PA Chosen for Real World Design Challenge
11/5/2008
In order to solve the engineering challenges of the future, we need to focus on preparing future engineers today. One way to improve our efforts is to immerse students in the process of solving real-world problems by applying their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and mathematics to actual scenarios that allow them to practice creative thinking, problem solving, and team collaboration – all of which are aspects of STEM literacy that are essential to the success of our future workforce.
The U.S. Department of Energy is partnering with a number of states to roll out the Real World Design Challenge, a new program that will allow students in grades 9 – 12 the opportunity to work in teams to solve real-world engineering problems. The precise nature of the Challenge will change from year to year, but the underlying design principles will remain constant. Each year, a new challenge will be issued focusing on a different area of engineering. This year’s Challenge will focus on aeronautics and energy usage.
“This program gives students an honest and immediate answer to that age old question,” ‘When am I ever going to use this?’,” says Brenda Hittle, Mechanical Engineering teacher at Mercer County Career Center, one of the participants in the Northwest STEM Region. “Students in the Real World Design Challenge are going to learn that the work they have the potential to do can impact the real world in so many positive ways.”
Governor Edward G. Rendell and Secretary of Education Gerald L. Zahorchak announced that Pennsylvania will be one of the first ten states to participate in the new program, which will be coordinated in the Commonwealth through the Pennsylvania STEM Initiative and its five regional STEM Networks.
Schools who participate in the Real World Design Challenge will be provided with cutting-edge engineering software from Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) and will have the opportunity to send selected teachers for specialized training. “The software that PTC is providing is the missing piece we have been looking for,” says Dr. Clyde Hornberger, Executive Director of the Lehigh Career & Technical Institute. “We are thrilled that Pennsylvania was chosen to participate in this program.”
Click here for more information on the Real World Design Challenge.
