The district’s preengineering students traveled to a laboratory at the Anderson Research Group at Harvard University to test equipment they’ll be sending aloft on a NASA weather balloon in spring 2023. As one of the winning teams selected as part of the Future Engineers/NASA TechRise Student Challenge, they’ll be able to develop and analyze results from an experiment of their own design.
Their experiment, “Atmospheric Measurement of Noxious Gasses Using Sensors (‘A.M.O.N.G.U.S.’)” is designed to supplement research concerning the effect of greenhouse gases on climate change. The students created an instrumentation package that includes various sensors to measure ozone, volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide and particulates in the atmosphere. They also plan to record video and photographs during flight.
The laboratory visit allowed the students to expose their equipment to conditions expected at 70,000 feet using Harvard’s large environmental test chamber. With the guidance of Harvard engineers, the students confirmed the viability of their experiment, collected data for instrument calibration and will now begin final preparations in anticipation of the 2023 launch.
Through the Future Engineers/NASA TechRise Student Challenge, the preengineering students gained real-world STEM experience in an initiative designed to attract, engage and prepare future science, engineering and mathematics students. This is the inaugural year of the challenge, which attracted over 600 entries from across the United States. Sewanhaka was one of only 57 teams selected.
The preengineering course is part of the district’s Career and Technical Education program and is under the direction of Sewanhaka teacher Jack Chen. Twenty-two districtwide students, who are enrolled in the 11th grade preengineering class, are working on the NASA TechRise Challenge project.
