High School Engineering Students, Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School

Middle and high school students from Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School, the first all girls public school in Texas, went back to school to new coursework. The Infinity Project’s high tech engineering curriculum is helping students build a solid foundation at an early age and preparing upperclassman for the rigors of college-level work.

In October, the high school students participated in CREW Careers (Commercial Real Estate Women) 2010. Equipped with skills they learned from The Infinity Project, the girls utilized engineering design algorithms to redesign a home and put it back on the market.

Former network engineer Donald Morris teaches engineering at Irma Rangel and pulls double duty as a football and track coach. He graduated 20 years ago from Garland ISD’s Lakeview Centennial and played football on what was known as the “dream team.” After college, he worked for EDS and Compaq (HP) for eight years before his mother’s prediction came true.

“I’m a second generation teacher and third generation coach,” says Morris, “so it was no surprise to my mother when I went to a Dallas ISD career fair in 2001, resigned from my engineering job and began my second career as an educator.”

The door was “wide open” for Morris, who says he met the principal of TJ Rusk and had a job offer within 24 hours. “This is a dream come true. To work as an engineer and then to teach its principles to the next generation.”

His enthusiasm is reflected in the diverse and challenging after-school activities Morris plans for the year:

• Participating in SMU Lyle’s Visioneering 2011, where last year’s 6th graders, under the direction of science instructor Ms. Clark, placed first in the design competition.
• Working with SMU Lyle environmental engineers on Ph sampling in the spring.
• Entering a robotics competition.
• Building a solar car to compete in the Winston Cup at Texas Motor Speedway.

Morris trained on SMU’s campus this past summer and, in a team setting, built a robotic rover that could function on the surface of Callisto, one of Jupiter’s moons. After introducing The Infinity Project curriculum the first weeks of school, Morris said his students repeatedly commented about how they’ve learned this concept in physics, or that principle in chemistry.

“I call it the ‘aha’ moment, when students realize that engineering ties it all together,” says Morris. “The Infinity Project reinforces core concepts students learn in STEM classes—science, technology, engineering and math—and transforms theory into something practical and real.”

For 11 years, The Infinity Project team has sought to increase the number and diversity of students who graduate from U.S. high schools with both the enthusiasm and knowledge to pursue the engineering careers necessary for the U.S. to compete in a global economy.

According to Tammy Richards, Associate Dean of SMU's Lyle School of Engineering and Executive Director of The Infinity Project, the new focus on STEM coursework will make a tremendous push toward achieving that goal. “At schools like Irma Rangel, it’s especially rewarding to see girls, commonly under-represented in engineering, inspired by the curriculum’s problem-solution based learning.”

“SMU Lyle has welcomed Irma Rangel’s last two valedictorians to its freshman class,” she adds. “With Mr. Morris’ tenacity and The Infinity Project as a springboard, I expect to see an even greater increase of graduates in our engineering classrooms at SMU Lyle, in Texas and beyond.”

Save the Date

Helping science, technology, engineering, and math teachers successfully implement engineering curricula into their classroom is of vital importance to The Infinity Project. To accomplish this task, we conduct week-long summer institutes to review the text, hardware, software and technology associated with the program. Teachers participate in hands-on design activities to help them gain a deeper understanding of the concepts they will be introducing to their students. These activities may include building a robotic rover, prosthetic limb, digital band or learning to reduce the earth’s human footprint. Teachers leave each institute equipped with a tool bag they can draw from to help students understand how math and science relates to the world around them.

You don’t have to be an engineer to teach The Infinity Project curricula, but you will learn to think like one by the time you complete the training. To enable teachers to spend more time teaching and less time planning, The Infinity Project provides comprehensive curriculum and training during each professional development institute:

• Curricula for electrical, mechanical, civil, environmental and biomedical engineering modules
• Instructor text and notes
• Activities and exercises with solutions
• Daily lesson plan guide
• PowerPoint presentation slides
• Module exams
• Professional development extension activities
• Videos
• Links to useful websites
• Access to on-line classroom support

Conducted by certified Master Infinity Project Instructors, teachers receive best-in-class training along with real-world classroom examples. Now is the time to mark your calendar and save the date for the 2011 summer professional development institutes.

On-line registration for the session of your choice will be available at http://www.infinity-project.org/edu/edu_prodev.html in March.

Grant for Engineering Education