On Saturday November 20th the QC Makerspace @ QC Library hosted QC Staff, Faculty, and one student (thanks, Kevin!) along with an associate from the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) for the kickoff event for ‘Make STEAM Q‘ – a project of Award # 1928565 issued by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The award was issued the semester prior to lockdown in 2020, and since then this is our first large, group gathering (interim group meetups were virtual and online).
Trevor Taylor from NYSCI (seen here) facilitated ‘design thinking‘ workshops to inspire awareness of “human centered design” to address issues of empathy, ideation, and prototyping in problem-solving or challenge-driven moments.
One of these challenges was for participants to construct a self-portrait using supplied LEGO parts, with only 10 minutes to go from concept to completion – with discussion afterwards for each participant to discuss their thought process, material limitations, etc.
Renne Castro (Computer Science) contemplates his LEGO avatar.
A workshop later in the day provided 30 minutes to challenge the participants to construct a balloon-powered vehicle with little more than supplied materials and whatever else they could find around the facility.
The initial group of Faculty Fellows associated with the project come from various disciplines across the arts & sciences at Queens College (typically ‘STEM,’ or, preferably ‘STEAM’-aligned studies) who either already are or will be folding in making & design thinking components into their curriculum.
We’ll be talking about these courses, these professors, and hopefully the students involved with our research questions and applications in the years to come. For now congrats to the core team for their initial launch event during these transitional times, and stay tuned for more Make STEAM Q at Queens College (and from our partners at NYSCI in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park)!
Standing (left to right): Nick Normal, Bradley Bergey, Allan Edmond, Larry Liebovitch, Nathalia Holtzman, Christopher Hanusa, Sabrina Avila, James Mellone, Corinna Singleman, Jose Sanchez, Al-karim Gangji, Kevin Hernandez
Kneeling (left to right): Renne Castro, William Blanford, Trevor Taylor, Matthew Greco, Danne Woo
(Classes currently associated with the project include: ARTS 282, ARTS 369, CSCI 100, DESN 214, DESN 265, DESN 270, ENSCI 112, MATH 128, MATH 250, PHYS 008, & PHYS 014)