Last week, a few of our team members had the pleasure of taking part in one of Pittsburgh’s coolest STEM-education events, the Chain Reaction Contraption Contest! The annual contest is held at the city’s Carnegie Science Center in conjunction with the Westinghouse Electric Company and the Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania.

For this year’s Chain Reaction Contraption Contest, the Inventionland® Education served as a sponsor and offered a tour of Inventionland®to a group of contest winners. Also, as part of our sponsorship, contest organizers asked two of our team members to serve as judges.

So, we sent team members Chris Turner and Michael Spicer to the event last Friday, December 11th as area 9th-12 grade students built, engineered and operated wacky contraptions that would aid with an everyday task. Students were also challenged to tell a story with their contraption.

According to Turner, big winners at the Chain Reaction Contraption Contest were Hempfield Area High School, Cornell High School and North Allegheny Senior High School who took home 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes, respectively.

But, if you ask us, Turner and Spicer also won big by attending the event as judges.

“I was blown away by the many complex and fun projects that were on display. These kids worked hard and were quite proud of their work. I look forward to being a judge next year!” said Turner.

Spicer’s reaction was similar and he also noted how the contest inspired students to use STEM education subjects to solve everyday problems.

“I loved it. It was fun, exciting seeing people’s enthusiasm. I thought the people running it were amazing, they were dedicated, organized,” said Spicer. “[The contest] allowed [students] to create unique physical solutions to solving problems.”

A particular contraption that captivated Spicer featured a Las Vegas heist.

“It ranged with water-hydraulics, electrical, chemical reactions and told the story of a casino robbery. The story and the mechanics were well relayed. They very cleverly changed the feed of the contraption. There was a car chase at the end. They created a probability [of whether] they would get caught by the police or not,” said Spicer.

Turner said that other noteworthy contraptions included a “Marvelous” creative design, “Deliciously” awesome ideas, a WWII story with innovative reactions and a retro Mario Bros. contraption.

At last week’s Chain Reaction Contraption Contest, we sponsored an award category that North Allegheny Senior High School students won. We look forward to welcoming their innovative group to our creative design facility soon!

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Our project-based inventing curriculum may have started to take off in the classrooms of Pittsburgh’s The Kiski School early this year; but, since then, it’s been a whirlwind of hands-on, collaborative learning for us all!

Students in grades 6-16 from Avonworth Middle School, The Kiski School, DuBois Business College and South Fayette Middle School, who’ve implemented the Inventionland® Education curriculum, have put their minds together to think through the new product development process and apply STEM-education subjects on a daily basis while doing so. On our end, we’ve welcomed countless new groups to our own creative space to learn more about the interactive curriculum; and, we’ve also been able to network throughout the Pittsburgh region to bring more of that project-based learning to students and educators alike.

Most recently, our team members have traveled everywhere from Philadelphia to Virginia to New Orleans to spread the word about the Inventionland® Education curriculum and STEM-education, in general.

Just last week, Executive Director Nathan Field was at CareerTech Vision 2015 in New Orleans, where he was able to connect with other STEM-education enthusiasts from across the United States.

“These connections will be great to get the curriculum in schools across the country,” said Field. “We’re already planning to meet up with a few of those connections in the coming weeks.” 

At the same time that Field was in New Orleans, Director of Client Services Katie Doas traveled to Lansdowne, Virginia for the Society of Elementary Presidential Awardees (SEPA) Professional Weekend.

According to Doas, the SEPA Professional Weekend was a great way to share STEM-education ideas and be inspired by others who are utilizing STEM in their professional lives.

“It was so inspiring to see and hear the ways that STEM impacts professionals like astrophysicists, pharmaceutical professionals and pilots in their careers every day,” said Doas.

Now that our team is back in Pittsburgh, we’re gearing up to sponsor and judge the Carnegie Science Center’s upcoming Chain Reaction Contraption Contest, which challenges local high school students to put their STEM skills to use to build, engineer and operate a wacky contraption that will perform an everyday task. 

With so much to be thankful for in 2015, we can’t wait to see what 2016 may bring! Stay with us to see where our curriculum and creative options may STEM out to!

From our team to yours, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday!

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What better way to experience STEM education than by visiting an invention factory? At our creative design facility, Inventionland, the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics are put to use in new product development on a daily basis.

Today, a group of female Inventionland®ambassadors showed middle and high school girls from across the Pittsburgh region what a career in a STEM field might be like. As part of the Carnegie Science Center’s CanTEEN Career Explorations program, female students toured through the world’s largest invention factory, where they were able to see real-world inventing in action!

Our very own Inventionland® Education Director of Client Services Katie Doas was on hand to greet tour-goers and help to “inspire the creator within.”

