Olympic Medals Turn e-Waste to Gold
Posted on May 27th, 2021 by Mary Lord
When it comes to champions, engineering swept the field at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic Games. That’s because all 5,000 gold, silver, and bronze medals were made from recycled cellphones and other electronic waste.
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Tags: 2021 Tokyo Olympics medals from recycled electronics, e-cycling, e-waste, materials, metals, Sustainability
A homegrown humanoid hoopster was the riveting rookie at the Tokyo Olympics. Built by Toyota engineers and technicians for fun, CUE5 stole the show by nailing free shots and three pointers during half-time at the opening USA-France match. 
Whether it’s learning the engineering of sports, the basics or computer-aided design, or how storybooks can inspire kindergarten design projects, the American Society for Engineering Education’s P-12 Commission has an online summer engineering camp to match the interests of K-12 students. Taught by engineering faculty and graduate students! Sign up 
Paved roads are a godsend for travelers and truckers alike, but potholes can ruin the ride. Engineers hope to quell the scourge by devising such novel solutions as self-healing asphalt and sensor-embedded “smart” roads that can detect small cracks before they require major repairs.
Acting as civil engineers, students in grades 9-12 research how to best use piezoelectric materials to detect road damage, setting up model roads, creating their own experiment procedures, and analyzing voltage changes caused by the vibrations of simulated vehicles. They then write up their research and conclusions as if presenting evidence to federal transportation officials about how piezo elements can be used to indicate road damage and help determine when roads need maintenance.
The Congressional App Challenge works to inspire middle and high school students in congressional districts across the country through hands-on practice with coding and computer science. Registration launches on June 24, but students can pre-register now. Deadline to submit apps: Nov. 1, 2021.
Join educators from Samueli Academy, a project-based-learning charter school in Santa Ana, Calif., for a free ASEE webinar on increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion through pre-college STEM. Wedesday, May 26, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Eastern.
The latest “nation’s report card” for science reveals a disturbing trend. After improving from 2009 to 2015, science scores held steady or fell – with across-the-board declines led by struggling students at the lowest achievement levels. 
Students in grades 5 to 7 learn about how muscles work and follow the engineering design process to create their own biomedical device to aid in the recovery of a strained bicep. They discover the importance of rest to muscle recovery and that muscles (just like engineers!) work together to achieve a common goal.
