'Engineers on Wheels' Roll into Florida Schools
"Engineers
on
Wheels" will be rolling into high school campuses all over South Florida
this fall. The Chrysler van, loaded with hands-on activities and
engineering
experiments, will visit classrooms as part of a Florida
International
University (FIU) initiative to introduce the subject to high school
students.
The
project
will allow FIU students, led by their professors, to demonstrate such
subjects as mechanical and materials engineering, computer science and
information
technology, and biomedical engineering for their high school
counterparts.
"This
will
give our students the kinds of high-tech, hands-on education they need
to
prepare for future success in STEM (science, technology, engineering and
math)
subjects and careers," said Cristian Carranza, who oversees science,
math,
career and technical education for Miami-Dade
County Public Schools.
The
FIU
Engineers on Wheels initiative is sponsored by the Chrysler Group
and the Chrysler
Foundation. The Chrysler Group donated the 2014 Ram ProMaster van
and the
company's charitable arm, the Chrysler Foundation, donated $15,000 to
establish
the program.
Georgette
Borrego
Dulworth, director of talent acquisition and diversity for Chrysler,
said the company got involved because it wants to feed the pipeline of
STEM
students who will eventually join the engineering profession, possibly
even to
work for Chrysler. She said the company has hired 20 FIU graduates over
the
last three years.
"Inspiring
young,
bright people to pursue an education in careers in STEM is essential to
Chrysler Group's ability to compete and succeed," Dulworth said.
The
Engineers
on Wheels project is a byproduct of the college's annual Engineering
Expo which, for each of the last 13 years, has brought 1,400 K-12
students from
Miami-Dade and Broward County Schools to the campus to learn firsthand
about
the possibilities in STEM fields.
"Engineers
on
Wheels gives us the opportunity to take our lab experiments and
instruments
to the schools and impact a larger audience," said FIU College of
Engineering and
Computing Dean Amir Mirmiran, "to show them what engineers do and what it takes to become an engineer."
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.