Board 135: MAKER: Simple Making Activities to Expose Middle School Girls to STEM Careers
- Conference
- Location
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Salt Lake City, Utah
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2018
- Start Date
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June 23, 2018
- End Date
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July 27, 2018
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Manufacturing
- Tagged Topic
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Diversity
- Page Count
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15
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--29930
- Permanent URL
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https://strategy.asee.org/29930
- Download Count
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686
Paper Authors
Lunal Khuon Drexel University
Dr. Lunal Khuon is an Associate Clinical Professor at Drexel University in the Engineering Technology (ET) Department. He also serves as the Assistant Department Head for Graduate Studies and the Director of Research for the ET Department as well as oversees the Biomedical Engineering Technology concentration. Prior to Drexel, Dr. Khuon had previously held design and system positions at Texas Instruments, Motorola, Hughes, and IBM and faculty positions as an Assistant Professor at Villanova University and Delaware State University and an adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests are in radio frequency and analog integrated circuit design, embedded systems, biomedical electronics, and engineering education. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.
Yalcin Ertekin Drexel University (Tech.) (MERGED)
Dr. Ertekin received his BS degree in mechanical engineering from Istanbul Technical University. He received MS degree in Production Management from Istanbul University. After working for Chrysler Truck Manufacturing Company in Turkey as a project engineer, he received dual MS degrees in engineering management and mechanical engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology (MS&T), formerly the University of Missouri-Rolla. He worked for Toyota Motor Corporation as a quality assurance engineer for two years and lived in Toyota City, Japan. He received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from MS&T in 1999 while he worked as a quality engineer for Lumbee Enterprises in St. Louis, Missouri. His first teaching position was at the architectural and manufacturing Sciences department of Western Kentucky University. He was a faculty at Trine University teaching mainly graduate courses as well as undergraduate courses in engineering technology and mechanical engineering departments. He is currently teaching in Engineering Technology Program at Drexel University. His area of expertise is in CAD/CAM, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining, rapid prototyping and quality control. His research interest includes sensor based condition monitoring of CNC machining, machine tool accuracy characterization and enhancement, non-invasive surgical tool design, reverse engineering and bio materials.
M. Eric Carr
Drexel University (Eng. & Eng. Tech.)
orcid.org/0000-0003-3444-0883
Mr. Eric Carr is an Instructor with Drexel University’s Department of Engineering Technology. A graduate of Old Dominion University’s Computer Engineering Technology program and Drexel's College of Engineering, Eric enjoys finding innovative ways to use microcontrollers and other technologies to enhance Drexel’s Engineering Technology course offerings. Eric is currently pursuing a Ph.D in Computer Engineering at Drexel, and is an author of several technical papers in the field of Engineering Technology Education.
Brandon B. Terranova Drexel University
Dr. Terranova is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the College of Engineering at Drexel University. In his current role, he is the lead instructor for the freshman engineering program, and oversees activities in the Innovation Studio, a large-area academic makerspace. He has taught and developed courses in general engineering and mechanical engineering at Drexel. Prior to Drexel, he has taught and developed courses in physics and mathematics at SUNY Binghamton, University of Delaware, Missouri Online College, and St. Mark’s High School. Dr. Terranova’s research interests include plasmonics, optical tweezing, photonics, electromagnetism, and engineering education. He received his MS in Physics from SUNY Binghamton, and his PhD in Electrical Engineering with a concentration in Electrophysics from Drexel University for his work in 3D plasmonic nanostructures.
Simi Hoque Drexel University
Christine Marie Fiori Drexel University
Dr. Christine Fiori is the Department Head of Engineering Management Studies and the Program Director of the Construction Management Program at Drexel University where she teaches courses in Project Controls, Equipment Applications and Economics, and Strategic Management. Prior to joining the faculty at Drexel University, she served as the Preston and Catharine White Fellow and Associate Director of the Myers-Lawson School of Construction at Virginia Tech. She received her BS, MS and PhD in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Geotechnical Engineering from Drexel University in 1992, 1994 and 1997 respectively. She served as a Civil Engineering officer in the United States Air Force and taught at both the United States Air Force Academy and Arizona State University.
Her interest in ancient construction practices led to a National Science Foundation grant to explore the construction techniques of the Inca, specifically the Inca road throughout Peru. This research is part of a Smithsonian exhibit at the Museum of the Native American Indian through 2020. She was recognized as an Engineering News Record Top 25 Newsmakers of 2010 for her research on the Inca Road. Additionally, Dr. Fiori was featured on the Science Channel in an Episode of Strip the City pertaining to Machu Picchu. Dr. Fiori led the Construction Engineering and Management program and also facilitated the service learning programs for the Myers-Lawson School of Construction. She has led diverse groups of student teams to Vietnam, Kenya, Belize, Guatemala and Haiti to complete construction projects and community engagement programs. Currently her work is focused in Belize and Africa. She also serves as a Faculty Fellow for the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, is a Bridges to Prosperity Construction Mentor, serves on the Board of Directors and as a mentor for the ACE Mentoring program of Southeastern Pennsylvania and was elected as the first Affiliate member of the Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia.
Crachad Craig Laing Drexel University
Crachad Laing is currently a STEM educator at Windsor Schools in, Nassau Bahamas and a co-founder of Project Limestone - a Bahamian NPO geared towards youth development. His educational background is a BS Civil Engineering from Bluefield State College and he is currently pursuing a MS Engineering Technology from Drexel University.
Abstract
This paper describes a set of making activities that was utilized in Girl Makers, a week-long program that was part of a university outreach summer camp organized to inspire underrepresented middle school minority girls to choose STEM careers. With the goal to expose the students to making and makerspaces, Girls Inc. middle school students participating in Girl Makers were engaged in Arduino coding, robotics, concrete paperweight making, 3D design and printing, and CNC laser cutting and engraving activities. Each of these stand-alone activities could be completed within two and half hours including a break and, with the exception of coding, provided the students with a physical artifact to take home.
The majority of Girl Makers activities were held in a new open-access academic makerspace that normally supports the university’s common first-year engineering program and senior capstone design projects. The makerspace has grown to support more informal learning programs that include STEM outreach, workshops, and entrepreneurial activities for the university community. All Girl Makers activities were organized by volunteer engineering faculty and students. Depending upon the nature of the activities, each Girl Makers workshop either made use of available fabrication equipment, reusable materials borrowed from the freshman engineering class or, low-cost readily available materials to make artifacts that the girls could take home. Discussions of science and technology concepts were incorporated formally through presentations and informally through one-to-one and small group discussions with the students. The groups of students were kept purposefully small with 8-10 girls for each session and multiple instructors and student assistants were available to provide valuable instructor-student interactions. A feedback questionnaire completed at the end of the program indicated promising student engagement and interest in the making activities.
Khuon, L., & Ertekin, Y., & Carr, M. E., & Terranova, B. B., & Hoque, S., & Fiori, C. M., & Laing, C. C. (2018, June), Board 135: MAKER: Simple Making Activities to Expose Middle School Girls to STEM Careers Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--29930
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