The Importance of Engineering - Kylie Sheplock (junior, Agricultural & Biological Engineering)

Early in November; Keri Wolfe, Boni Li and myself had the opportunity to give a presentation on the importance of introducing engineering to students at a young age. Our audience was a first year seminar class for students expressing an interest in elementary education. The presentation focused on how easy and simple it is to bring engineering into the classroom. Keri presented information about how rapidly technology is being developed. She then proceeded to inform us that more engineers are needed to translate and work with these new modern advances. In order for students to become interested in engineering we believe it starts in elementary school where students start developing their interests in science.

Then Boni processed to talk about actual data, showing that countries that are more developed have less of an interest in a career in technology. Next showing how girls have less of an interest going into a field dealing with technology. Boni then shared with the class a personal experience when he was in elementary school. He explained to us how one of his elementary teachers inspired him to become the person he is today. Boni is from China and because his teacher helped him follow his goals he was able to come to the United States for his college degree.

The final portion of our presentation is where I did an example of a lesson plan that could be applied to third grade students. It was a project that allowed students the opportunity to learn what an aerospace engineer is and does. Doing the project students are given the task that an aerospace engineer would also face, landing a space on the moon. The overall presentation went very well. It also led into a great discussion that we had with the students and their professor.

-Kylie Sheplock

The Cat In The Hat- Chris Golecki (junior, Mechanical Engineering)

You can’t be too young to learn about science and engineering. This was the theme of the Cat in the Hat Science Eventapalooza. Here, children from ages 5 to 9 years old learned important scientific principles through experiment and example. Activities were set up in the Outreach Building at Innovation Park to introduce these young minds to science and critical thinking. Students learned about basic chemical reactions, buoyancy, forces, astronomy, fluid mechanics, and biological structures.

As I helped these children with the activities, I was impressed with their enthusiasm and aptitude for learning. There is no doubt that these activities helped to spark and foster a love for the sciences. I think this event was useful for both the attendees and the hosts to stir up young children’s fascination with science. I also think that there is no substitute for learning through experiment and example, and as such, there should be more of these type of learning events. As a host at an activity table, it was very fulfilling for me to extend my knowledge to help shape these young minds to hopefully lead them to studies within the sciences and engineering. Overall, it was a great experience for me, and hopefully a great experience for the children as well.

-Chris Golecki

The End of an Amazing Week: Norway, Part 2- Danielle DaSilva (senior, Bioengineering & Mechanical Engineering)

It's truly amazing how quickly time flies by! As my fellow Ambassador Kim Harrison previously stated, we just wrapped up assisting in a week-long workshop at the Simula Research Laboratory where we helped 11 girls from the University of Oslo prepare to participate in a science outreach program. Since day two, the girls had tweaked their Assertion-Evidence slides, practiced their talks twice in English and then once in Nowegian and began to make edits for the last presentation day. The progress these 11 young women made within a single week was incredible!

By Friday's final presentation day, all of the mentors were so proud of their final product. They all exuded great confidence in their talks, passion about their topics and sense of energy that is sure to captivate their future secondary level students. Did I mention that all of the presentations were completely in Norwegian?!? Kim, Melissa and I may not have understood every single word as the mentors presented that day, but the Assertion Evidence slides kept us on track with the rest of their talk. Melissa even compared listen to the presentations as being out version of the Rosetta Stone, as we slowly picked up on words and phrases throughout the day. Kim's favorite, Spørsmål, concluded just about every presentation as the mentors asked for questions.

Following the presentations on Friday, we all shared a celebratory dinner at a restaurant in the city. It was truly the perfect way to wrap up the week and get to talk to all of the mentors even more before leaving the next morning. The topics of conversation ranged from discussing National Day and the traditional clothing adorned to celebrate Norway, learning even more about their schooling system and the different types of clubs and organizations their involved with and even comparing favorite TV shows, like The Hills and Gossip Girls. We also exchanged small gifts with the mentors, giving them Penn State pennants, as we received a portfolio signed by each of the mentors from the University of Oslo, a block of Brown Cheese (a type of cheese native to Norway) and a cheese slicer. The night ended with lots of hugs as the week finally came to an end and our job as Ambassadors finished in Norway (for now).

The next morning, Melissa, Kim and I took off on a series of trains and a plane ride to Paris to spend the day seeing the sights just for fun. We had the chance to climb the many spiral staircases of the Tower of Notre Dame and see the incredible view of the entire city. A crepe stop was also in order as we ventured to see many of the other grand locations of Paris. By mid afternoon, we finally had adventured over to the Eiffel Tower only minutes before a huge thunderstorm blew through the area. (See picture). The long day concluded with us enjoying our fresh cheese and loaves of bread in the hotel listening to the Penn State vs. Minnesota game online. The next day we were up early again, traveling to London for the day by train where we saw so much in such a quick amount of time. Our day began seeing the Changing of the Guard, followed by checking out Big Ben and Parliament and then taking the water taxi to the Tower of London. We even had time to enjoy fish and chips and embrace our British ways over tea. I still cannot believe everything that we were able to do and see within a short weekend before heading back to the US.

This experience not only allowed for me to grow as a speaker, but as a professional individual through the cultural experiences, formal dinners and representation of our university. Being in Norway really shed light on my current career goals and has me considering what aspects of my career are important to me, including international experiences. I am eager to hear about the mentors' experiences on their visits to come in the upcoming months and to see where the Engineering Ambassadors will go next!

