Scientists, engineers in training
Christina Foster, a biomedical engineer and doctoral student in engineering education at ASU, consults with Brenden Lewis (center) and Jorge Delgadillo (right) in the “Bioengineering: Designing an Artificial Heart” class. “What most impresses me is how complex the heart is, yet how easily it functions on a daily basis,” says Jorge.
Tara Crawford, a doctoral biology student in ASU’s School of Life Sciences, demonstrates principles to Kyrene del Pueblo students in “Energy Meets Biology.” She co-taught the class with Jesse Senko, also from the School of Life Sciences, and Kyrene teacher Terry Lastovicka.
Erika Barber (left) and Daishonae Harrington test their model cars powered with hydrogen fuel cells. In “Water Meets Energy,” Kyrene teacher Jeff Garrett taught students how to use distilled water and electrolysis to break water down into hydrogen and oxygen.
Smita Gopalakrishnan (left), Anita Mallik and Amanda Xu (right) construct a model of an artificial heart. The class was taught by Kyrene teacher Myriah Monson and Christina Foster, a biomedical engineer and doctoral student in engineering education at ASU.
In “Energy Meets Biology,” students demonstrated their designs for nets that catch fish but not other sea creatures such as turtles and dolphins. Terry Lastovicka, a research scientist who is teaching math and science at Kyrene del Pueblo, says, “They are very enthusiastic. We’ve given them the opportunity to let their imaginations fly, and they have come up with a lot of fascinating ideas.”
Amanda Coote explains the cellular structure and characteristics of “Wellzer,” an alien life form she designed during the “Life 101: What Makes an Alien?” class. Students in the class explored DNA-based heredity, cellular replication, bacteria, diseases and the immune system in order to imagine alien life forms which could exist under conditions very different from earth.
Doctoral biology student Jesse Senko (right) discusses fishing net design with Cole Busby (left) and Alex Manning (center). “We were blown away by their designs,” says Senko. “We’ve learned the power of their creativity. As the lessons progressed, seeing the ideas they came up with and their inquisitive nature has been inspiring.”
In a glimpse into future science, students powered model cars with hydrogen fuel cells during the closing event.
Justin Maldonado (left), Jacob Barnes (center) and Johnny Gray (right) demonstrate their water purification process which they learned in “Water Works: The Study of Chemical and Environmental Engineering” taught by Kyrene teacher Tara Dale and SFAz Graduate Research Fellows Denzil Frost and Bridget Cavanagh.