In the Steps of Orville and Wilbur
The Advanced Engineering II group has a unique and challenging task in front of them. In fact, it is quite possible that none of the students has ever undertaken something quite like this: a group project that lasts from September to March—designing and building a model glider! The students have been hard at work learning the […]
Educational Design Project
In the Providence Engineering Academy, we emphasize the idea that technology ought never to be an end in itself. Technology for technology’s sake rings hollow, and as Christians we ought to see all things as being good and useful for God’s kingdom purposes. A very real question for us is this: how can we use engineering, […]
MS Engineering: The First Month
The popularity of the middle school engineering program at Providence has really taken off this year; for the first time, we will be admitting eighteen students in both first and second semester! It’s our largest class size yet for this program, which is exciting. But what exactly, I hear you ask, are students doing in […]
Wild West Town—Completed!
If you’ve visited the Providence Lower Campus in the last couple of weeks, you might have noticed an exciting new development in the Grove. Lo and behold, the Providence Engineering Academy has completed its children’s playground project—and just in time for the new year! The completed project, in place at the Lower Campus Grove For […]
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 […]
Advanced Engineering: Grove Model Complete!
If you’ve been following this blog, you might recall that the Advanced Engineering class was laying out conceptual designs for a playground structure destined for the Lower Campus. They have been fairly quiet since then, except for announcing a grant that was awarded in October. However, much has gone on in the background: our six […]
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 […]
Visit to UCSB Mechanical Engineering Department
On Monday of this week, sixteen Providence teachers and students took a trip out to UCSB, to visit the Mechanical Engineering department. Kirk Fields, Senior Development Engineer, met the group there and gave a tour of a few of the lab spaces. The “clean room” was the first stop, and we noted that this is […]
Guest Speaker: Nathan Gates
Last Friday, our Foundations of Engineering II group was privileged to hear from retired aerospace engineer Dr. Nathan Gates. Dr. Gates has worked for many years at Astro Aerospace, based in Carpinteria, and is recently retired. Dr Gates shows a telescoping boom design that he worked on Dr. Gates’ impressive career was mainly focused on […]
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 […]