Project Lead the Way Conference (PLTW) 2011
September 30, 2011
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High School Students at PLTW Conference |
Purdue University-South Bend’s third annual Project Lead the Way conference was September 30, 2011. Dozens of students attended from four area high schools: Elkhart Memorial in Elkhart, Northwood in Nappannee, Penn in Mishawaka, and Riley in South Bend.
Five sessions ran in parallel, with students rotating from session to session throughout the day. The three technical project sessions were in Electrical Engineering Technology (EET), Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET), and Industrial Technology (IT). There were also Careers and College Life sessions. The conference theme this year was energy, with a project focus on photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. Students investigated a notional solar panel installation for a residential application, similar to the installation shown below, but for a rooftop instead of freestanding.
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Freestanding Solar Panel Installation |
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Professor Harding Leading EET Session |
The EET session included:
- some electricity basics;
- an overview of the components required to convert a solar panel’s DC output to AC, so it can be used to power home appliances and/or interface with the power grid; and
- an examination of the circuitry (a power inverter) to perform that function.
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Professor Leach Leading MET Session |
The MET session considered the options for a mechanical design to mount the solar panels to the roof of a residence, including provision to modify pointing angle as the sun’s elevation changes with the seasons throughout the year. The surface area (several hundred square feet) and loading (over a ton) were also considered in the design.
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Mr. Pace Leading IT Session |
In the third technical session, Mike Pace of Honeywell, Inc. led students through a lively hands-on activity to illustrate the principles of lean manufacturing and how they can optimize manufacturing processes.
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Jim Carr Leading Careers Session |
Jim Carr, also from Honeywell, led the careers session. He discussed a variety of industries, technical disciplines, and jobs available to engineering and technology graduates.
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Lori Butchko Leading Campus Life Session |
Purdue-South Bend Student Services Coordinator Lori Butchko ran the campus life session, which covered topics like admissions and financial aid processes, differences between high school and college, services available to our local Purdue students, and campus life in general.
The goals of the conference were to:
- Engage high school students in some fun and interesting activities to spur their interest in technology
- Motivate better study by linking the technical activities to math and science
- Inform students of degree options available locally and expose them to each discipline (EET, MET, IT, ET)
- Introduce them to the environment of a university campus
- Help each student match his/her interests and skills with appropriate careers
The conference began at 9:30 a.m., finished at 1 p.m., and lunch was provided.
Sign-ups for the 2012 conference will begin soon. For more information about how to attend a future Project Lead the Way conference at Purdue-South Bend contact Professor Gene Harding at glhardin@purdue.edu or Mr. Michael Sanders at mdsanders@purdue.edu.
For highlights of the fall 2010 conference, click here.