-Danielle DaSilva

High School Visit- Holy Ghost Prep- Matt Krott (sophomore, Mechanical Engineering)

On November 5, 2010, six of us made history. Rohit, Matt, Alan, Josh, Nick, and I participated in a high school visit to Holy Ghost Prep in Bensalem, PA on that day. In doing so, we became the first males in the short history of the Engineering Ambassadors to participate in a high school visit. Just thinking about this fact makes me feel incredibly honored to be a part of this group. Three years from now when I am a senior and can look back and see how far the Ambassadors have grown, I will be able to pinpoint this as a huge step forward for our team.

The faculty and students at Holy Ghost were fantastic hosts to us throughout the day. I think I speak for the rest of the guys when I say that it was well worth the long journey from State College to show students some of the more interesting real-world applications of the material they are learning in their math, science, and chemistry classes. It was also really cool to sit down one on one with some of the students at lunch and talk about engineering. Seeing so many students with a genuine interest in engineering is remarkable in itself, but having the chance to influence them positively and help them realize their goals is infinitely more awesome.

The learning definitely was not a one-way process though. For one thing, I learned plenty just by watching with what the other ambassadors had to show the students. (You’d be surprised how much math there is behind the internet phenomenon that is the “double rainbow song.”) Plus, we had the opportunity to discuss engineering with the Holy Ghost faculty, a few of which were former engineers themselves, as well as Mr. John Brennan, a Penn State nuclear engineering alum who initially contacted us about doing the visit.

Now, you might think that being stuck in a minivan for four hours (twice) with a bunch of engineering students sounds like torture. In reality, it turned out to be a great bonding experience for all of us. On the way back, we even had a nice lengthy discussion in which I was compared to a non-Newtonian fluid. (Okay, maybe that’s a little nerdy, but it was hilarious at the time). Special thanks to Mr. Pappadakis and everyone else at Holy Ghost who helped make this happen. Hopefully, we will be able to return in the future to shape the next batch of young engineers!

-Matt Krott

THON- Catrina Vargo (senior, Industrial Engineering)

THON is a year-long fundraising effort for The Four Diamonds Fund, a fund that supports families fighting pediatric cancer. The keyword is "support." THON is not only financial support but also emotional support for the families who are involved in THON. Involvement in THON enables Penn State students to be a part of something that is much larger than themselves. It is a unique experience in that it is the world's largest student-run philanthropy which provides many great leadership opportunities to Penn State students. Many students including myself have found that their involvement with THON was one of their most meaningful and beneficial experience in their life.

For more information regarding THON, please visit: http://thon.org/

My personal experience with THON began my freshman year. I had heard a great deal about THON before I even came to Penn State and I knew I wanted to see what it was all about. I joined a committee my first year of college and already gained experience being a functioning member of a committee that was working toward the greater goal of conquering pediatric cancer. For my first 3 years of college, I joined a committee every year because I had amazing experiences each year that allowed me to grow as a person and develop as a leader. Then, my senior year, I was chosen as a Morale captain, meaning that it was now my job to lead the committees that I had been a part of my freshman, sophomore and junior years. This experience has been absolutely amazing seeing the inner workings of THON and has given me the greatest leadership experience of my life.

My involvement in THON overall has made me confident that I will contribute a great deal to my future career as an engineer. I cherish all of the memories I have made in THON and I believe the life-changing experience is why most students are involved in THON. Check out a video for THON 2011, which will take place from February 18-20, 2011: THON 2011

-Catrina Vargo

High School Visit- Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy- Julie Bickel (senior, Industrial Engineering)

On October 29^th a few fellow Ambassadors and I had the opportunity to visit the Pittsburgh Science & Technology Academy. The school was absolutely amazing! It is actually part of the Pittsburgh Public School System but students have to apply to get into this specific school. The school is only a few years old and has students from grades 6-10 so far and next year they will be adding 11^th grade, so by the Fall of 2012 it will have all the way up to 12^th grade. The school itself was right in the middle of the University of Pittsburgh campus. The kids in the high school grades each had their own laptops to bring to class! I definitely didn’t have that when I was in high school!

Catrina and I had the chance to talk to three different 9^th grade biology classes. We spoke to them about some of the cool advancements in prosthetics. They had already learned about some stuff in class and even did an entire paper on prosthetic arms. We talked about one method of using a person’s own nerves to stimulate a muscle in their chest to move a prosthetic arm. It was some really interesting technology that is becoming more main stream. All the students asked really great questions, the Ambassadors were really impressed!

Katie and Adrienne got to speak to some of the younger students in 6^th grade. They did a short presentation on the structure of bones and led a design activity. The kids had to create the tallest and strongest bone they could out of newspaper and masking tape! There were some very good designs!

Ginger and Whitney spoke to a 10^th grade engineering class (how cool is that? I wish I would’ve had an engineering class in high school!) and 8^th grade physics classes. In the engineering class they spoke about what makes a building “green”. They tied in what engineers do to help out with the environment when they are building structures. Then in the 8^th grade physics classes they made a short presentation on kinetic and potential energy in roller coasters. The students were then split up into small groups to build their own roller coasters out of pipe insulation, toothpicks, and masking tape. Their designs had to pass the safety test with marbles acting as real people!

At SciTech they have Science Forum every two weeks where they bring in different speakers for the kids to learn more about some of the cool stuff going on in science. In the middle of the day the Ambassadors split up into two groups to give Science Forum presentations. Whitney, Ginger, and Adrienne did an engineering careers presentation all about the new Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to the middle schoolers. They talked about what engineers did to make the building so high tech. Then they helped out with the bridge building project that the students had been working on in class. Katie, Catrina, and I spoke to the high schoolers about the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh as well, but a little bit more in depth than the middle school presentations. Once again the students had lots of great questions for us!

We all really enjoyed the trip and it sounds like the students enjoyed having us go talk to them as well! We’re really looking forward to working with them again soon!

-Julie Bickel