MAKER EXPERIENCE

Our program is designed to engage students in rich and deep critical thinking and to participate in all aspects of the creative engineering process.

 

Dream:  What Problem Do You Want to Solve?

In the first week of the course, you will identify a real world problem that you want to solve.  Be creative and original.  Don't limit your ideas by what you think is possible.  Dare to dream! 

 

Students will also begin the course by building an introductory project designed to develop and reinforce basic engineering skills. There will be a choice of possible starter projects including a battery powered cell phone charger.  The students making this project will also design and build a functional case for the charger using one of our state-of-the-art 3D printers.

 

Design: What are Possible Solutions to the Problem?

During the design process, you will brainstorm with your peers to develop a feasible solution.  Solutions must take into account the "prior art" of what already exits, be economical, work within a proposed budget, and be practical to build.

 

Build: Bringing a Solution to Life!

Under the guidance of experienced engineers and scientists, you'll make your idea a reality. We have one "Master" teacher and one "Mentor" teacher for each 10 students giving the program a 5:1 student-to-teacher ratio and enabling us to provide expectional personal attention to each student.  Our Master teachers are experienced teachers, scientists and/or engineers with many years of hands-on experience inventing, creating and building.

​

Prior student projects have included:

 

• A device which measures and transmits sleep cycle information to aid in diagnosing sleep disorders - a 2014 Young Engineers Conference award winner.

• A Smart Trigger that uses a fingerprint scanner and ID authorization to prevent accidental and school shootings.

• A proximity cane for the blind that uses electronic sensors to "see" objects.

• A driver authorization system to prevent drunk driving.

• An innovative energy collection system that uses an array of horizontal turbine located within lamposts to capture wind power.

• The ChargeMe device which uses kinetic and heat energy generated by the user to charge cell phones.

Present: Sharing Your Discovery with the World!

During each stage of the making process, students will be documenting their progress and posting their videos, presentations, designs and programming code on a personalized and private website.  Students can share their progress and achievements with their peers, their family, school, colleges and potential employers.  At the end of the program, guests will be invited to a special program where all of our students will share their achievements.