From 3-D printers to cement canoes, Saturday’s STEM Showcase in Moser Hall featured over 50 student-conducted science projects — drawing a large crowd of current and prospective students, parents and faculty to Youngstown State University.
This year’s showcase acted not only as a platform for students to display their schoolwork but also as an opportunity to introduce the community to the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
“STEM Showcase is all about giving the students an opportunity to show off the types of things that they’ve been doing over the course of the academic year,” Martin Abraham, dean of the STEM college, said. “We try to really promote it with the public and show the type of excitement we have going on in STEM.”
Daniel Suchora, an instructor in the mechanical and industrial engineering department, coordinated the showcase and also positively commented on the event. He said his students enjoy the opportunity to brandish their work.
“It’s good for the students. …They want to show off what they’ve done. They want to show it to everybody. They talk to people about it, but they want to show it to them. So, [the showcase] is a good venue for them,” he said. “The things [students] can do are really neat.”
As part of the showcase, an off-road, winged car sat outside Moser Hall on Saturday. Students James Stiger, Brandon Spithaler and Anthony Davis helped design the vehicle’s mounting system.
“In order to graduate, you need to do a senior capstone design project, and this is what we did,” Spithaler said.
Davis added that public events like the showcase garner positive attention for the university.
“It’s nice to let the community know what we’re doing so that there can be added interest among the younger generations to help out the STEM college,” Davis said.
Next to the off-road vehicle was a cement canoe built by students competing in a nationwide engineering competition. Taylor Simcox contributed to this project.
“We placed third overall at the regional conference — which is very nice,” Simcox said. “I really like the STEM Showcase because I really like being able to get the canoe out there for people who can’t come to the competitions.”
Abraham commended students for their work and concluded that this year’s showcase was a success for the STEM college.
“From what I’ve seen and the things that I’ve looked at, it’s another amazing year. These kids do wonderful things. It’s really phenomenal when you see the things they’ve achieved and what they’ve done,” Abraham said. “It’s a great opportunity. I love it. … I just think it’s phenomenal.”
