#ILoveSTEM- Bringing Science to Life


#ILoveSTEM in AustinWhile we all know the fun and amazing innovations made possible by STEM, we also know many young people in the U.S. are avoiding it because they don’t understand the opportunities. You may have seen Emerson’s recently released survey where we learned that 42 percent of respondents would have considered a career in STEM fields had they better understood a potential career path, and one-third of respondents didn’t pursue a STEM career because it seemed too hard.  Additionally, women were significantly more likely than men to avoid a career in STEM because they were afraid they wouldn’t succeed.

We have been focused on promoting STEM education through our I Love STEM campaign since early 2015. Together with YouTube star Hank Green, we have been engaging young people to help them understand the power of STEM.

Most recently, we hosted an “I Love STEM” day at Emerson’s Austin Innovation Center for 130 children of Emerson employees, and I had the privilege of speaking to close the event.

What an outstanding day! The students enjoyed hands-on activities, tours and demos, including:

Girls in STEMMission to Mars – students competed in an engineering design challenge to build a space catapult that launched a rocket through different space obstacles on a mission to Mars. Students were given limited material, time and budget to design the most cost effective and efficient catapult. Students traveled through solar wind, craters and launched out of Earth’s atmosphere to reach Mars and then return back to Earth.

STEM in Action

Cookie Factory - kids manufactured cookies on a DeltaV automated assembly line where they heated the oven by creating friction through rubbing the temperature transmitters. A fire alarm sounded if the oven was heated above the safety limit and a fire extinguisher popped up on their display. The kids explored other technologies to control the speed and quality of their cookie making process.

LED Ornaments - students got to learn about electricity and the basics of circuitry by making LED ornaments. They assembled their own circuits to power the lights of the ornament and decorated the ornaments.

Future EngineersThe energy of the day was tremendous and I was so impressed with the students’ enthusiasm and excitement. This educational event exposed these students to not just the theory of STEM, but the tangible coolness and fun made possible by science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Our hope is that one day we have the brilliant minds that will be our future shouting “I Love STEM” and joining us to produce the next generation of awesome innovations.

I want to encourage any business to host their own version of “Bring My Future Engineer to Work Day”. The event allowed our employees to see science come to life through their children’s eyes while giving their kids the opportunity to experience what their parents do every day.