Students from across Pennsylvania visit Penn State hosted by the Engineering Ambassadors

A unique marshmallow tower built by students
from  North Allegheny Middle School

The Engineering Ambassadors hosted students from across Pennsylvania for a fun packed day of engineering culminating with a visit to the spring engineering design project showcase. EA's took students on their official engineering campus tour giving the students a chance to explore the Penn State campus.

Then we mixed things up with a hands-on activity. Some students learned about temperature phase changes by literally mixing things up to make ice cream! Other students tested their skills as architectural engineers to make the tallest free-standing marshmallow tower. 

The morning wrapped up with tours of Penn State's coolest laboratories, including a visit to either climbing to the top of the weather tower in the Meteorology Lab, a demo of a robotic rover in the Robotics Lab, a tour of the famous Berkey Creamery to see how ice cream is made, or a visit to the Learning Factory, OPEN Lab, Fame Lab, or the Exxcel Lab.

Arial view of the Design Project Showcase

In the afternoon students had the chance to walk around the Design Project Showcase where over 90 teams presented their senior capstone design projects. All projects were sponsored by industry partners and the projects spanned 11 engineering departments and five academic colleges. 

In total, over 300 middle and high school students attended the event, representing Milton Hershey School, North Allegheny Middle Schools and Moon High School.

Engineering Ambassadors visit Montour High School

The Engineering Ambassadors spent their last visit of the semester with Montour High School. Engineering Ambassadors visited 15 classes during their visit from your typical calculus, physics, bio and chem classes, to some unique course offerings such as digital electronics and principles of engineering. Students learned about lasers and their applications, how engineers mimic biology in their designs, and that an Intro to Physics class can make a taller and sturdier marshmallow tower out of spaghetti than their fellow students in AP Physics.

Kanda and Rachel test a student filtration system made from
soil, a coffee filter, sponges, rocks and other materials. 

The Engineering Ambassadors wrapped up their school visit with an assembly that discussed the many career opportunities in Engineering from careers in energy to entertainment. Students then had the opportunity to ask questions about engineering, Penn State, and life as an engineer.

Rachel, Ashley, Kanda, Meghan, Kim, and Eric wrapping up
a successful day with Montour High School!

Engineering Ambassadors win AAUW award

Several ambassadors and their adviser, Melissa 

Marshall, accept their award.

The Penn State Engineering Ambassadors were awarded the Gateway to Equity Award by the State College branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

The award was established by the Pennsylvania AAUW to recognize an individual, group, organization or business that has shown by action and philosophy the promotion of equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy or research.

The engineering ambassadors reach out to the community through visits to middle and high schools across Pennsylvania, using messages of "Changing the Conversation" to promote the field of engineering to women and girls. Engineering Ambassadors also engage with the community through campus tours and presentations to prospective students and their families, alumni, and industry partners.

Engineering Ambassadors visit North Hills Middle School

On their fourth visit of the semester, the Engineering Ambassadors took a trip to North Hills middle school. The Engineering Ambassadors challenged the student's perceptions of what an engineer does and students learned about the diverse career options available to engineers. Several classes were visited by the Engineering Ambassadors and students were asked to put their engineering thinking caps on for a hands-on activity. Some students stepped into the shoes of electrical engineers, learning how to light up an LED using play-doh "squishy circuits" while other students became roller coaster specialists, building roller coasters with dips, dives and loops, while making sure their marble passengers made it safely to the end of the ride. The EAs capped off the day with a special assembly talking about the many career opportunities available to engineers.

Engineering Ambassadors give "Careers" Presentation to Assembly at North Hills