Local students get a glimpse of hands-on engineering

By Wendy Post (TIMES-SHAMROCK WRITER)
Published: March 19, 2010

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Times-Shamrock Photo/WENDY POST Erin Fagan, left, and Mike Kerr, right, operate a flight simulator Thursday at the Lockheed Martin facility in Owego, N.Y. during the National Engineering Week event.

TIOGA COUNTY, N.Y. - On Thursday, 130 middle school students were invited to the Lockheed Martin facility in Owego, N.Y. to participate in a National Engineers Week event.

Students participating, which included eight schools within a two county district, including Waverly Central Schools, were offered an interactive day of fun, and educational experiences designed to promote the study of math, technology, engineering and science.

Moving between areas in the facility for a period of four hours, students were able to engage in hands-on, team-oriented activities aimed at meeting requirements, managing constraints and sharing knowledge ­- all essential skills in engineering disciplines.

Students were also able to interact with Lockheed Martin engineers who discussed what engineering classes might be like, their careers, and their own experiences entering the engineering field.

Some of the activities included a gumdrop bridge-building activity, where teams design a bridge from gumdrops and spaghetti, choosing one bridge from each school to undergo a "vibration test."

Students also participated in an egg-drop challenge, where teams designed protective packaging for an egg that was to be rolled down a steep ramp.

And a favorite to students was the flight simulator. The simulator was intended to help students understand the fun and challenges of using simulation as a design method for presenting information to people that fly aircraft and drive vehicles.

One group participating in the National Engineers Week activities were middle school students from Waverly. Accompanied by Tom Stein, eighth grade technology teacher at Waverly Middle School, students were able to see how their studies apply to engineering through hands-on applications. According to Stein, the 16 students selected from the Waverly Middle School to participate are part of the "Gateway to Technology" program offered as part of "Project Lead the Way," an engineering and technology program for students.

"Whether their skills are art or design," Stein said, "these programs encourage students to pursue careers in engineering and technology."

Of the activities, Waverly's eighth grade student Erin Fagan enjoyed the gumdrop bridge above the rest. Fagan described how they were challenged to build a bridge from gumdrops and raw spaghetti noodles, and how - upon completion - the best one built was selected for vibration testing.

Fagan was pleased to note that the bridge designed by her group was selected for the vibration test, and that it withheld up to 12 "Gs."

"I like building and testing things," Fagan said.

Fagan's classmate, Katie Dibble, liked the flight simulator much better.

"It makes me want to take flying lessons," Dibble said. And although Dibble isn't quite sure if she wants to pursue engineering, she made up her mind after Thursday's event that she wanted to take actual flying lessons.

Other schools that participated in the event included Binghamton East, Binghamton West, Candor, Newark Valley, Owego-Apalachin, Spencer-Van Etten, and Tioga Central.

Lockheed Martin engineers across the country celebrate National Engineers Week by sharing their profession with local students with hopes of inspiring them to consider engineering studies and careers. Lockheed Martin in Owego has held the event annually since 1998.

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