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AeroAstro Outreach Program: Creating a Repository of Outreach Materials

The Women's Graduate Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (WGA3) is organizing an initiative to collect and create a repository of outreach materials for the AeroAstro community. The goal is to minimize duplicated effort, lower the barrier of participation, and facilitate the development of new content.

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AeroAstro Outreach Program: Creating a Repository of Outreach Materials

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  1. AeroAstro Outreach Program Women’s Graduate Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (WGA3) February 22, 2012

  2. Outreach Initiative Overview Outreach Objectives • Collect available materials • General information about Engineering, AeroAstro • Photos and videos • Lesson plans • Demos and materials • Create new content • Outreach “kits” • IAP course • Share with the community • Web repository • Outreach opportunities • Outreach Team • Farah Alibay • Allie Anderson • HemantChaurasia • Emily Clements • Chelsea He • Aaron Johnson • Whitney Lohmeyer • SameeraPonda • Sunny Wicks

  3. Motivation & Goals • Members of the AeroAstro community participate in a variety of outreach activities • One-time talks • Educational videos • Day-long workshops • Multi-week courses • Materials are currently dispersed throughout the department • Little or no coordination among users • Content development is labor intensive To facilitate coordination, we are collecting both physical and electronic content to create a repository of existing outreach materials. • Minimize duplicated effort • Lower the barrier of participation • Facilitate development of new content

  4. Presentations About AeroAstro, Engineering

  5. AeroAstro Photos

  6. Lesson Plans, Demos, Videos… Quadrotor Demo “Astronaut School for Middle Schoolers” by HemantChaurasia Water Bottle Rocket Activity MIT Engineering K-12 Videos http://techtv.mit.edu/genres/19-engineering/ videos/14880-a-turn-of-the-earth Spacesuit

  7. Web Repository

  8. Web Repository

  9. Hands-On Aerospace Mission: Introduce students to topics in AeroAstro through practical, hands-on activities. Project Teams • Robotics: Lego Mindstorms • Aerodynamics: Portable Wind Tunnel Expected Outcomes • Assembly of demo • Group presentation • Mini-lecture describing demo and basic concepts • Outreach “kit”

  10. Logistics Timeline • 4 days: Jan 17-20 Recruitment • IAP offerings website • Email to freshmen interested in AeroAstro • Email to AeroAstro undergrads Supplies • Robotics: 2 Lego Mindstorms kits from Prof. Hoffman • Wind tunnel: <$100 in wood, PVC, paint, other building materials Safety • Gelb lab: all students completed online safety course (AeroAstro Safety and Chemical Hygiene by Dick Perdichizzi) • Machine shop: graduate students only

  11. Students Robotics Team Wind Tunnel Team L-R:Mycal Tucker ’15, Ben Novak ’15 Not pictured: AristodimosKomninos G L-R: Dominique Hoskins ’15, Matt Vernacchia ’15, Ellen Liverpool ’15 Photo Credit: Bill Litant

  12. Schedule of Activities

  13. Robotics Demo • Objective: Illustrate robotics concepts via hands-on demos • Line-Tracking Demo • Exploration and Search Missions (16.00) • Materials: Lego Mindstorm NXT kit • Sensors (range, light, sound, touch) • Actuators (motors, LEDs) • Graphical programming (LabView) Robotic System Sensors Processing Decision Actions Lego Mindstorm NXT Kit World Hands-On Aerospace: Line-Tracking Demo Generic Robotics Block Diagram

  14. Wind Tunnel Demo • Objective: Illustrate basic aerodynamics concepts such as lift, drag, stall using a low speed flow visualization wind tunnel • “Little Smokey” wind tunnel • Instructions from NASA: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/WindTunnel/build.html • Materials: • Plywood • 2” x 4” wood • Polycarbonate sheet • Computer cooling fan • PVC pipes • Straws • Dry ice

  15. Summary • Understanding of basic aerodynamics concepts • Mini-lecture describing demo • Basic building skills • Teamwork and camaraderie • Interaction with faculty • Learning by doing • Sense of ownership • Low cost, high impact • Community involvement

  16. Outreach in Action National Engineers Week at the MIT Museum February 20, 2012

  17. 2012 Outreach Plan Outreach Team: Build up database of AeroAstro-based demos and workshops Demonstrate use of outreach materials in a high school visit and a summer workshop Repeat IAP course in 2013 to produce new demos Faculty Homework: Over the next months, with your students carve your research into demos or lectures to excite the community about AeroAstro research

  18. Thank You! wga3-exec@mit.edu http://web.mit.edu/wga3/www

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