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Engineering students at Smith get involved in the community. Throughout the academic year, they organize and support programs that help schoolchildren explore engineering concepts, encourage young girls’ interest in math and science, and put engineering principles to work on behalf of local residents and agencies
Some outreach projects are sponsored by students engineering organizations, faculty as part of their classes or research while others stem from the Picker Engineering Program’s collaborations with national partners.
El Jardin Bakery: Reducing Emissions from a Wood-Fired Brick Oven
Engineering students in “Engineering and Global Development” teamed up with Nuestras Raices, a grassroots organization promoting economic and community development in Holyoke, to improve local air quality. The project focused on El Jardin Bakery, which produces organic artisan bread for distribution to local markets and restaurants. Its goal was to reduce overall emissions from the bakery’s wood-fired brick oven and divert them away from neighboring buildings, including the Nuestras Raices community center. In response, the students designed a modification to the bakery’s current chimney structure and explored improvements to the oven’s combustion process and building ventilation system. In keeping with the course’s emphasis on appropriate development, the students worked on-site toward a small-scale, low-tech solution that was informed by the needs of the community.
TOYChallenge
TOYChallenge, a national toy design competition for 5th to 8th graders, was developed by astronaut Sally Ride in collaboration with the Picker Engineering Program and Hasbro, Inc. It is currently run by the Sally Ride Science organization. It aims to engage middle school-age students, especially girls, in science and engineering and to inspire them to pursue careers in those fields. In 2003 Smith College hosted the TOYChallenge national competition finals and participated in the final judging the following year in San Diego. Each year since then, Smith engineering students have had the opportunity to serve as first-round judges for the competition. As such, they apply what they have learned about the design process to review proposals and select which submissions will advance to the next round. More about TOYChallenge...
Outreach by Student Engineering Organizations
Smith students in several of the engineering organizations work with children in local elementary and middle schools to tutor and mentor elementary and middle schools students. In recent years, the Smith students have volunteered in Springfield at the Chestnut Accelerated Middle School and Gerena Community Elementary School and in Northampton at the JFK Middle School and Jackson Street Elementary School.
Additionally, each chapter sponsors hands-on projects that reflect its organization’s mission. For example:
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The Engineers for a Sustainable World chapter collaborated with a community farm to determine its water needs. After surveying the farm’s topography and gathering hydrological data, members designed an irrigation system for the fields. |
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The Smith Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers and Tau Beta Kappa co-sponsored Introduce A Girl to Engineering Day, an annual program that brings girls in grades 4 through 8 to campus for workshops that introduce basic engineering and design concepts. Topics have included material engineering, fluid dynamics, the reverse engineering process, and robotic design. The day-long event allows girls to interact with female engineering students and conduct experiments in a college-level engineering classroom. |
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Society of Women Engineers members shared their research for NASA and their experience testing a robot in near zero gravity conditions with the science club at Northampton’s JFK Middle School. |
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Members of Tau Beta Kappa introduced students at Northampton’s JFK Middle School to the engineering design process through class lectures and demonstrations. After these classroom sessions, members returned for a Saturday engineering design challenge where the middle schoolers built balloon-powered cars out of craft sticks, straws, cardboard, wheels and dowels. |
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The Engineering World Health chapter is planning a repair session to solder and assemble electrocardiogram (ECG) testers to be used in hospitals in under-served regions of the world. |
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Student Organizations
Community Outreach
Global Opportunities
Engineering
Internships
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