Education Outreach – My trip to Miami

As you can read in my short autobiography, I love all things science and working with kids. Therefore I especially love getting kids interested in science and feel it’s very important to bring more STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) into the classroom. Thankfully I work for the US Navy, which has excellent education outreach and STEM programs.

Recently I was requested by a captain who was in the audience of one of my last education presentations to go talk to kids at North Miami Senior High School as part of NAVSEA’s Small Business Conference. It would consist of 20 hours of driving and working on a weekend, but man was worth it. I love talking to kids and getting them excited about STEM, and frankly I was flattered someone so high up was asking for me by name!

The event was definitely a test of my energy level especially since my presentation partner fell ill. I was on my own facing 5 full full classes of eager high school students in North Miami. It was rough, but what a feeling to have at the end of a day when you see how interested these kids got.

I talked with the kids about what I do as an engineer working for the US Navy. I engaged them in a talk about the basics of underwater robots and mine counter-measures; I had brought a goody bag of promotional items I took from HR and handed them out for right answers. I explained how underwater sonar imaging works and how you can get pictures from sound. They also got to see some of my lab’s simulation robots, and even got a chance drive them around.

Overall it was exactly what I love to do. Now I’m back home preparing for the first performance of the traveling science show for elementary schools I’m helping put together. But that’s for another post.