Dazzle Box, a sturdy, reusable airdrop container for use in disaster relief designed by North Dakota State University mechanical engineering students, took top prize at the inaugural 3M Disruptive Design Challenge in 2018.

Read More

Filed under: Special Features | Comments Off on Dazzle Box Delivers Student Win

Tags: 3M, Dazzle Box, Disaster relief, Disruptive Design Challenge, North Dakota State University

Hurricanes, earthquakes, and other destructive events offer timely “teachable moments” about the role of engineers in improving weather forecasts and reducing the toll from natural disasters. eGFI Teachers’s collection of activities, feature articles, and other resources can help you integrate engineering into your classes – and inspire the next generation of “crisis” engineers.

Read More

Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans, Special Features | Comments Off on Disaster Engineering

Tags: Army Corps of Engineers, build, building, Class Activities, data, Disaster relief, drought, Engineering, Environmental Engineering, erosion, forces, hurricane, Hurricane Maria, measure, Mining, motion, National Guard, natural disasters, Physics, rescue, storm, Structural Engineering, Teacher Resources, Technology, tornado, Weather, Web Resources

In this first of eight activities, students in grades 6 – 8 learn about the engineering design process and earth science by beginning to design an underground cavern that can shelter people for one year after an asteroid strike makes Earth uninhabitable.

Read More

Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Asteroid Impact!

Tags: asteroid, Class Activities, Common Core State Mathematics Standards, Disaster relief, Earth Science, Engineering Design, Geology, Grades 6-8, ITEEA, Lesson Plans, Next Generation Science Standards, shelter, Space

Earthquake-shattered Haiti is a world apart from America’s grassy college campuses. Yet for a growing number of U.S. engineering undergraduates, the country serves as a living classroom where they can apply their knowledge and skills to help real people – half a million of whom still live under tarps or tents – recover from the worst natural disaster in modern times.

Read More

Filed under: Special Features | Comments Off on Engineering Students to the Rescue

Tags: clean drinking water, Curriculum, Disaster relief, Embry-Riddle, Engineering, Engineers Without Borders, grand challanges, Haiti, Humanitarian efforts, Lafayette College, project Haiti, solar power, University of Colorado

In this lesson, teams of students in grades 3-5 will use their knowledge of tornadoes and damage to design a structure that will withstand wind and protect people from twisters. Each group will create a poster with the name of their engineering firm and a picture of their structure, then present their design to the class.

Read More

Filed under: Class Activities, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Lesson: Design a Tornado-Proof Building

Tags: Class Activities, Disaster, Disaster relief, Grades K-5, Lesson Plan, Lesson Plans

This article from Prism magazine explores the work of “crisis engineers,” who bring needed skills and order to disaster zones, easing victims’ plight with water, shelter, and sanitation systems.

Read More

Filed under: Special Features | Comments Off on Feature: Emergency Response

Tags: Disaster relief, Engineers Without Borders

Students in grades 3 to 8 use a table-top tsunami generator to observe the devastation of these huge waves. They make villages of model buildings to test how different material types are impacted, and they learn how engineers design buildings to survive tsunamis.

Read More

Filed under: Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | 3 Comments »

Tags: Civil Engineering, Disaster relief, Environmental Engineering, Grades 3-8