AFLCMC partners with Kettering, Ohio schools for STEAM event

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline, Air Force Life Cycle Management Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFLCMC) – The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Rapid Sustainment Office partnered with the University of Dayton Research Institute to host a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) event for a local Kettering school at RSO's office in Beavercreek, Ohio on May 1, 2023. 

This event marked the second iteration of this event. It took about a year to refine the process and roll it out for students.

Students working on science projects. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline).

2023 RSO STEAM Day

A student demonstrates his group’s wind turbine design while competing with another group during a STEAM event at the Rapid Sustainment Office in Beavercreek, Ohio, May 1, 2023. The 75 third-grade students, with assistance from engineers, were tasked with building a wind turbine and testing them. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline)
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Students doing science projects. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline)

2023 RSO STEAM Day

Leah Frost, University of Dayton Research Institute additive manufacturing design engineer, reviews a student’s wind turbine model and provides feedback during a STEAM event at the Rapid Sustainment Office in Beavercreek, Ohio, May 1, 2023. This event was designed to help get young students interested in STEAM related career fields. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline)
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Students working on science projects. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline)

2023 RSO STEAM Day

Third-grade students plan and design their wind turbine during a STEAM event at the Rapid Sustainment Office in Beavercreek, Ohio, May 1, 2023. This event was designed to help get young students interested in STEAM related career fields. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline)
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Students working on science projects. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline)

2023 RSO STEAM Day

Third-grade students work with a University of Dayton Research Institute member in order to build a wind turbine during a STEAM event at the Rapid Sustainment Office in Beavercreek, Ohio, May 1, 2023. This event marked the second iteration of this STEAM event. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline)
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Teacher talking to students at science day event. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline)

2023 RSO STEAM Day

Brian Stitt, University of Dayton Research Institute Sustainment Technologies division head, provides third-grade students with an overview before they break away to build wind turbines during a STEAM event at the Rapid Sustainment Office in Beavercreek, Ohio, May 1, 2023. The 75 third-grade students, with assistance from engineers, were tasked with building a wind turbine and testing them. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline)
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“The biggest reason for doing these events is for the students to be able to have real-world experiences with real engineers,” said Bern Schwieterman, Kettering City School District STEAM integration coach. “We need more people in the STEAM field and this is a way of getting the students interested in it and thinking about it as something to do when they get older.”

Bern added that this is a great way for students to understand the different standards engineers are responsible for.

“They are responsible for science standards, and we integrate social and emotional learning standards so the children learn how to communicate, cooperate and collaborate with each other to reach a consensus,” he said.

Seventy-five students broke down into smaller teams and took on the challenge of testing and building wind turbines. The engineers provided guidance, advice and chose the strongest designs among all the teams. The teams with the strongest designs will compete against each other in the MacGyver Design Challenge. The challenge is from the Ohio Energy Project. 

“[Ohio Energy] supplied all the supplies for this event,” explained Schweiterman. “Now the engineers are going to go into the schools and they’re going to be designing the blades. They’ll then be 3-D printed at the UDRI with the goal of measuring the amount of wind energy that is able to transform into electrical energy.”

This event was designed to help students get interested in the process and help prepare them for the competition.

“We’ll take each of the class and make six total teams. Then later we’ll have them go through their design process with us,” said Brian Stitt, UDRI
Sustainment Technologies division head. “Then we’ll convert the designs digitally and print them. Then we’ll test the student’s designs.”

Stitt hopes the students take away two valuable lessons from this STEAM event.

“I hope that they learn that it’s okay to not get something right the first time you try, but you do need to keep trying,” he said. “Most importantly I want the kids to be able to collaborate because if you know what industry you want to go into, collaboration is going to be key.”

For third-grader Cassie, building the windmill was her favorite part of the event. Her particular area of interest is math.

“I really enjoyed this event, and it helped me learn how to engineer a windmill,” Cassie explained. “I would love to come back and do this again.”