This class is to help students learn about iterative engineering design and 3-D printing as they design a robot for the NASA Lunabotics challenge 2022. According to NASA, the robot digs and moves lunar soil, called regolith, from an area of the lunar South Pole to a holding container near where Artemis astronauts may explore in the future.

Students will need to come up with their OWN design ideas. Workshops are students-driven, hands-on and highly interactive. We'll use Tinkercad for 3-D printing design. 

Workshop outlines (tentative):

Before the workshop: Students will learn about the NASA Lunabotics challenge, the moon, and register for the contest individually. 

Week 1  12/2 Project overview; brainstorming and iterating; intro to engineering/robotic design; 3-D printing basics 

week 2  12/9   Engineering/robotic design and 3-D printing (continued); prototyping

Week 3  12/16 Engineering/robotic design and 3-D printing (continued); hands-on work  

Week 4  1/6   Engineering/robotic design and 3-D printing (continued); hands-on work 

Week 5  1/13 Engineering/robotic design and 3-D printing (continued); hands-on work; sharing; receive feedback  

Week 6  1/20  Engineering/robotic design and 3-D printing (continued); sharing; receive feedback 

Optional: Students can register for a 1-time STEM writing workshop to learn about how to write up a report and receive critique. Writing workshop info will be updated soon. 

The deadline for submission to the NASA contest is 1/25/2022.  

We'll have a mechanical engineer, Elise; a computer engineer, Ray; and a robotic expert, Eva, to co-teach this class. We'll also have experts in Astronomy as guest speakers. 

Elise Engelhardt: 

Elise is a Mechanical Manufacturing Engineer. She has served as the president for the Silicon Valley Engineering Council, the largest umbrella organization of engineering societies in Silicon Valley. She has founded the MakersSJ, STEM volunteering and Techie Families meetup groups. 

Raymond Lee: 

Raymond is a senior software engineer and he has 20+ years of experience in the industry.  He developed a passion of teaching 3D Designs to children while working as an enrichment teacher at his son’s school and also at summer camps in the Bay Area. 

Eva Carrender: (bio to be added soon) 

• innovator's mindset 
• grit and growth mindset 
• engineering design 
• 3-D design
• 3-D printing 
• research skills 
• critical thinking 
• collaboration 
• informational writing skills 

4-10 kids/Elementary class (grades 1-5);  

4-10 kids/Secondary class (grades 6-9)