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David Burghardt writes, "My quest to improve technological literacy in K-16 education has been the unifying theme of my work for more than a decade. This quest shapes the research I perform, the texts I write, the courses I create, the departments I chair, and of course, my teaching. I have had the good fortune to direct several multi-million dollar grants from the National Science Foundation over the past twelve years. Of the 11 books I have written, the two most recent focus on engineering and design. I have created courses on Children's Engineering, ELED 239, and the Impact of Technology on Society, TPP 201. I created and co-direct the Center for Technological Literacy, chair the Engineering Department, and am working with my students to create active teaching/learning classrooms. "

Perhaps this lesson cold be tweaked to include fabricated models and a fictitious map. Engineers design systems that require precise and known locations, and often use triangulation calculations to do this. Engineers use triangulation with ground data to determine where in space a satellite is located. Accurately determining a satellite's location is important to adjusting its position to keep it on course. Triangulation technology is also used to inform a robot of its current and target locations. Triangulation helps in spatial modeling to determine the area covered by cell phone transmitters, roadway noise zones, voltage maps and river high-water marks.

Engineers design systems that require precise and known locations, and often use triangulation calculations to do this. Engineers use triangulation with ground data to determine where in space a satellite is located. Accurately determining a satellite's location is important to adjusting its position to keep it on course. Triangulation technology is also used to inform a robot of its current and target locations. Triangulation helps in spatial modeling to determine the area covered by cell phone transmitters, roadway noise zones, voltage maps and river high-water marks.

MachineShop is a software tool designed to help middle school children design and construct the mechanisms used in automata and mechanical toys. While Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems are common for adult engineers and designers, the landscape of these tools for children is barren.

MachineShop is a software tool designed to help middle school children design and construct the mechanisms used in automata and mechanical toys. While Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems are common for adult engineers and designers, the landscape of these tools for children is barren.

Project Lead The Way (PLTW) prepares students to be the most innovative and productive leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and to make meaningful, pioneering contributions to our world. PLTW partners with middle schools and high schools to provide a rigorous, relevant STEM education. Through an engaging, hands-on curriculum, PLTW encourages the development of problem-solving skills, critical thinking, creative and innovative reasoning, and a love of learning.

Project Lead The Way (PLTW) prepares students to be the most innovative and productive leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and to make meaningful, pioneering contributions to our world. PLTW partners with middle schools and high schools to provide a rigorous, relevant STEM education. Through an engaging, hands-on curriculum, PLTW encourages the development of problem-solving skills, critical thinking, creative and innovative reasoning, and a love of learning.

Informed Design follows the traditional design process, but uses guided research and investigation to build student knowledge and skills required for the design. These Knowledge and Skill Builders (KSBs) are the heart of the Informed Design process. They assist students in learning key concepts in mathematics, science and engineering/technology that are related to the design challenge.

Hod Lipson is a professor of engineering at Cornell who has established an open source fabrication initiaitve, Fab @ Home.

Bruce Wayne had to sweet-talk Morgan Freeman into girding his Bat-loins with heavy Bat-artillery, but Tony Stark, an engineering virtuoso himself, cajoled not a soul. In a case of life imitating art, the production team behind Stark's iconic body armor Iron Man 2 relied on neither CGI nor gadget-minded elder statesmen, but a bleeding-edge prototyping technology commonly known as 3D printing.

"Greene says that we have paralyzed our children with the fear of being wrong. Risk-taking and making mistakes are critical to the scientific process. This fear of being wrong has resulted in disengagement from science and mathematics: learning science and math is a drag!"

UVA's MacArthur submission...

UVA's MacArthur submission...