MS Science & Engineering Expo 2018
The annual Middle School Science & Engineering Expo was a huge success once again, thanks to the hard work and positive attitudes of so many students, parents, teachers, and staff. This year’s theme of The Human Machine inspired a range of hands-on explorations, from Masa and Cameron’s tennis and baseball clinic, to Heidi and Ella’s […]
Gliders: In Production!
A quick update on our Advanced Engineering II glider project: the students are currently hard at work translating their theoretical calculations into hand-made reality. The problem is at first daunting; how do you create the various parts of a flying machine, according to a specific design? There are dozens of materials that might be chosen […]
MS Engineering: A Photo Update
The MS Engineering students just finished their penultimate project: to build a “stock” model according to instructions, and then to program it themselves to get it to work. This is a warm-up to their final project, which sees them build and program their very own robot in The Final Challenge without any instructions or other assistance. […]
Field Trip: Santa Barbara Forge + Iron
Not far from our Upper Campus is an exciting center of creativity and design. With ties to Westmont College, Providence, and our own Mr Hurt, it’s the most natural place in the world to take our engineering students for inspiration… Santa Barbara Forge + Iron! Led by Dan and Andy Patterson, the people at Forge […]
Providence Engineering Summer Camp: Robot City
What do you get when you put one teacher, three 3D printers, four high school assistants, sixteen kids, three hundred multicolored LEDs, sixteen tiny robots, and 64 square feet of plywood into two rooms for five days?! Answer: the First Ever Providence Engineering Summer Camp! Day 1–If You Build It, They Will ComePardoning the Field of […]
Final Project: Bomb Disposal Robot
The Foundations of Engineering II group finished off their year with an exciting capstone project: design, build, and program a bomb disposal robot, such as that used by special tactical groups around the world. A real bomb disposal robot, complete with camera, manipulator claw, and disruptor (One quick word needs to be said from the […]
Project Demonstration: RC Cars On Lower Campus
Elementary school students at our Lower Campus received a special treat last Friday when the students of the Foundations of Engineering II class demonstrated their latest project: remote-controlled cars. Utilizing much of the same equipment as the self-driving car project of last semester (i.e. the Vex robotics kits, CAD, and lots of trial and error), […]
Robo Puppies
Meet Astro and Cookie–they don’t eat much and they won’t mess up your house. They will, however, bark and sit and nod their heads, and maybe even roll over! The star attractions at our table; note the colored “bone” used to give commands to the two puppies Last Friday, Astro and Cookie–and their human handlers […]
Project: The Self-Driving Car
We’ve recently reported on the Advanced Engineering I playground design project, but what exactly is keeping the younger group busy right now? If you pass by Room 401 most any afternoon, you’ll find twelve freshmen and sophomores, six computers, three VEX robotics sets, two T.A.s, and one teacher very hard at work! The project? It’s […]
Bridges, Cranes, Robots
After some humble beginnings to the semester (Newton’s Laws, basic structural mechanics, and gear ratios), we have had a string of exciting projects in our middle school engineering elective. Within the last few weeks, students have built railway bridges, designed high-torque crane systems, and are now writing code for simple three-wheeled robots. Mr Meadth stands […]