COSMOS is a four-week summertime scientific discipline together with technology scientific discipline plan focused on education motivated high schoolhouse students topics rarely seen inwards high schoolhouse curriculums. My yell is Kritin Karkare together with I’m a bioengineering undergraduate at UC San Diego, a old COSMOS Cluster 8 (Tissue Engineering) alumnus, together with electrical flow Cluster seven (Synthetic Biology) education assistant.
For the 4 weeks of the program, I covered COSMOS life every bit a education assistant through this blog. In the get-go post, I provided an introduction to COSMOS together with interviewed Charles Tu, UC San Diego COSMOS director. In the second, I interviewed several students together with gave unopen to of my thoughts every bit a cluster assistant. For Week 3 I am highlighting the professors that move to create together with learn the COSMOS cluster courses; the iii I interviewed are the professors from Cluster 2: Engineering Design together with Control of Kinetic Sculptures.
Meet Veronica Eliasson, Associate Professor inwards the Structural Engineering Department; Raymond de Callafon, Professor inwards the Mechanical together with Aerospace Engineering (MAE) Department; together with Nathan Delson, Associate Teaching Professor inwards the MAE Department. Their responses possess got been lightly edited for clarity.
What is Cluster 2?
Delson: We learn mechanical blueprint together with command of kinetic sculptures, thence nosotros innovate students to what it’s similar to live a mechanical engineer. H5N1 telephone commutation business office is that they’re non merely doing assignments, but that they’re creating something. Since students come upward inwards alongside a dissimilar hit of skills, nosotros start alongside an private project. For calendar week 1, students move individually to cook a mechanical clock. They guide whatsoever shape of clock pendulum that they want, write a clock report, together with are able to possess got it home. In the procedure of doing that, they acquire how to create Computer-Aided Design (CAD) models, which they occupation to Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation cutting together with to 3D impress their clock parts. Students also occupation our store facility for drilling, reaming, press fitting, tapping, all the tools they postulate to use. They copy their pendulum using a estimator program, which is ane agency engineers occupation computers. We possess got a challenge to come across who tin predict the timing of their clock most accurately. We together with then transition to a squad project. And teamwork tin live a difficult affair to learn, together with Veronica has led a unique teambuilding exercise.
Eliasson: They possess got to drib H2O balloons on a bed of nails together with brand the H2O balloons endure from for sure heights; they possess got straws, tape, together with a few other parts they tin occupation for packaging. We occupation high-speed cameras thence students tin come across how the balloons popular or survive. Each private creates blueprint concepts on their ain over the weekend, together with then they shape teams together with create a gamble nautical chart together with create upward one's hear what to do. Then the squad builds their devices together with perform drops increasing inwards two-foot increments.
Delson: A lot of people possess got done a similar projection but alongside an egg—but the job alongside egg drops is that you lot acquire ane egg, drib it off, together with come across if it survives or not. For unopen to people it survives, unopen to people it doesn’t. But fifty-fifty the people whose egg survives don’t know why it survives. There’s no information collection. It’s non similar the instructor gives you lot ii dozen eggs to maintain on iterating together with learning. Water balloons permit students to acquire the scientific method: you lot assay something, you lot observe, you lot adapt. By bringing inwards these high-end, high-speed cameras together with using H2O balloons, you lot tin do this experiment ane time again together with ane time again together with again. We alter it into a recursive procedure together with learn them nearly the blueprint process.
Has the cluster gone on whatsoever champaign trips?
De Callafon: We did an off-campus tour of Solar Turbines, but inwards improver this twelvemonth nosotros added tours of labs at UC San Diego. We toured interrogation labs at UC San Diego thence the students acquire to come across what genuinely goes on there. For event I verbalise to them nearly controls, thence I took them to the controls laboratory where both mechanical together with aerospace students perform experiments inwards control. In addition, nosotros showed them the air current tunnel, H2O channel, materials testing experiments used inwards senior year.
Eliasson: We took them to iii dissimilar labs inwards the structural technology scientific discipline department, ii of them alongside to a greater extent than dynamic experiments. So it connects to the mechanical technology scientific discipline concepts. But together with then also the genuinely big labs that nosotros possess got hither at UC San Diego similar the seismic interrogation labs. Students acquire to article of apparel difficult hats together with walk around. I heard them comment later on ‘I had no thought structural technology scientific discipline could live thence interesting!’
How did you lot acquire involved alongside COSMOS?
De Callafon: Nate pulled me into this xiii years agone together with I possess got enjoyed it always since. On a personal note, no ane inwards my household unit of measurement went to college. I was the get-go one, together with I noticed that it was really difficult for me to acquire into college. I didn’t possess got the references or possess got anyone motivating me. It would possess got been prissy if at that spot was someone I could possess got looked upward to. That’s why I dear doing this. Maybe at that spot are several kids who mightiness genuinely do goodness from this program—that makes all the move worth it. I dear the fact that nosotros mix kids from genuinely expert schools together with kids who possess got a lot of potential from non thence expert schools.
What are your favorite parts of education high schoolhouse students?
Eliasson: Their curiosity. They possess got genuinely expert imaginations. They come upward up alongside crazy ideas.
It’s genuinely interesting to come across how the students come upward up alongside their projects together with how they contain them alongside their printed parts or their CAD parts along alongside the parts we’ve given them together with assay to brand them. They’re all laughing because they don’t know if it works. You tin experience the tension, similar the excitement. I intend that’s genuinely unique.
Delson Another affair that I genuinely similar is that the students are doing stuff inwards a higher identify together with beyond. First of all, nobody’s doing it for a grade. You hit them an assignment alongside X, Y together with Z criteria, together with somebody tries to do a petty fleck extra. That’s what nosotros desire to encourage inwards people, together with that’s beingness self-driven. We’ve been engraved since kindergarten through high schoolhouse together with beyond that teachers are telling you lot to do this to acquire this grade—it’s non nearly exploring things you’re interested in. So if you lot withdraw the grades the kids start becoming to a greater extent than curious.
De Callafon: When I started studying I had no thought what to do. I wanted to do thence many dissimilar types of engineering. I did electrical for ii years, was disappointed past times it together with went on to study mechanical engineering. I yell upward at that spot were ane or ii professors that inspired me to do that. I promise to play that purpose every bit good for our students. The other affair I relish is that I learn both undergraduate together with graduate courses. I do consulting, I learn professionals. And it’s prissy to add together to my education that I learn high schoolhouse students—it’s adding to the whole hit of education I acquire to do. You acquire that education is nearly targeting dissimilar audiences. It’s a expert reality cheque for yourself together with hopefully an inspiration for others.