Hanging With Leonardo: the UConn daVinci Project

This past week in my Joule Fellowship was unique in my five-week program.  I was able to take part in a second UConn School of Engineering program called the daVinci Project.  The goal of the daVinci Project is, in the words of Kevin McLaughlin (who helps run the program), “To help post-elementary schools integrate elemental engineering into the classroom.”  This is because, “Engineering is a little-taught discipline in the secondary school system nationwide... Yet engineering incorporates nearly all of the core science and math subjects taught at America's high schools.”  I was able to spend the week immersed in all sorts of engineering activities and demonstrations.  I also took part in a weeklong workshop on how mathematics was used in engineering to develop electrical grids, HVAC systems, and even fire evacuation plans!  For a math and science teacher, this past week was just plain AMAZING!

There were 18 science and math teachers who were accepted into the daVinci Project this summer.  Six of us are the Joule Fellows who were here the past week and the other 12 were only here for a week.  Many of us got to stay in housing that UConn built specifically for summer guests.  Of course, they use it as a dorm during the academic year, but I was completely AMAZED at how engaged the state is in higher education.  Now, if they could only get that into public education, especially STEM education!  But I digress...

Over the week, we saw 5 demos on different areas of engineering.  On Monday, we saw a lab where the researchers were working on different materials.  One material was a plastic-like substance that has carbon fibers in it.  They showed us a small piece of this plastic, about one inch across, four inches long, and only one-tenth of an inch thick.  Then, they put it into a machine that pulled on the ends of it.  this small piece of plastic held 8000 POUNDS before it broke!  That is about 4 cars worth!  We thought that was purely amazing.  THEN, we saw something TOTALL mind-blowing.  The other engineer was working on high-strength concrete.  He had a piece of concrete about the size of a soda can.  It was put in a machine similar to a car crusher.  It held up 275 THOUSAND POUNDS before cracking!  Now THAT was impressive.  The guys in the group were in AWE - these are the types of toys that engineers get to play with!

The next day, we got to go to the biofuels lab and saw where they make bio-diesel. It was pretty cool to see this process after hearing so much about it.  I almost want to have my car run on it - imagine having your car run off of old vegetable oil!  Imagine the savings!  Wednesday, we saw the water treatment plant.  Not people’s most FAVORITE place to be, ESPECIALLY on a day with a 103-degree heat index.  It was REALLY COOL, though.  Turns out that their plant is so efficient that the water they put back into the Willimantic River is CLEANER than the NATURAL RIVER WATER!  Thursday, we visited Husky Power.  This power plant creates electricity, heat and AC for UConn.  Remember Irene and the October snowstorm?  UConn still had power, AC AND heat!  PLUS, the plant saves them MILLIONS every year!  Imagine having THAT in your backyard!  Friday, we got to see a biomedical engineering lab and measure the electrical current and voltage in our own muscles.

Those demos were in addition to the weeklong workshops.  Mine, as I said before, was in “Mathematical Optimization,” or maximizing/minimizing things using mathematical methods.  We got to learn about all sorts of things, such as electricity distribution and auctions in the deregulated market, fire evacuation plans, and monitoring HVAC systems to detect problems sooner and more efficiently.  We also came away with a ton of free computer programs and simulations that we can present to our students during the school year.  Other workshops were in creating inexpensive solar cells, fuel cells, and water purification.

Overall, it was an amazing week.  I had the time of my life, mad a on of new friends and contacts, both at UConn and at other schools, and learned a TON of new stuff.  But, most of all, I got many ideas on how to engage my students and introduce them to the wonders of engineering.  For the School of Engineering to run this program and continue supporting it throughout the years is amazing.  One thing we need in this country is excellent STEM teachers - programs like the daVinci Project go a long way in helping STEM teachers reach those heights that they need to be at and exciting them so they can introduce the field of engineering to a whole new generation of engineers.

Until next week...