Engineer by Trade
Educator by Heart
My FavoriteProjects
Character Design: A STEAM Approach
Summer 2019, I got the opportunity to explore teaching engineering design and creative writing using cosplay! Students were tasked with designing a character that addressed a real-world problem and incorporate 3D printing, engineering design, and costume make up (all of which were taught throughout the course) into their designs. I enjoyed the opportunity to teach engineering design through this art form. Students were often challenged to redesign, troubleshoot, and problem solve as their costumes came together.
Mad Hatter's Camp for Girls
This was my first experience with designing my own program. This program was a week long program developed to teach girls about circuits, structures, mechanical engineering, and usability. The girls were tasked with designing a hat that was aesthetically pleasing, able to be modeled down the runway, had at least one moving part, and atleast two LEDs. Afterward we had the opportunity to have a Mad Hatter style tea party, complete with a "very merry un-birthday" cake!
The Physics of Skiing
One advantage of living in the upper peninsula of Michigan was all the snow! This provided the perfect opportunity to learn to ski and incorporate physics into the lesson. The students learned the physics behind acceleration, gravity, and forces at play when skiing, turning, and slowing down. While the students learned the physics of downhill skiing, I learned the physics of downhill falling!
Newton's Cradle
Who wouldn't enjoy playing with a bowling ball size newton's cradle? For this activity I had the opportunity to work with Chevron STEM zone at the USA Science and Engineering Festival. Throughout the day I had the opportunity to teach thousands of families about conservation of energy using Newtons's cradle. This activity had three challenge questions for the families. The first challenge was predicting what would happen when one ball is pulled back and released. The second
challenge was predicting what would happen when three balls were pulled back and released. The final challenge was to predict what would happen when a ball half the size of the others is pulled back and released. This activity was especially fun because I taught little kids the secret to knocking down someone bigger, momentum! I showed them that the same principles applied when getting a running start. I think they enjoyed that best because they learned a new strategy to knock down their older siblings.