Techtronics

The last Saturday at Duke for the 2006-2007 school year was held on Saturday, April 21. It was a tremendous success. Techtronics II students finished building and tested their hydrogen powered rockets. Techtronics students from both sections had the opportunity to explore the Duke University campus as part of a scavenger hunt. At the end, parents had the opportunity to see the rockets fly and see what their students had been working on over the past six weeks.

In addition to the scavenger hunt, Techtronics I students observed Chemistry demonstrations that introduced new concepts such as chemical reactions and that put to use principles they had learned in past units. Finally, the students presented the various projects they completed as part of the final biomedical and electrical engineering unit. Projects included a virus simulation and a hand-washing experiment, building and upgrading computers that will be donated to families without computers, and building an electrocardiogram amplifier circuit that allowed the students to see what different heart beats looked like on an oscilloscope.

Click here to view photos from the event.

Thank you for a fantastic year. For those of you in Techtronics I, we hope to see you next year as a part of Techtronics II. For those of you in Techtronics II, good luck in 8th grade and hopefully we’ll see you around the hallways at Rogers Herr next year.

We are currently recruiting Pratt School of Engineering undergraduate students to be Fellows for the 2007-2008 academic year. If you are interested in applying to be a Techtronics Fellow, please e-mail Martha Absher, Assistant Dean for Education and Outreach Programs for the Pratt School of Engineering, and ask for an application. Applications are due April 25, 2007. If you have questions about the program, please contact Lisa Burton at lisa.burton@duke.edu.

This past weekend, Techtronics students had the opportunity to explore current research at the Pratt School of Engineering during our Saturday at Duke program. In addition, Techtronics II students tested how well their Lego robots navigated a maze. During the open house at the end of the day, parents had the opportunity to see these and other projects from the most recent Techtronics unit. Thanks to everybody who was able to attend.

Click on the Schedule page to see the latest Spring 2007 for Techtronics.

Hey there! Techtronics is moving to a new website style. As part of the change we are bringing across many of the old parts that made the previous Techtronics website a likable, easy-to-use resource, while adding elements that enhance its functionality. Feel free to look around. The website is a work in progress, but will soon be a handy resource for everything Techtronics.