one of the nation’s largest challenges: reviving American interest in science, engineering and technology (S.E.T.), especially among youth.

The impetus of this initiative is due to the American population’s lack of interest in the fields of science, engineering, and technology and the growing threat of a diminished workforce in these fields.

Through the Ready on the S.E.T. and…Action! Initiative, EIC will help science, engineering and technology experts to integrally collaborate with representatives from the entertainment and media field. Ultimately, the collaboration will reposition these crucial issues and supplement an innovative approach to reach a wider audience nationwide.

Specifically, the project will develop resource information for writers, producers, directors, broadcast and print journalists to utilize (within all types of national and local media) and strengthen how engineers and scientists are portrayed in entertainment media space.

FPL Engineer Shares Love of Engineering with Under-Served Youth

“It’s important to me to be able to give back to my community by promoting science and engineering fields to children who have limited exposure to them,” said FPL Production Assurance Engineer Melanie Roger. “If I can help get young children interested in the sciences and have a desire to enter into the field, than I feel as though I've been successful. We should all do our part in ensuring the success of our future leaders.”
Juno Beach, FL, February 25, 2012 — Florida Power & Light's Melanie Roger has a passion for her profession.

FAU Owls host 2012 Engineering Week Expo

Seminole Ridge SECME was welcomed to Florida Atlantic University by Dean Mohammad Ilyas, head of the College of Engineering and Computer Science on Tuesday, February 21. High students from Palm Beach and Broward counties were on the Boca campus for a pre-college presentation for National Engineering Week.
Engineers Make a World of Difference: (l to r) Ronit Liberman, Kris Cousins, and Summer Roque with our winning banner.
The event began with a parade of banners the students had created on the theme “Engineers Make a World of Difference,” followed by speakers from the US Air Force on new technologies and the Australian outback, and the US Navy on nuclear energy and submarines. Students toured the campus laboratories, with demonstrations on the different types of engineering classes and research projects conducted at FAU, including electrical, civil, mechanical and ocean engineering and computer science on the cloud.
2nd place banner winners (l. to r.) Ronit Liberman, Kris Cousins, and Seminole SECME Captain Caitlin Miller with Jessica Lewis and Brenda Simmons from the FAU Deparment of Engineering Students Services
The day ended with Seminole SECME winning second place in the banner competition. The Hawks then explored the exhibits at Science Explorium in Boca Raton.

(Click on the first picture to flip through the Seminole SECME team at Florida Atlantic University for National Engineering Week 2012 and the Children's Science Explorium on Tuesday, February 21, 2012)

20120221 FAU E-Week

Egg Drop Awesomeness during Design Squad challenges

(Click on the first picture to flip through the SECME Saturday at the Museum of Discovery and Science photostream)

20120107 SECME Saturday at MODS

SECME Saturday at the MODS

WHAT: SECME Saturday & SECME Sunday at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Ft. Lauderdale - A Build It Challenge Weekend

WHEN: January 7 & 8, 2012, 12:00 - 4:00 p.m.

WHY: Calling all Engineers! Test your skills with hands-on, friendly competitions and interactive activities in our Design Nation: Build It Challenge. Use teamwork to create a paper table sturdy enough to hold stacks of books and more engineering feats.

And see the traveling exhibit "K’NEX: Building Thrill Rides". Explore the science, math and technology behind hair-raising amusement park thrill rides. The display models will range from a 10-foot-tall roller coaster, to a 6-foot Ferris wheel all made from K'NEX regular and micro parts. The realistic actions of the models will bring scientific and engineering concepts to life for visitors, who will be able to conduct simple experiments to explore physical forces such as potential and kinetic energy, and linear and rotational motion.

Happily, children won’t have to leave their on-site creations behind – instead, they can purchase their designs, with pricing based on a Weigh & Pay model. The Explore Store will also have K’NEX sets on sale for aspiring young engineers and architects.

HOW MUCH: Special Admission price: show you are with SECME for a reduced rate. Wear your SECME tshirt or show your SECME membership card are received a discounted group rate which is $10 for exhibits or $14 for exhibits and one classic 45-minute IMAX film. Teachers/Coaches/Coordinators: FREE admission with membership to museum. See attached form!

WHERE: Museum of Discovery and Science &
AutoNation IMAX® Theater
401 S.W. Second Street
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312
954.713.0915
www.mods.org