Here’s a look at some of the fun from today’s CanTEEN Tour Your Future event at Inventionland:

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Take last weekend for instance, three members of our team couldn’t resist taking their families to Maker Faire Pittsburgh, a show and share event that was held at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh to showcase inventions and creativity.

Among the STEM-inspired experiences, there were drones, dinosaurs and robots circling, scientific solutions bubbling, electric cars cruising by and so much more.

Here’s a look at some of the fun our Inventionland® Education team and their families had at 2015’s Maker Faire Pittsburgh:

And, the Maker Faire isn’t the only STEM-education event that’s inspiring us lately, either. Tomorrow, our creative design facility, Inventionland, is hosting the Carnegie Science Center’s CanTEEN Career Explorations program for a Tour Your Future event.

Inventionland®tour ambassador Sarah Fahey said she is ready to show the middle and high school girls who attend that a career in a STEM field can be fun!

“I always liked math and science growing up, so it is nice to meet girls who are interested in those subjects. I think it is important for them to see the wide variety of career choices and Inventionland®is perfect for that! We have a lot of talented women working here and our group of ambassadors is only a small sample of that. It will be great to meet with this group of girls and learn more about their goals and interests! Hopefully we will show them that a career using math and technology doesn’t equal a boring job,” said Fahey.

Check our blog tomorrow for some photos of the CanTEEN tour in action!

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The STEMisphere? Yes, the STEMisphere.

It’s a unique program they’ve created that aims to highlight “exceptional STEM opportunities available in southwestern Pennsylvania.”

According to their website, the STEMisphere “is the central hub for the region’s STEM resources and acts as a directory for students, parents, educators and others who are interested in STEM education.”

And… one of the latest STEM opportunities to be added to the Carnegie Science Center’s STEMisphere? You guessed it… the Inventionland® Education!

Now, parents, students and educators have one more way to find out how they can incorporate the Inventionland® Education curriculum into their lives! You can check out the Inventionland® Education and learn more about the Carnegie Science Center’s STEMisphere here!

Speaking of schools that are promoting STEM education with the Inventionland® Education curriculum, we recently caught up with The Kiski School, who has been utilizing their new Innovation Lab to the fullest! In fact, students there have been so pumped up about their new capabilities that they’ve even been coming in on the weekends to work on their new product ideas!

STEM education is everywhere! This weekend, we’re celebrating STEM and the Maker Movement at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh for Maker Faire Pittsburgh – hope to see you there!

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But, frankly, we’re not the only ones out there that are excited about STEM education. In fact, this fall is packed full of technologically-advanced events that celebrate your favorite topics and ours… Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics!

This very weekend, the Carnegie Science Center is hosting Girls Rock Science, a two-day event designed to get girls excited about science, technology and all of the possibilities that a STEM career can hold! Free with admission to the Carnegie Science Center, the Girls Rock Science weekend is being held October 3-4.

Next weekend, children of all ages are invited to become makers at Maker Faire Pittsburgh! The October 10-11 fair is a show and share event where people can showcase inventions and creativity, all while celebrating the Maker Movement. Maker Faire Pittsburgh takes place at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.

On Thursday, October 15, CanTEEN Career Exploration’s Tour Your Future is taking over our creative makerspace, Inventionland! We’re giving area middle and high school girls the opportunity to explore our state-of-the-art facility  and learn about some diverse STEM careers by meeting and talking with some of the women on Inventionland’s design teams. Girls can sign up for this or any other CanTEEN Career Exploration’s Tour Your Future tour by calling 412.237.1637.

On November 3-4, Bethel Park High School near Pittsburgh is hosting the 2015 Three Rivers Educational Technology Conference (TRETC). Educators and entrepreneurs are encouraged to attend the two-day conference, which has been deemed the premier educational technology event in Western Pennsylvania!

Mid-November brings the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the NSTA Conference, Revolutionary Science! This year’s November 12-14 event attracts thousands of educators annually with hundreds of hands-on learning sessions, inspirational experts, plus tons of freebies and ideas to begin using in the classroom immediately. If you can’t make this year’s NSTA event, they’re holding a virtual conference, November 7th that will showcase the experiences that three different school districts have had in implementing STEM education into their curriculum.

Finally, we are excited to announce that Inventionland® Education Executive Director Nathan Field will be attending and presenting at the Society of Elementary Presidential Awardees’ (SEPA) Professional Weekend in Landsowne, Virginia, November 20-22. This year’s “Presidential Awardees Building Connections to the Future” theme will focus on STEM – a topic that we’re sure Field will enthusiastically promote!

As you can see, there is a lot of excitement about STEM education and now is the perfect time for you to join in the fun! Find out more about a STEM-inspired event listed above and get involved – this fall, help us “inspire the creator within!”

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