Transcript HOWARD UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING AMBASSADOR PROGRAM Indira Sirjue Taylor Valencia Samrakshak Lamichhane Civil and Environmental Engineering Howard University Washington DC NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013

HOWARD UNIVERSITY
ENGINEERING AMBASSADOR
PROGRAM
Indira Sirjue
Taylor Valencia
Samrakshak Lamichhane
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Howard University
Washington DC
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Introduction
• Engages undergraduate engineering
students in outreach from K-12 grades and
the general public, and promotion of
careers in engineering
• Allows hands on experiences by teaching
children about tsunamis and coastal
engineering
• The ambassador program at Howard
University started in 2011 in collaboration
with NEEScomm and NEES-OSU
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Organization and objectives
Year 1-2011
Undergraduate student
coordinator
Year 2-2012
Graduate student
coordinator
12 Ambassadors
Year 3-2013
Undergraduate student
coordinator
23 Ambassadors
20 Ambassadors
Objective:
• To lead outreach
activity at National
Engineering Week
family day
Objectives:
• To lead outreach activity
at National Engineering
Week family day
• To coordinate and run
educational and outreach
activities and other
education activities at
K12 level in the DC area
• To provide training to
volunteers to run similar
activities
Objectives:
• To lead outreach activity at
National Engineering Week
family day
• To coordinate and run
educational and outreach
activities and other education
activities at K12 level in the DC
area
• To provide training to volunteers
to run similar activities
• To coordinate new outreach
activities including earthquakestructural engineering concepts
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Student Coordinators and Members
Madeline Martinez
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Ambassador Program Activities
• Three Years: The National Engineering Week Family
Day: Joint effort: Howard University, NEEScomm,
NEES@OSU and NSF
• 2012-2013 Events:
• 2nd Annual USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo in
April 2012
• Westlawn Elementary School Event
• Girl’s Inc DC Event
• Brother 2 Brother Youth Conference
• National Engineers Week Open House for Prospective
Students at Howard University
• Accepted Students Day at Howard University
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
2nd Annual USA Science & Engineering
Festival Expo, 2012
• Howard University ambassadors supported the training of
volunteers and the flume transportation for the tsunami wave
activity
• Five HU ambassadors organized two training sections for 15
volunteers during April 21 and 22 at Howard University.
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Westlawn Elementary School Event
Girl’s Inc. DC Event
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
The Brother 2 Brother Youth Conference
• The ambassadors conducted the mini-wave flume activity
at the Annual Brother 2 Brother Youth Conference on
November 16th, 2012
• The Conference was held on the campus of Howard
University. This conference was specifically designed to
reach minority male youth from the 7th to 12th grade with
workshops and presentations targeted toward minority
male youth development challenges
• Three ambassadors participated in this event.
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Discover Engineering Family Day
• The Annual Discover Engineering Family Day Event at
the National Building Museum in Washington, DC,
February 16th, 2013.
• 24 ambassadors successfully ran the exhibit, teaching
children about tsunamis and surveyed students about the
event.
• Over 1,000 people visited and participated in the activity.
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Prospective Students Day and Accepted
Students Day
• On February 23rd, 2013 the ambassadors participated in
the National Engineers Week Open House for Prospective
Students at Howard University.
• On April 5th, 2013 ambassadors participated in Accepted
Students Day.
• Incoming freshman engineering students were able to
experience what ambassadors do in the program and
also have a chance to test the equipment.
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Other Outcomes from the ambassador
program at Howard University
• Main benefits for the ambassador:
Inspires future goals
Promotes self confidence as successful
engineers
Encourages leadership
Provides the perfect platform to build closer
relationships with faculty advisors, classmates,
etc.
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Opportunities for Undergraduate researchers
A significant number of ambassadors are
participating or already participated in
undergraduate research projects as a direct
consequence of their participation in the
ambassador program
How did the program provide this
opportunity?
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Opportunities for Undergraduate researchers
• Sam Lamichhane was inspired by his
participation in this program and started his
undergraduate research activities under
the supervision of Claudia Marin during the
summer of 2011. Sam Lamichhane
presented his peer reviewed paper at the
91th TRB Annual meeting in 2012.
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Opportunities for Undergraduate researchers
•
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Determination of Tsunami Forces on Bridge
Structure and Connections
This research was partially supported by The National Science
Foundation (Award number CMMI-0927178), Dwight D. Eisenhower
HBCU Transportation Fellowship and by the TRB Minority Student
Fellows Program.
Samrakshak Lamichhane NEES Mini
Wave Flume (MWF) at Howard
University
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Other Undergraduate researchers
• Mathu’ Davis participated as a NEES REU participant supporting a
research project at Lehigh University during summer 20012 . Project
entitled Post-Tensioned Coupled Shear Wall Systems
• Mathu’ Davis and Kara Kea are currently working on an NSF project
performing numerical analysis on different Passive Protective
Systems to protective lightweight equipment
• Cameron Sanders and Taylor Valencia are currently finalizing a
research paper under the UCSD-REU project on the effects of
seismic activity on the protective systems of a cooling tower
• Ariel Ward and Taylor Valencia will also be embarking on a NEES-
REU experience at Georgia Institute of Technology during July 2013
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Challenges faced by the Ambassadors
• Dedicating and managing time in order to participate in the
program and maintain academic excellence.
• Ensuring availability for all necessary meetings and
reviewing the provided material before the training
sessions
• Practicing social skills in order to connect with the activity
participants
• Transporting the flume
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
WHERE DO
WE WANT TO
GO?
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Future directions
• Coordinate and run new outreach activities including
Earthquake-structural engineering concepts.
• Basic concepts
• Make your own earthquake
• Small building models
• Activities in the new structural simulation Lab
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Assessments
Activity assessments will be improved
upon in order to gain more effective
evaluation and feedback
• Youth-friendly
• Note returning participants
NEES Monthly EOT meeting- Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Contact Us
• Taylor Valencia
[email protected]
• Indira Sirjue
[email protected]
• Samrakshak Lamichhane
[email protected]