by Sherry Bowman-Kluck
On Monday, February 11, Engineer Ambassadors (EAs) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute made a day-long visit to the Berlin MS/HS. Their visit’s purpose? Inspiring a younger audience to explore the role of engineers in our society.
[private]Supervising Director of the outreach program, Elizabeth Herkenham, and a group of six EAs provided hands on demonstrations and short presentations on engineering topics to encourage the interest of Berlin students in careers in the areas of science, technology and engineering. Topics included manufacturing polymers, nuclear technology and water filtration.
Based on their area of study and personal interest, a pair of motivated EAs teamed up to present and engage students. Each of the three presentations were thoroughly researched and carefully designed to spark the interest of a future Berlin School District engineering student. The day ended with a panel lunch where students and teachers had the opportunity to discuss any questions with the entire group of engineering ambassadors.
Audrey Vanderhoef, Berlin Middle School Science teacher, helped coordinate the event for the second year in a row. She has been impressed with the RPI program and the EAs’ commitment to encourage students, particularly women and under represented groups such as our rural School District. In turn, the EAs were particularly pleased with the interest and response from Berlin students and commented on the program’s facebook page, “Great day at Berlin Central Schools…we discovered some students who were well on their way to being engineering students.” Several students also commented on seeing themselves in the “fun and cool career of engineering some day.”
The Engineering Ambassadors Program was initiated 2½ years ago and is made available by sponsors like United Technologies Corporation. For more information visit RPI’s Engineering website or the RPI Engineering Ambassadors facebook page.
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