High Schoolers to the Rescue
As the Navy’s main combat search-and-rescue gunship, the Sikorsky HH-60H Seahawk is a workhorse of a helicopter that’s been in service since the mid-1980s. That means that the “Rescue Hawk,” as it’s known, sometimes needs updating. Now, help for the new redesign is coming from an unexpected quarter — a San Antonio high school.
According to the San Antonio Business Journal, local engineering firm J.M. Waller Associates has been contracted by the Navy to reverse engineer the Seahawk’s Gatling gun mounts, redesigning them to “overcome a diminishing parts supply.” So, the company has enlisted students from the STEM RAM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Richard A. Middleton) Academy to give a hand. The project requires J.M. Waller’s engineers to redesign the mounts using 3D solid models and prototypes, and the STEM RAM students will be at the heart of the modeling and design effort.
“We are very excited about working with the STEM RAM Academy on this project,” Scott Gray, the company’s vice president, told the Journal. It will, he says, give the students a “hands-on engineering opportunity.”
Filed under: K-12 Education News
Tags: Design, Engineering Design, Reverse Engineering, STEM education, U.S. Navy
