Archive for the ‘Innovation’ Category

Girls explore Non-traditional careers at Sierra College

Friday, October 17th, 2014

On Oct. 17, 2014 nearly 100 girls visited Sierra College, were inspired by entrepreneurial women in tech fields, made hands-on projects in labs and met for round table discussions with mentors from local companies.

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Should Art be added to STEM?

Wednesday, June 25th, 2014

A new White Paper, Exploring STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics, written by Elizabeth Dayton for the Sierra College STEM Collaborative, considers adding art to STEM.  

According to Dayton, “The value of including art and innovation as part of our national effort to encourage careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is multifaceted.” The paper explores the evidence in support of adding arts and innovation to our national effort to encourage STEM education and careers.

Read this paper to learn about the evidence that indicates adding art to STEM can better prepare students to meet industry’s needs for creativity, imagination and innovation: Exploring STEAM Science Technology Engineering Arts & Math E Dayton Sierra College STEM.


College Math & Welding Faculty Create Curriculumn

Friday, May 23rd, 2014

Sierra College faculty members worked together to infuse math activities and worksheets into welding classes. The project was originally funded by NSF. As a result students math scores were higher in the welding class with infused math than in the control group.

Watch the 30 minute webinar - Ignite CTE Students’ Math Skills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kryZRdulhGE

IGNITE flyer

IGNITE Math in Welding Materials

Press Release on Ignite math in welding project


Sacramento Hacker Lab Hosts Sac Hackapalooza June 14 & 15

Monday, May 19th, 2014

Sac Hackapalooza, a youth hackathon will be held at Hacker Lab in Sacramento on June 14 & 15, 2014.  This weekend long hackathon and makeathon is limited to 100 young people, ages 12 to 18 years old.

The event is being offered in partnership with Girls Who Code, a national non-profit working to close the gender gap in the technology and engineering sectors.

Hacker Lab’s goal is “inspiring a generation of youth who are excited about coding brings limitless innovation to our economy, creates better thinkers, and allows development of entities that will improve the human condition.”

Sierra College CACT is a Hacker Lab partner and contributed a 3D printer and soldering equipment.


CMTA Champions of Manufacturing Summit

Monday, May 19th, 2014

The California Manufacturers and Technology Association will host a live webcast on June 18, 2014.

CMTA Champions of Manufacturing Summit

Hosted by Adam Carolla, hear about the growth in California manufacturing. These firms have been selected as Champions of Manufacturing:

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
California Steel Industries
Fathom
California Custom Fruits and Flavors
Vista Metals
Parallax
Keystone Engineering Company

Forward this postcard to your friends.


Colfax Grad Builds Bikes

Monday, May 19th, 2014

What happens to high school students who have been in classes taught by instructors who have benefited from the Sierra College STEM Collaborative?

In this movie, posted by Colfax math and engineering teacher, Jono Schwartz, hear about a Colfax High School graduate, now a student at Cal Poly, who built his own bike frame as a member of the university frame builders club and plans to work this summer at an internship with Harris & Bruno, in Roseville.

Video link


Carol’s Maker Faire Highlights

Monday, May 19th, 2014

These are some of the interesting things Carol Pepper-Kittredge recalls seeing at this year’s Maker Faire held May 17-18 in the San Francisco Bay Area.

FeetZ – www.feetz.co or facebook.com/Feetzshoes – 3D printed shoes based on a self-scan of your feet. The shoes were made on a maker-bot style printer and used a soft urethane that, depending on the printing density, could be stiff (for the sole) and flexible (for the upper).  This is the first soft material that I’ve seen run in a personal (non-commercial) style printer.  Lucy Beard (CEO) had worn her shoes for 3 months and they looked good.

Visualizer – https://getvisualizer.com/  A software that translates images from your phone to Sketch Up.

Camera Sculptura – http://www.camerasculptura.com/  A multi-camera booth and photo translation software to make 3D images of the human body.

