From fuel-efficient snowmobile engines to the electric motors in the Tesla Model Y, mechanical engineering student Katie Lyon has a passion for environmentally friendly vehicles. Lyon grew up in Burnsville, Minnesota and as a child loved playing with Legos, Lincoln Logs and other toys that allowed her to combine her creativity with her analytic skills. …Continue reading “Driven by a passion to engineer vehicles of the future”
Emily Alexander credits an Engineering and Beyond summer camp she attended in high school as one of her most influential exposures to engineering and the Iowa State University campus. Having grown up just a half hour away in Des Moines, attending Iowa State was the easy decision when it came time for college, but she …Continue reading “Medical mechanical engineer”
Cory Kleinheksel is taking steps to improve education for future generations of students and teachers.
Ludovico Cademartiri had what seemed like an impossibly demanding list of requirements for his lab equipment. The Iowa State University assistant professor of materials science and engineering wants to understand environmental effects on plant growth, specifically how variations in climate and soil characteristics affect root growth. That requires highly controlled environments that expose whole plants to environmental …Continue reading “Iowa State engineers turn LEGO bricks into a scientific tool to study plant growth”
From the LEGO key chains on his backpack to his involvement and dedication to the FIRST LEGO League, it’s clear that Shaun VanWeelden—a junior from Pella, Iowa—has a passion for the little plastic bricks that so often introduce young children to engineering. Last year, he found a way to combine that passion with his love …Continue reading “Junior in software engineering turns interest in LEGOs into business”
Combining computers, LEGOS, and ice cream might sound like the recipe of a lazy summer afternoon, but the 8-14 year olds at STEM Camp on August 4-5 weren’t lounging around. They spent two days of their precious summer vacation on Iowa State’s campus learning about the wonders of engineering. STEM Camp participants learned about cyber …Continue reading “STEM Camp shows the fun of engineering”
An engineering lab in Howe Hall buzzed with energy Tuesday as 12 blind high school students worked in teams to disassemble, assemble, and reprogram robots built from intricate LEGO pieces. They strategized, they speculated, they laughed, and they proclaimed success. No one said “I can’t.” The students were from an Iowa Department for the Blind …Continue reading “Workshop opens access to technology and fun for visually impaired students”
