This past Monday marked the end of a very successful year of Scientific Engineering, MTA’s cutting edge engineering elective, led by the science department chair, Mrs. HLZacks. Over the past few months, the engineering class had, in groups of three to four students, been building devices of their own design—ranging from 3D printers, to drones to automated home inventory systems.

Monday morning was dominated by a constant buzz of activity in the lab and the library, as students rushed to make sure their projects were in working order, put finishing touches on their poster boards and set up their presentations downstairs. After preparing their projects for display in the library, engineering students heard from a guest speaker on the topic of autonomous underwater drones, and had the opportunity to participate in a 3D modeling workshop using the school’s own 3D printer.

Throughout the day, students and faculty came in to see the projects unveiled in the library, which included a small-scale version of a “Mag-Lev” train, an automated coffee maker, a graphic equalizer and a robot, among many others. In the evening, parents were invited to the symposium to see the projects to which their sons had dedicated so much of their time over the past year.

Parents, faculty and students were amazed by the magnitude of many of the projects, and how much the engineering class had accomplished over the course of just a few months.

The course gave students valuable experience in engineering that they could not have gained in a typical classroom setting.

By Yair Gross