We are so excited to share information about the TryEngineering Summer Institute Scholarship Program with you and your students.

A number of additional need-based scholarships are available for students who have a passion for engineering, but who don’t have the financial means to attend the TryEngineering Summer Institute program. As a scholarship recipient, they’ll have the opportunity to attend tuition-free with room and board included.

Scholarship Deadline: April 9th, 2021

IEEE, the world’s largest not-for-profit technical association for engineers and technologists, created this program to inspire the next generation of problem-solvers and difference-makers. Held on university campuses across the United States, this two-week summer program helps teenagers explore STEM in a whole new way—and the experience looks great on college applications!

During the program, students ages 13-17 will experience:

• Hands-on design challenges
• Life on a college campus
• A chance to speak to working engineers about their career paths
• Field trips to engineering facilities (previous visits have included NASA’s Johnson Space Center, ConEdison power stations, and more)

If you’d like, I can provide informational materials about the program that you can share with your students. You can also access information materials here on our website.

Thanks for being part of our mission to introduce the next generation to a fulfilling career in engineering and helping to make a difference in the lives of these students. Together, we can help put more kids on the path to STEM careers.

Teach your students the basics of electricity and magnetism with the IEEE TryEngineering lesson plan, “Basic Electricity & Magnetism: “But it’s the Law, Doktor Ohm!”. This is a simple activity great for kids ages 8 – 18. Learn more today.

Lesson Focus

This lesson focuses on the basics of electricity and magnetism. It begins by outlining the work of some of the early experimenters and the sequence which eventually led to the realization of how a changeable electromagnetic field could be harnessed to other purposes. From there the lesson goes on to demonstrate how electric currents, magnetic fields and electrostatic fields are so closely related.  A series of simple hands-on activities are provided at the end of the lesson. The lesson ends with a section in which the students are invited to discuss with the teacher, various ways in which they think these demonstrations could be improved.

Very young engineers are inventing solutions to some very old problems. Recently, the prestigious 2020 Broadcom MASTERS® competition released its list of finalists. The program is the leading STEM competition for middle school students in the United States. It aims to encourage young scientists, engineers and innovators to solve major problems that plague the 21st Century. Out of the 3,476 students who applied, 300 were selected. Of these, 52 percent were girls and 47 percent were boys hailing from 34 states, including Puerto Rico. 

Ishana Kumar, a 6th grader from New York, took home the top award — the $25,000 Samueli Foundation Prize — for her project “Color Is in the Eye of the Beholder: The Role of Retinal Fatigue on Imaginary Fechner Colors,” which examines how retinal fatigue impacts the way we see color.

Charlotte Lenore Simon Michluk, an 8th grader from New Jersey, won the $10,000 Department of Defense STEM Leadership Prize for inventing an environmentally friendly coating that can prevent barnacles from growing on ships, which create drag and increase the cost of fuel during transport. 

Julia Olshwang, an 8th grader from California, won the $10,000 Lemelson Award for Invention category for his device “Talk to the Hand,” a glove that allows hearing-impaired people to translate sign language into text or speech.  

Anita Genko, an 8th grader from Michigan, won first place in the Engineering Award category for a test she developed that detects lead chromate, an additive, in turmeric, a popular spice. The additive brightens the yellow color of turmeric, making it more appealing to buyers, but can be toxic.

JT Mulvihill, an 8th grader from Arizona, won second place in the Engineering Award category for his football helmet design, which protects a player’s head during various kinds of impacts.

Click here to see the full list of 2020 Broadcom MASTERS® and watch their presentations.

TheUpverter Education Engineering Essentials course combines interactive curriculum with a powerful, easy to use, web-based tool for editing schematic diagrams and PCB layouts with remote team collaboration.

The collaborative and remote learning features of the Upverter tool and Engineering Essential courses fits perfectly with educator’s goals to introduce and guide students through electronics design and their exploration of technology and engineering. 

The Upverter Education Program is a free resource and features:

• Electronics engineering overview video. Course for all skill levels, including students with no prior exposure to electronics
• A library of completed designs for inspiration and teaching
• Upverter, a professional, easy to use, web-based tool for editing schematic diagrams and PCB layouts with remote team collaboration
• An Upverter YouTube channel with detailed UI navigation videos

Thanks to a number of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) competitions and programs happening all over the world, kids everywhere are sharpening their technical skills. Here are just a few programs that are developing future generations of scientists and engineers:

• A group of high schoolers from Bangladesh won this year’s FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition. “Team Bangladesh” beat teams from 174 countries in three separate challenges. For the “quarantine” challenge, the team built a wifi-controlled robot dubbed “Covitron-1,” which can deliver medicine, food, and other necessities to people under quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the “social media” challenge, they created a video and computer program that spread awareness about STEM. For the “technical challenge,” they designed several devices, including a paper plane launcher, a device that can rescue children from drowning, and a robot that can clean. 
• Through the STEM for Africa Project (S4A), 1,000 children in the town of Hwidiem in Ghana will get “science set” toolkits that can be used for more than 30 experiments. The kits include circuit systems, mini-robots, solar panel models, security alarm systems, and more. The project, which will run for two years, consists of 52,000 hours of STEM education in 10 schools. It will also include 15 STEM clubs. Additionally, 50 girls will be chosen for special mentorship from the STEM Champions in partnership with Synergies Institute – Sankofa Mentorship Hub. Stem for Africa was launched in October by 1 Billion Africa, an African non-profit that encourages kids to become future leaders through innovation and problem solving. 
• In India, 10,000 girls in 100 government schools in the region of Jammu will benefit from the Mastercard Girls4Tech program. The award-winning program’s goal is to put girls on a path to future STEM careers. The program will include online training sessions for girls and teaching resources for teachers and schools. 

View a collection of resources for teachers to encourage students to explore STEM on IEEE TryEngineering’s teacher resources page.