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

EA's Largest visit yet to Bald Eagle Area Middle and High School

In our largest visit yet, eight Engineering Ambassadors visited Bald Eagle Area Middle and High School. This visit included an assembly for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders highlighting career opportunities for engineers and visits to over 20 science, math, and career exploration classes. 

Amy Szabo and Brett Corl teach the students about all the
cool things engineers can do with lasers.

Terri Creech and Alec Tanida encourage students to be
creative in designing the coolest roller coaster

Showcased above, physics students learned about lasers and all the innovative ways engineers use them. The 6th grade career exploration class put their creativity to the test to design the roller coaster with the most loops. Chemistry classes were in for a real treat! students made ice cream to demonstrate the effects of phase changes. In preparation for the National Rube Goldberg competition, some students made devices to catch the pig from angry birds using as many steps as possible in only 30 minutes! The calculus classes used their knowledge to find a way to filter out certain frequencies from a song, choosing to remove Justin Bieber's voice to make the song in one student's words "more appealing."

By the end of the day the EAs impacted 800 students! And we had a blast doing it! 

Putting the "EA" in Eagle! Go BEA Eagles!

Engineering Ambassadors visit West Branch Middle School

A group of four EA's recently visited the West Branch Middle School to talk to an assembly of 6th, 7th and 8th graders. The EA's talked about engineering career opportunities in energy, travel, health, agriculture, transportation and humanitarian engineering. Students learned that engineers can have many different kinds of jobs, from building roller coasters and designing bridges that turn into tunnels, to making sure your cereal is safe and healthy to eat in the morning. Students were able to contribute to the talk by listing different ways energy is produced. Students were also able to ask the EAs some thoughtful questions, including "how much do engineers make?" and "how hard are engineering classes?"

The event was a kick-off for a new partnership between the middle school and Penn State's Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) program. A group of HESE students will be working closely with the middle school's teachers to engage the students in an innovative humanitarian engineering project.

EAs Eric Loeliger, Kim Harrison, Jess Menold and Meghan Fisher
present to West Branch Middle School

Dr. Thole featured on White House Blog

Dr. Thole was recently featured on the White House Blog with her contribution entitled:  "Building a Diverse Community of Engineers to Face Tomorrow's Engineering Challenges". 

Department Head of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Dr. Thole

In her entry, Dr. Thole remarks on the need for diversity in Engineering. She highlights the work of the Engineering Ambassadors to show middle and high school students the importance and excitement of being an engineer. The Engineering Ambassadors use marketing lessons from "Changing the Conversation"developed by the National Academy of Engineers. In addition, she references other groups that strive for a more diverse enrollment in engineering.


Check out the Dr. Thole's entire Blog Post here!

President Obama honors Dr. Thole as "Champion of Change"

Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering's Dr. Thole was honored by President Obama for her work in recruiting and retaining women in the fields of science and engineering. 

"These 'Champions of Change' are community heroes, helping to build the ranks of women in the nation's STEM workforce and ensuring that America's science and engineering enterprise is fueled by the diverse talents of all its citizens," said John Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Check out Dr. Thole's panel discussion about the Engineering Ambassadors!

Click here to read more from Penn State Live!

Engineering Ambassadors featured in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Engineering Ambassadors visited North Allegheny's Baierl Center to show middle school students another side of science and engineering, the FUN side. Students used conductive Play-Doh to make circuits and found innovative ways to cleanup a mock oil spill. Another group of students set a record by sending a marble safely down a five-looped roller coaster created from foam tubing halves.

Students work with an EA to problem solve the
best ways to clean up a mock oil spill.

Click here for the full story at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Engineering Ambassadors Build a Support Wall to Stand Against Child Abuse

Engineering Ambassadors set up a table in
front of Old Main to gather signed
handprints from students, faculty and
staff in support against child abuse.
The handprints were collected into
a support wall (foreground).

The Engineering Ambassadors showed their support for the children of The Second Mile Organization in front of Old Main.  About 2000 people signed handprints to show support for the victimes and families from the Penn State Community. 

“The handprints were an active and visual way for each person to take a stand against child abuse and to support all of the affected families, which I think helped a lot of people feel like they were doing something,” said Gibilterra.


Click Here for the Full Story from MNE News


Read a story on the Support Wall from the Centre Daily Times

View photos of the event posted on Penn State Live