BRINGING ENGINEERING PROJECTS TO LOCAL CLASSROOMS IBM volunteering for Eweek - Engineers Week to local middle school Community News C
T his year’s Engineers Week theme is “Creating the Future”. It recognizes how engineers play a vital role in innovating solutions to global challenges that impact future generations. By working together to develop new technologies, products, and opportunities, engineers create new possibilities that make the world a better place. Eweek is an opportunity for Rochester IBMers to go into local classrooms to share a little bit about the engineering profession while also working with the students on a STEM project but focusing on the “E” portion of STEM. Each year, Rochester IBMers create an Eweek project with this year’s project challenging students to engineer a cell tower that will withstand an earthquake simulation. With this project, students need to simulate enabling cell communications and maximizing signal reach so they have to build the tower as high as they can. The tower also has to withstand wind, earthquakes, and other natural forces. They have a specific set of tools in a kit that is provided (straws, popsicle sticks, rubber bands, paperclips, etc.), and they build the tower using only what is provided in the kit. Students make an attempt at building the tower and then use the simulator to determine if their initial design is successful. Part of engineering is iterating on ideas, so students are allowed to use the simulators during their development before the final testing. The students love to see how towers fail and fly apart, so the IBM volunteers allow them to test the boundaries of their designs. IBMers will be visiting 23 local schools covering approximately 135 classrooms and reaching nearly 4,000 students.
This year’s Eweek project challenging students to engineer a cell tower that will withstand an earthquake simulation.
| Advantage Magazine 22
March 2023
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