LFM Students Volunteer at MIT Museum During National Engineering Week
By Michelle Bernson, LFM '04
March 18, 2004
On Feb 20th, 2004, a team of three LFM students led two workshops at the MIT Museum, during National Engineering Week.
Kim Murdoch, LFM '04
The students, LFM '04s Michelle Bernson and Kim Murdoch, plus LFM '05 Lane Ballard, taught approximately 50 children about the forces that make airplanes fly. Kids between the ages of five and twelve performed a variety of experiments related to the forces of flight, including drag, lift, weight, and thrust. Using simple demonstrations with balloons, straws, and paper students were able to examine each of these forces for themselves.
At the end of the interactive portion of the workshops, attendees tested out their newly- acquired engineering skills by building their own paper airplanes and performing test flights. Every child who completed an airplane was awarded a certificate.
Each of the LFM volunteers worked in airplane manufacturing prior to joining LFM, Murdoch in engine design for Pratt and Whitney and Ballard and Bernson at Boeing.
Dr. Beryl Rosenthal, Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs, who helped coordinate this year's volunteer activities, noted "having LFM volunteers who were engineers with airplane manufacturing backgrounds made the experience very engaging. It also demonstrated successful grassroots partnering between a major research institution and industry giants around the critical issue of public understanding of research."