Mechanical Engineering

​On June 7th, AGSS hosted a mechanical engineering workshop at the Mission Valley library. Our woman in STEM was Emily Roebling, the engineer behind the Brooklyn Bridge, who took over after her husband became chronically ill. Before the workshop, I spoke with a girl who said, “I don’t know what Mechanical Engineering is, but it sounds really cool and I am super excited to learn about it.” 

Their first lecture involved them learning about force and energy. They learned that energy is the ability to exert a force, and their hands shot up to provide many examples of when we use energy, such as running, brushing our teeth, etc. They also learned about different types of energy, like potential and kinetic. Additionally, we discussed the First Law of Thermodynamics and how energy is neither created nor destroyed, only changes form. The concept of simple machines was introduced to them, which they then used to build catapults that launched an M&M onto a chair. The participants said “Building the catapult was frustrating sometimes … [but] it was really fun and a good activity to start with.”

After a snack break with cookies, bananas, and water, they learned about civil engineering and bridges. They talked about the best way to build a bridge, and the engineering behind it, including tensile and compressive forces. We also discussed balancing forces and how this could be use to create the most sturdy bridge possible. The group that made the bridge that held the most books said “it was really fun and a cool activity.”

The last and final activity related to aerodynamics, where the participants built an egg drop but with water balloons. A girl told me that “this activity was a lot of fun because it was super hands-on and required creativity.” Overall, the mechanical engineering workshop introduced the participants to concepts they weren’t previously familiar with, but they learned a lot while having a lot of fun.

Our next events are our NASA Astro camps on June 13th and 14th at Logan Heights and Pacific Beach Library, respectively. These super fun camps are in collaboration with the Clueless FTC Robotics team, and we hope to see you there!!