The mysteries of the deep aren't always unsolvable. The students of Natick (Massachusetts) High School's robotics club and robotics courses took on a project that resulted in their locating and remotely exploring a barge that sank in Newfound Lake in New Hampshire, likely in the early 1900s. They did it by designing, building, and operating three…

Close to a decade ago, John Hersey High School (JHHS) in Arlington Heights, Illinois, made a transition from a traditional classroom-based pre-engineering program. The new program is geared towards helping students understand the entire manufacturing process. Previously, a JHHS student would design a project in computer-aided design (CAD) software…

Building hovercraft has proven very popular with the author's engineering students at Knightstown Community High School. The activity uses inexpensive, readily available materials: foam board, a pop-up water bottle cap, a balloon, and hot glue. In this article, the author describes the hovercraft project and how the project provides excellent…

Miami Central High School technology teacher Frank Houghtaling thinks the connection between theory and application is one reason his students perform better on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). The impressive turnaround school drew local and national attention last spring when one of Houghtaling's students, Dagoberto Cruz, won…

This article describes a reverse engineering activity that gives students hands-on, minds-on experience with measuring tools, machine parts, and CAD. The author developed this activity to give students an abundance of practical experience with measuring tools. Equally important, it provides a good interface between the virtual world of CAD 3D…

There is a battlefield where no quarter is given, no mercy shown, but not a single drop of blood is spilled. It is an arena that witnesses the bringing together of high-tech design and manufacture with the outpouring of brute force, under the remotely accessed command of some of today's brightest students. This is the world of battling robots, or…

By far, the tastiest technology learning activity that the author's students work on is the development of the design of a chocolate candy bar. This article describes how the author implemented the candy bar activity. The activity gives students an opportunity to design a product and to take it from concept through to production.

Three-dimensional computer-aided drafting (CAD) software, sometimes referred to as "solid modeling" software, is easy to learn, fun to use, and becoming the standard in industry. However, many users have difficulty creating complex geometry with the solid modeling software. And the problem is not entirely a student problem. Even some teachers and…

Nathan Hale-Ray High School in East Haddam, Connecticut, is a small four-year school with about 370 students. Conventional wisdom would indicate that not much could be done in the realm of technology education with the limited financial resources of its small rural community. This school has proven otherwise. Bruce Freeman is a hands-on guy who…

On a pleasant September day, 400 high school students and 40 teachers converged on the Careers in Technology, Engineering, and Manufacturing Day at the IGNITE manufacturing industry trade show, held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). These weren't students getting out of school for a day to go…

In this article, the author describes how students in Kirk Marshall's industrial technology class at Bloomsburg Area High School, Pennsylvania, designed and manufactured battling robots (BattleBots) and their participation in an annual national robotics competition. According to Marshall, designing and building a complex robot would be virtually…

Many educators believe that solid modeling software has made teaching two- and three-dimensional visualization skills obsolete. They claim that the visual tools built into the solid modeling software serve as a replacement for the CAD operator's personal visualization skills. They also claim that because solid modeling software can produce…

This article describes the Hill-Climb project of a second level Computer-Aided Drafting and Design (CADD) class. The author primarily designed the activity to increase student understanding of the assembly drawing process and its components. The emphasis on problem solving adds a dimension that can aid students in their other classes as well. By…

Provides information careers for drafting/computer-assisted drafting technicians, including salaries, responsibilities, employment outlook, working conditions, skills needed, and career advancement opportunities. Lists professional drafting organizations. (JOW)

This article describes several very useful applications of AutoCAD that may lie outside the normal scope of application. AutoCAD commands used in this article are based on AutoCAD 2000I. The author and his students used a Hewlett Packard 750C DesignJet plotter for plotting. (Contains 5 figures and 5 photos.)