A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of doing something I don’t normally get to do: teach. I’m not sure how much of a pleasure it would be if I normally had to do it, but I enjoy the opportunities when I do get to teach. This particular occasion was IBM-Tucson’s EXITE camp (EXploring Interests in Technology and Engineering). We hosted 30 girls from Flowing Wells Junior High who are going into 7th and 8th grades. This was actually the fourth year we paired with Flowing Wells Jr. High for EXITE camp, and the sixth year overall IBM-Tucson has run a camp.
During camp the girls did a bunch of different projects. Their overall project was to design a website. You can see the previous years’ websites here, and they’ll post this year’s soon. In addition to the website, they got to program with Lego robotics, and learn more about user-centered design through a project on cellphone design, among other things. I did a few projects with them as well: one was on polymer science, where we made slime; another was on diffusion, where we did chromatography; and the third was on engineering, where we made structures out of paper and measured how much weight the structures held before they collapsed.
What I think is very important about this camp is that it teaches kids what engineers do. If you watch TV, you get a good idea that lawyers are involved with arguments, court cases, and the law. You also get an excellent understanding of what doctors do. You also understand what dectectives do. But the only programs that I think teach what engineers do were things like Star Trek, which you’re likely only to watch if you’re somewhat technical already. Discovery also had a show called Monster Garage that I think is now over, but this was a show that was fairly close to what automobile engineers do, where the cast had to build a machine to particular specs.
A large number of companies, as well as the government, are concerned about what will happen as the baby boomers retire from the workforce, leaving a gaping hole not enough young people will be able to fill. This is particularly true in the engineering and technical world, where not enough young students are going into engineering. I think this is because not enough people really know what engineers do. If we could get more kids excited about technology and engineering, then I think they’ll be interested because they’ll UNDERSTAND more what engineers do! To me, this is a logical thought process.