STEM Education Works Micro-Kart Kits bring innovation to engineering boot camps at Purdue
Purdue University’s Indiana Next Generation Manufacturing Competitiveness Center and Minority Engineering Program have teamed up to develop virtual engineering boot camps for high school seniors and first-year engineering students.
The 2020 boot camps, which ran from June 14 to July 17, focused on a design project with miniature electric go-karts that students developed using STEM Education Works’ Micro-Kart Kits.
The camps featured instruction from former Purdue Polytechnic professor Scott Bartholomew and offered students an introduction to college engineering. They focused on teaching engineering fundamentals — while also adding a friendly competition to test student designs.
“This design project is a good way for students to have the experience of building a test go-kart and not only failing but overcoming those challenges,” Bartholomew said in an Inside Indiana Business article.
In the article, Bartholomew said the project also helps students identify the area they are most interested in — whether that be design, coding, or building — to determine a specialization for future career paths.
STEM Education Works is currently developing more Micro-Kart Kits for Greater Lafayette Commerce’s Manufacturing Month program in October. The company is also collaborating with IN-MaC to bring the curriculum for these kits to life on its Skyepack delivery platform. For more information about STEM Education Works’ technology offerings, click here.
