Projects involving engineering experimentation, design, and measurement can be effective content for pre-college STEM outreach. Such applications-oriented activities can promote literacy and interest in technical topics and careers and have the added benefit of showing the relevance of science and mathematics. Exposure to electrical engineering concepts is discussed using the 555 timer integrated circuit. This low-cost device can be used for modular activities involving the production of light, sound, and motion. Specific projects are presented that are appropriate for pre-college students from 9th-grade through 12th –grade.
Dr. Jacquelyn K. Nagel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering at James Madison University. She has eight years of diversified engineering design experience, both in academia and industry, and has experienced engineering design in a ran
Dr. Steve E. Watkins is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, formerly the University of Missouri-Rolla. His interests include sensing, optics, and engineering educational. He is active in IEEE, HKN, TBP, SPIE, and ASEE. He has served as ASEE ECE Division Chair, ASEE Zone III Chair, ASEE Midwest Section Chair, IEEE-HKN President, and an IEEE Education Society Vice-President. His PhD is from the University of Texas at Austin.
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