This article describes the NASA-Funded Space Grant Project BOREALIS: "Balloon Outreach, Research, Exploration, and Landscape Imaging System." BOREALIS conducts high-altitude balloon flights to the "edge of space" with flights typically reaching 100,000 feet and a current record flight in the summer of 2020 that reached 126,000…

In this article, the newly elected 2017-2018 President of the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA), Edward M. Reeve, presents his welcome message in the format of Willy Wonka giving Charlie the Chocolate Factory. Upon becoming a member of ITEEA, one automatically gets a "golden ticket" as a professional…

Soldering is a useful and necessary process for many classroom, makerspace, Fab Lab, technology and engineering lab, and science lab activities. As described in this article, soldering can pose many safety risks without proper engineering controls, standard operating procedures, and direct instructor supervision. There are many safety hazards…

Technology is defined differently depending on one's point of view, but in "Standards for Technological Literacy," technology is defined as "Human innovation…the generation of knowledge and processes…that solve problems and extend human capabilities" (ITEA/ITEEA 2000/2002/2007). The processes associated with the development of…

To be technologically and engineering literate, people should be able to "make" or produce quality solutions to engineering design challenges while recognizing and understanding how to avoid hazards in a broad array of situations when properly using tools, machines, and materials (Haynie, 2009; Gunter, 2007; ITEA/ITEEA, 2000/2002/2007).…

As national STEM initiatives focus on engineering design as a STEM integrator, a more important concern for K-12 educators should be teaching design fundamentals and using these experiences to help students obtain STEM content knowledge. There appears however, to be little instruction and emphasis on building students' design-sketching skills in…

The first steps in the engineering design process are to identify and define the problem (Eide, Jenison, Mashaw, & Northup, 2001). The primary purpose of this article is to highlight the problem that has existed for the past three decades (a disconnect between industrial educators and proponents of technological literacy) and to make a…

This is the tenth in a series of articles entitled "The Legacy Project." The Legacy Project focuses on the lives and actions of leaders who have forged our profession into what it is today. Members of the profession owe a debt of gratitude to these leaders. One simple way to demonstrate that gratitude is to recognize these leaders and…

In the 21st century, electronic connectivity is a major component of everyday life. One expects to have mobile phone coverage and to have access to log a computer or tablet onto the internet. This connectivity enables users to keep track of personal affairs and conduct work from remote locations. Designers and manufacturers are also connecting…

Sensors of all kinds play significant roles in the way that we use and interact with technological devices today. Smartphones, household appliances, automobiles, and other products that we use every day incorporate many different kinds of sensors. While the sensors are hidden from view in the products, appliances, and tools that we use, they…

The focus on construction in T&E education has drastically changed. This article presents a series of topics and design-based labs that can be taught at various grade levels to integrate STEM concepts while also increasing students' overall awareness of construction and structural technologies.

Water turbines have long been used to make work easier for humans while minimizing energy consumption. They are not only used in small- and large-scale operations, but also provide a great context for Integrative STEM education. Students can begin to understand the technological processes available by designing, building, and testing different…

In the past five years, there has been tremendous growth in the production and use of desktop 3D printers. This growth has been driven by the increasing availability of inexpensive computing and electronics technologies. The ability to rapidly share ideas and intelligence over the Internet has also played a key role in the growth. Growth is also…

Roadways are literally soaked with petrochemical byproducts, oils, gasoline, and other volatile substances that eventually run off into sewers and end up in rivers, waterways, and other undesirable places. Can the roads be cleaned of these wastes, with their proper disposal? Can vehicles, robots, or other devices be designed that could be driven…

Integrating different science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) areas can help students learn and leverage both the equipment and expertise at a single school. In comparing graphic communications classes with classes that involve rapid prototyping (RP) technologies like 3D printing, there are sufficient similarities between goals,…