Curious Customs – http://curiouscustoms.com/ Laser cut lanterns and night lights.  These reminded me of a previous Maker Fair where Adobe had a photo booth and used images to make similar lanterns out of cardboard.  These products were flying off the shelf.

Taktia – http://taktia.com/  A software and CNC-enhanced router system to make very precise but human-controlled fabricated parts. This product is incredible – I want one now.

Avava Systems – http://avava.magnuslabs.com/  modular, zero waste building system.

3D Robotics – http://3drobotics.com/  Lots and lots of drones this year. This was one of the companies there.

Q Fusion – http://survey.qfusionlabs.com/qfusion/index.php  A start up, they are developing a competitive alternative to the Arduino that has a GUI interface and appeals to those who don’t want to learn programming language.

Sound Cloud – https://soundcloud.com/  Share your music with the world.

Trash Amps – http://www.trashamps.com/Default.asp  For those interested is sustainability. Sold in kits and completed units.

Part Fusion – http://partfusion.com/  There were so many more wearable electronics this year, and some were really interesting.  I saw an LED vest that was programmed with moving images, clothes with ‘cool LED’ sewn in, etc.

3-DIY – http://3-diy.com/  Another new trend, DIY 3D via your phone, etc.  Another start-up, Poppy (poppy3d.com) is pretty cool – works with an iPhone – I’m going to order a couple.

Bootstrap Solar – http://www.bootstrapsolar.com/  Low cost solar charger system (for back country use).

Be3DPrinters – http://be3dprinters.com/us/  A competitor to MakerBot, etc. this is a sleek looking model running PLA.  The price point was much lower than the MakerBot.

MCU Gear – http://mcugear.com/en/  A modular microcontroller system – no wiring.  The inventor (all the way from Tokyo) has stacked up to 100 boards in one configuration. All are Bluetooth enabled.

Emmett Lalish – who works for Microsoft – http://www.thingiverse.com/emmett/overview  We were chatting with this guy as he was showing us his amazing 3D printed designs made on a PLA printer (available on Thingiverse) when some students showed up and said “are you Emmett?”   When he answered yes – they let out a loud shout, so I had to ask “Are you famous?” to which his colleague nodded yes.  Check out his design products – unbelievable and fully available.  The Blossoming Lamp is printed in one piece, and yet it is fully articulated.  The other toys are printed in pieces and snap together.

 


Today is Inventor’s Day

Tuesday, February 11th, 2014

What are you doing to celebrate Inventor’s Day today?

  • Recall great inventors from the past – Wright Brothers or Edison?
  • Use a 3D printer provided by Sierra College STEM at Placer, Colfax, Del Oro or Oakmont High Schools?
  • Head over to Sacramento Hacker Lab?

Find out what Quirky is saying:

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFNaGR3-7Fs

Blog Posts

http://www.quirky.com/blog/post/2014/02/in-honor-of-national-inventors-day/

https://medium.com/p/865c516e8409


Sierra College Student Clubs invited to Hacker Lab

Wednesday, January 29th, 2014

Sierra College x HL School Flyer V2Sierra College is partnering with Sacramento Hacker Lab to encourage innovation in the greater Sacramento region. Learn more at Sierra College CACT & Hacker Lab Partnership & 3D Printer Spur Innovation.

Student clubs can arrange special discounts to join Hacker Lab.

Sierra College Center for Applied Competitive Technology (CACT) also supplied a 3D printer and soldering equipment to Hacker Lab so members are able to use this equipment to develop new products.


Sacramento Hacker Lab hosts Cereal Hack Feb 8

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

Sacramento Hacker Lab will host a 32 hour competition on Feb 8 — Cereal Hack. The on-site 3D printer provided by Sierra College CACT will be available to teams to use during Cereal Hack.

Hacker Lab explains how it works: You can “come alone or with a team to get together and build out an idea. If you are looking for people to join your team you can give a 60 second pitch to attract team members. Networking will also be done to meet, mingle, and build teams. Once teams are established, they will begin planning and building out their project. At the end of the hackathon, the projects and teams will be presented and judged in a competition-like setting for prizes.”