...March NSBE Jr. Meeting...

The March meeting was all about planes. The turnout was great; it was a meeting with mostly new faces. The students arrived to learn about geometry and they completed very difficult problems which had even the mentors looking at answer keys for help.

After math warm-up problems, the students took some time to get to know each other. The icebreaker involved learning facts about the other students. A few brave volunteers were able to recite three names of people they had just met that day.

The guest speaker for the March NSBE Jr meeting was Ben Henderson. Ben is retired from both the US Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration. He is currently a pilot and is in the process of starting a non-profit organization to teach kids how to fly. Ben spoke about being the best at whatever you attempt to do in life. He also answered questions ranging from how the average auto pilot works on planes, to how pilots can see in the fog. The kids enjoyed getting first -hand interaction with an experienced pilot.

After Mr. Henderson motivated the students about aviation, it was their turn to build their own gliders. The gliders were built from a single sheet of balsa wood, and they took many different forms. The April NSBE Jr meeting with determine which of the gliders flies the farthest.

Three of the students will be attending the National Convention in Orlando, Fl, thanks to Applied Materials. The students will have travel, hotel, and conference registration entirely paid for by the company. The National Convention will give the students an opportunity to learn about engineering disciplines, get hands on experience in various workshop sessions, and meet other young, bright minds from all over the country. They are very excited about their upcoming trip and will give an update to the group upon their return.

Please join us at the next NSBE Jr meeting on April 12, 2008.

... Habitat for Humanity with NSBE Jr. ...

Our January meeting changed things up in an effort to give back to the community. We partnered with Habitat for Humanity to help build houses in Santa Clara. Whether climbing on a roof or hammering in countless nails, students gained an understanding of engineering in action and the benefits of helping others.

Please enjoy the pictures from the Habitat for Humanity day of fun, community service, and HARD work!








Isn't it a great feeling to know that you're sore from a day of hard work for the community?! Much pride goes out to the team who represented NSBE Jr. and our NSBE Alumni Extension chapter to the community.

... December NSBE Jr. Meeting ...

Our December meeting started with a seminar on SAT preparedness. A guest speaker from KAPLAN described the new SAT and tips and tricks to improve your score. Once students were prepped for the SAT we moved into engineering design topics. Engineering design has many applications and the students were asked to apply engineering design principles when designing bridges. Four teams competed and had varying strategies to solve the problem given to them. The winning team discovered how to quickly and effectively carry out their design concept.

... November NSBE Jr. Meeting ...

Saturday’s November NSBE Jr. meeting on the campus of San Jose State University focused on the subject of computer science. Our NSBE Jr. Champion, Jessica, along with individuals from our NSBE Alumni chapter and from SJSU, came up with some great presentations and activities that seemed to get the kids excited about science and engineering concepts; either that or they were faking it and would have a brighter future in Hollywood.

A speaker from Yahoo! discussed computers and practical applications in which computer science is used. Students listened intently as they learned of everyday applications that used computer science to make them work. After learning about computer science, the students were given the opportunity to actually write their own programs. Students at San Jose State University led an exercise using a program called Alice, available at http://www.alice.org/. (There’s a GREAT promotional video available on the website for those who are wondering how this all works. Their future endeavors will incorporate The Sims computer game!) This software package allowed students to program virtual environments by using a drag-and-drop feature for programming. The virtual worlds created were both educational and entertaining.

Another activity that we all engaged in was the ‘Build-A-Bridge-That-Will-Hold-Massive-Weight-in-A-Relatively-Short-Period-of-Time’ Challenge. The techniques that the kids used to win the challenge were pretty interesting. The rules were not too stringent so the kids engaged in various over-the-top techniques to accomplish the complex task. This leads one to believe that these kids, while extremely motivated to follow the path of righteousness (we hope…), would be able to perform outstandingly well in future jobs by completing tasks “by any means necessary” with a few exceptions to the term “means”. We’ll see who wins the next event.

It’s the battle of the adults vs. the little whipper-snappers, the ancient-of-days vs. the Young and the Restless, the Dinosaurs (no disrespect to people 24 and above) vs. the newborns… Come out to the next PCI meeting to support your age group!!!!! Come out to support the Kids!!!!