McCann Seniors Present Engineering Projects
 Kristin Gregory waits for the judges to complete writing their comments on the previous presentation at the senior engineering presentations at McCann. |
There were rejected designs, manufacturing glitches, technical issues and — for all of them — not enough time to bring their projects to a complete full term.
"It feels good to have it over with," said Jalen Wissman, who with partner Cristobal Filiault had come up with a design concept for an iPhone app that would alert you to where service areas began and ended. "It was fun."
They were among the nine students who presented five projects, the culmination of the pre-engineering program, to a panel of six engineers on Tuesday night in the school cafeteria. Family and friends were also on hand.
Kristin Gregory and Kristie Kordana detailed their long nine-month progress from initial research to rejected designs to the difficulties in assembly to weak springs.
The end result was a workable crutch for use in walking up stairs — the spring release would drop the height of the crutch in proportion to the size of the step. They knew there were still problems to overcome but they'd overseen the prototype from brainstorm to physical manifestation.
"What about insurance coverage?" asked Wilfred Bourdon of General Dynamics, in case someone falls using the crutch.
"I hadn't thought of that," responded Gregory. It wasn't a question they had considered. Or, in calculating the cost of manufacturing, how much they should pay themselves.
  Judges provided written comments. Right, Jalen Wissman checks his slide. Below, Kristin Euchler, Emily Serrano and Erin Muccio overcome a glitch. |
Those students had been a little lean on providing their sources and step by step progress — a lesson that this year's class took to heart.
"Their folders were very thick compared to last year," said Xerxes Vania, another judge from General Dynamics. "It s really cool to see these kids come so far in a year."
"Less than a year," Bourdon reminded him. "Just coming in front of an audience like this is something."
Shane Lamarre certainly kept his cool as he countered queries on the "BerkBlaster" snowmaker he and teammate Dylan Rapisarda had designed and constructed.
"As I got into it, it was really just talking to a group of, ah, engineers," said Lamarre. He and Rapisarda bumped fists. "We nailed it."
Caleb Christofolini, working alone, designed a device that could light a beacon to aid emergency responders in finding a residence if 911 was dialed and also call a predetermined emergency number. Kristin Euchler and Emily Serrano presented a working prototype of an automated cat feeder. The working model was only recently completed but the girls had already won a second place in the Region 1 Science Fair with their concept and design.
The pre-engineering program is in addition to the regular course of studies the students take at McCann beginning in freshman year and ending with the senior projects. It's part of Project Lead the Way, which supports science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculum.
It's too early to tell if the program is churning out a new generation of engineers — this is only the second class. But it is exposing the students to some complicated thinking and some real-world problem solving.
"It's a great experience for them to present to real-life engineers and get their feedback," said Erin Muccio, program instructor. "They got a good taste of what it's like."
In addition to Vania and Bourdon, judges were Gary Wood of McCann, Tony Hart of General Dynamics, John Holden of Focus Facility Services and Jason Moran of Williams College.
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