Westlake Students Expand Knowledge At STEM Career Day

WESTLAKE, OH - Westlake students recently joined high schoolers from across Northeast Ohio at the 19th Annual Goodyear STEM Career Day. The event was hosted by the University of Akron. The Career Day is open to students in grades six through 12.

The STEM Career Day is focused on encouraging students to pursue opportunities in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The day's events included a tour of the Akron campus and STEM facilities, a speed mentoring session, and interaction with innovative technologies. About 500 high school students and 200 professionals attended the event.

"It was a great event. It’s one of the biggest ones in the state of Ohio," Scott Kutz, a technology and engineering teacher at Westlake High School, told Patch. "We’ve gone to this for a good 12 to 14 years."

The Goodyear Career STEM Day has grown considerably from when it started, Kutz said. The event was originally open only to female students and was hosted at the Goodyear Corporate Headquarters. Attendance quickly outgrew the capacity of the headquarters, so the event was moved to Akron Firestone High School. Soon, attendance outgrew that facility too and the University of Akron stepped in to host and the event was open to students of all genders.

The 2017 STEM Career Day started with Brandy Moorhead, the director of tire and mold engineering for Goodyear, delivering a keynote. Students were then able to take part in a college and career fair. Local companies and academic institutions discussed opportunities in engineering and other STEM fields.

Students were also given the opportunity to use the Microsoft Hololens, the first self-contained, holographic computer. Robert Fulop, a student from Westlake, got to interact with the device. Kutz said he was blown away by the reality the device created for its user.

They also engaged with the designer of Goodyear's Eagle-360 concept tire.

"The 360 tire is a sphere with tread all-around it, if you can imagine that. It’s futuristic and may not be released for a few years. It’s supposed to be on a vehicle that is a magnetic levitation vehicle. The wheel isn’t mounted on something, it’s held in place by magnets," Kutz said. "The man who designed it has done tire designs for the movie "Cars", he’s done stuff for Disney and other movies. The kids got to see some really neat things."

Students also took part in a speed mentoring session which saw them meet with professionals and academics from a variety of STEM fields. The pros gave the students advice on which courses to take and what path to chart for their future.

The Westlake High School TechMates took part in the event. The TechMates are made up of Mark Sargent, David Eppele, Sneha Ramachandran, Jill Eddy, Erik Hoke, Connor Reis, Connor Harte, Katie Willi, Ethan Simon, Robert Fulop, Kevin Mayle, and Zahraa Abdulameer.

The team participated in the Rude Goldberg Machine Challenge, arriving at the event before 8 a.m. to set up. The senior team of David Eppele, Sneha Ramachandran, Jackson Liang, and Mark Sargent won third place for their efforts and brought home a $1,000 grant for the Technology and Engineering Department at Westlake High School. Their winning project was titled "Terrific Toy Factory" and revolved around iconic objects from childhood.

Kutz said the event is the perfect supplement to in-class education because students are able to interact with real-products and expand their knowledge base.

"We are in a society where everything is easy and cheap. We don’t think about what went into something and what was designed," he told Patch. "The kids were asked questions about different kinds of plastic. The person said there are only two kinds of plastic, thermal set and thermal plastic. None of the kids knew that. The things they learn outside of the classroom are important. Thank goodness we can take them to an event like this."

Photo from Westlake Schools