RKYHS STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) students participated in the fourth annual Young Engineers Conference held in Lawrence, NY on May 19, which was organized and sponsored by the Center for Initiatives in Jewish Education (CIJE).

Eleven RKYHS teams presented their “capstone” projects to hundreds of attendees from more than two dozen local Jewish day schools. The capstone projects represent the students’ year-long focus on solving a real-world problem: developing a conceptual solution, from which they designed, created and built a working device-based solution.

Throughout the school year, RKYHS STEM students learned a number of substantive scientific concepts, largely through intensive hands-on work. They grasped how to learn on their own, how to gain expertise in a subject, define a goal, make progress toward that goal and turn a concept/design into reality. Along the way, the students learned a lot of science, mathematics and certain engineering skills, as well as gateway skills in electronics, circuitry, programming and data analysis.

Conference keynote speaker, Shelley Goldman, an AT&T senior researcher with more than 100 technology patents to her name, emphasized the present demand for STEM-trained students, which is growing exponentially. She was impressed with the students’ creativity and designs, using one of the RKYHS biomedical engineering team projects as a prime example of moving in the right direction.

The RKYHS STEM program presently includes scientific engineering, genetic engineering and biomedical engineering courses for students in grades 10, 11 and 12.

By Dr. Steve Stein