Engineering Students Learn By Doing

Engineering Students Learn by Doing (This article originally appeared in The Florida Times-Union at ) It was March, so it wasn’t surprising to see a gaggle of younger men discussing brackets. But these weren’t the usual March brackets. The younger men in query are engineering students at Palatka High School they usually have been double checking the mathematics on load-bearing formulation. Bill Kane, maintenance and reliability manager at Georgia-Pacific, was helping the group see that the current method included misplaced brackets, altering the mathematical order of operations and offering the wrong reply. This is what training ought to seem like. When trainer Jan Boland recruited engineers from the native Georgia-Pacific plant to mentor college students, neither she nor the GP workers knew what the mentors would really do. When Kane, a mechanical engineer, instructed that the students design a monorail to move large motors within a storage facility, the students jumped at the chance. “We’ve needed this system for a long time, but our engineers just didn’t have time to design it,” says Kane. “The monorail will cost us about $15,000 (the students did the material and price estimating) and save us about $20,000 a year.” The students have been engaged on the project since December 2015, meeting weekly with Kane. Their work is being checked and permitted by the lead engineer at GP; on this session, the scholars mentioned the deserves of a stronger steel alloy he has beneficial. They also frolicked ensuring they had the right measurements of the wheel spans and had accounted for stress on the system from the facet to side movement of the engines as they were loaded. Teacher Jan Boland says that the students are part of Project Lead the Way, a national program that certifies academics in STEM curricula such as engineering. Students take engineering and design courses over 4 years and must pass a nationwide exam on engineering competencies. Boland can also be assigning students to creat e a slide show about their project, which they’ll current to other classes in the hopes of recruiting more college students. The present class started with 18 college students; only 4 will finish this yr. Only a handful of females students have participated in the program, one thing Boland want to change. Most of the younger men plan to pursue engineering as a career. Avery will in all probability enroll in aerospace engineering at Iowa State, whose Ames, Iowa, campus felt heat and welcoming to the Palatka native. Jordan will pursue chemical engineering; Austin plans to get his associate degree from St. Johns River State College and go on to Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland. Ron is undecided, but Daniel will head to the Recruit Training Program at Great Lakes near Chicago, after which he’ll enter the U.S. Navy’s nuclear operations program, some of the academically rigorous in the armed companies. Terry Hadaway, GP’s public affairs supervisor, says that the company is working with the Putnam County Chamber to deliver career mentoring into elementary and junior excessive schools. “Eighth grade, for instance, is critical,” he says. “Students must take rigorous programs earlier to organize for applications like this once they enter highschool.” GP has a vested interest in creating a pipeline of expertise in the area people, he says. Finding talented engineers who are additionally connected and dedicated to Putnam County helps the corporate thrive in the long term. The students I observed have been engaged and assured about solving powerful problems; they’ll be an asset to any company fortunate enough to hire them. Find more information at pltw.org/engineering. Published by candacemoody Candace’s background includes Human Resources, recruiting, training and evaluation. She spent a number of years with a nationwide staffing company, serving employers on each coasts. Her writing on business, career and employment points has appeared in t he Florida Times Union, the Jacksonville Business Journal, the Atlanta Journal Constitution and 904 Magazine, as well as a number of national publications and websites. Candace is often quoted within the media on local labor market and employment points.