Engineering at Northeastern's STEM Center Field Trip
October, 2017
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Engineering at Northeastern's STEM Center Field Trip
February, 2017
When we first arrived at Northeastern's STEM Center, we met Nicolas Fuchs, a current graduate student. Nicolas talked with us about engineering and the engineering design process, which is a series of steps that engineers follow to come up with a solution to a problem.
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We learned that the Engineering Design Process is an iterative (repeating, cyclical) approach that consists of the following steps:
Ask: What is the problem? Who has the problem? Why is it important to solve the problem? What have others done? ("don't reinvent the wheel!") Imagine: What are some possible solutions? Brainstorm! Brainstorm! Brainstorm! What's the best idea to start with? Plan: Draw a diagram, layout the details Decide what materials you need and set a timeline Create: Build it! Test it out! Improve: How can you make it better? What works well in others' designs? How can that be incorporated into a remodel? |
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Catapult Design!
We started our catapult design process by looking at examples of catapults that had been built with similar materials and learning about our goals: try to hit Nicolas with a mini marshmallow using our catapult from ground level. 
The Northeastern students were impressed that we came up with new creative ideas and didn't just try to copy the examples that were shown to us. We invented "some of the best popsicle catapults" they've seen!
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