Many of today's students have embraced an environmental ethic and are motivated by efforts to reduce waste or to remanufacture waste into viable products. In-class efforts to reuse and remanufacture waste can be especially motivating. They can also help students develop a better understanding of life-cycle analysis, waste-stream management,…

Close to a decade ago, John Hersey High School (JHHS) in Arlington Heights, Illinois, made a transition from a traditional classroom-based pre-engineering program. The new program is geared towards helping students understand the entire manufacturing process. Previously, a JHHS student would design a project in computer-aided design (CAD) software…

In this article, the author provides detailed information on a wide variety of commonly used screws, bolts, and other fasteners. The information has been gathered in his engineering career and outside interests (maintenance on his car and airplane, and woodworking). The topic should be of interest to students and educators in many technical…

This article describes a reverse engineering activity that gives students hands-on, minds-on experience with measuring tools, machine parts, and CAD. The author developed this activity to give students an abundance of practical experience with measuring tools. Equally important, it provides a good interface between the virtual world of CAD 3D…

In the United States and elsewhere, there is a dramatic shortage of engineers and technologists. And, unfortunately, these professions often suffer from a lack of awareness among K-12 students. Clearly, educators need to show students the very exciting and lucrative aspects of these fields. Engineering and technology are consistently listed by…

There is a battlefield where no quarter is given, no mercy shown, but not a single drop of blood is spilled. It is an arena that witnesses the bringing together of high-tech design and manufacture with the outpouring of brute force, under the remotely accessed command of some of today's brightest students. This is the world of battling robots, or…

Hosting an engineering competition can bring great success to a technology department. Development and planning of an event can prove frustrating at times, but it pays off in the end. The author describes the first-ever engineering competition held at Maple Avenue Middle School in Saratoga Springs, New York, which provided an evening of creative…

Little did the author realize how much his first engineering project would change his career path, but when it came, he was hooked forever on doing R&D-type engineering. In this article, the author takes the reader back to his first really important electrical engineering project. While the technology he worked on back then is antiquated by…

In the United States and elsewhere, there is a dramatic shortage of engineers and technologists. And, unfortunately, these professions often suffer from a lack of awareness among K-12 students. Clearly, educators need to show students the very exciting and lucrative aspects of these fields. Engineering and technology are consistently listed by…

This article discusses the 4-H Gateway Academies specifically designed to enhance science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills and knowledge in middle school youth. The innovative summer day camps partnered Project Lead the Way--trained teachers with county 4-H staff from University of Wisconsin-Extension (UW-Extension) Cooperative…

In the author's opinion, the separation of content between science, math, engineering, and technology education should not exist. Working with the relationship between these content areas enhances students' efforts to learn about the physical world. In teaching students about design, technology, and engineering, attention should be given to the…

Far and away, the issue causing the most concern--and the most excitement--among technology educators is "engineering." Some technology teachers see engineering as an invigorating new direction for the field. To them, engineering is the pinnacle of technological careers, and "engineering education" is a logical step forward for the profession…

Every year in the United States, the federal government, insurance companies and automobile manufacturers wreck hundreds of cars for safety-testing purposes. All this crashing comes in an effort to rate vehicular safety for the public. Inspired by numerous movies with car chases, dramatic wrecks and television commercials showing car safety tests,…