High school students to learn about engineering, computing professions

More than 200 high school students from across West Michigan will visit Grand Valley State University December 6 to learn about career opportunities in engineering and computing.

Students will visit the Padnos College of Engineering and Computing’s Project Day, where Grand Valley students will showcase their semester-long projects throughout the halls of the Kennedy Hall of Engineering.

PCEC Project Day
December 6
10 a.m.-noon
Kennedy Hall of Engineering, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Media are encouraged to attend.

Some projects that were designed and built by students are highlighted below:

- An all-in-one workout device: The proposed product will provide the user with a controlled, dynamic workout that will strengthen the core, arm and leg muscles.

- “ParabolaX”: An iPad/iPhone game designed to teach parabola concepts to high school students. This research uses the game as a tool to investigate how well digital games can help students learn and be engaged in educational content.

- Brain Activity While Reading: Electroencephalogram (EEG) is the recording of the electrical activity of the brain. The effect reading has on EEG was investigated and achieved by having subjects silently read articles of varying interest levels and difficulties.

- The Electric Car uses alternative sources of energy to power a 1999 Subaru, originally a combustion engine car. This project allowed the Alternative Energy Club members to gain knowledge and insight in machining, designing, and alternative uses of energy.

- Line Guided Sorting Robot: This project consists of an autonomous robot that runs through an “S” shaped course, while sorting two different objects to either one side or the other. This robot has three main functions; it follows a line, sorts the objects and finally dumps the objects in the designated dump zones.