Engineering researchers, students demonstrate projects to interest children in STEM careers

As part of Engineering Week, Roger Quinn, the Arthur P. Armington Professor of Engineering; Musa Audu, investigator at the Cleveland FES Center; Ronald Triolo, professor of orthopaedics and biomedical engineering; and a dozen biorobotics students joined the Great Lakes Science Center Feb. 18 for a one-day kickoff program to get children interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers. NASA engineer Michael Krasowski and Cleveland Fire Department Lieutenant Terry Bindernagel also attended.

They brought with them demonstrations and a display of innovative design and engineering projects, such as a hybrid neuroprosthesis—a combination of an external brace and electrical stimulation to facilitate standing, walking and stair climbing after spinal cord injury—and a mobile robot from NASA Glenn that was developed for the fire department.

Approximately 1,700 area children, ranging in age from early childhood to middle school, visited the applied demonstrations that showed how engineering impacts real world applications.