Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—February 6, 2016— Eleven NPHS engineering academy seniors in the Engineering Design and Development class, Thomas Gerhart, Bailey Harp, Jon Hollenbach, Brian Lawn, Nate McWilliams, Abdullah Nahean, Tommy Novia, Mash Pramanik, Grant Pietrzykoski, Nick Seiberlich and Mark Wallace presented at the 6^th annual Philly Materials Day event held at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The students presented their research and the STEM principles (science, technology, engineering and math) behind their work for over six hours from 10am to 4pm.  North Penn was the only high school presenting alongside students from Drexel University, The University of Pennsylvania and many local businesses.  During their presentation, visitors of all ages viewed their demonstrations, asked questions and opened a dialog about their work.  Ideas were exchanged with many visitors which spawned further ideas for their research.

The North Penn High School student’s research endeavors, which focus upon several themes: water filtration, thermoelectric energy harvesting, thermal management utilizing core-sheath phase change nanofibers, medicinal encapsulation for advanced wound healing processes, noise cancellation, piezoelectric energy generation and concussion prevention have been made possible this year by generous grants from the North Penn Educational Foundation.

Many of the students were both excited and nervous about presenting their work, especially to seasoned engineers and professors, but said they quickly became comfortable and couldn’t believe how fast the six hours went.  This experience will help them to prepare for their final research presentation scheduled for June 1, 2016 at 7pm at North Penn High School.

“Philly Materials Day raises public awareness of the importance of materials science and engineering. Nearly everything in the world around us is made of something—stuff.  Materials science and engineering is the study of that stuff—materials—and how we use the stuff to create useful things for everyday life. The event allows people of all ages a chance to explore some of the stuff the world is made of and to learn about how materials impact us every day.  This all-day free event on the first Saturday in February brings together Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania along with the Franklin Institute, Academy of Natural Sciences, and other partners to present fun and engaging materials science and engineering demos to people of all ages.”
[http://drexel.edu/engineering/news/archive/2014/December/FifthAnnualPhillyMaterialsDay/] [http://www.drexel.edu/materials/academics/programs/philly/]

The Future is N.E.A.R. (Nanotechnology Education and Research) program parallels the senior capstone course, Engineering Design and Development (EDD), of the North Penn High School Engineering Academy.  The program offers its students an opportunity to gain 21st century skills that will prepare them to become successful leaders in a technological global society.  The program introduces the fundamentals of nanotechnology, engineering research and a rigorous application of their knowledge and skills to high school students while cultivating their interest in engineering, problem solving and life-long learning.  Students seek opportunities to research & develop solutions to global issues by capitalizing from fundamentals of nanotechnology and engineering research utilizing the latest published research available.

If you are interested in learning more about their research, the Engineering Academy or the Technology and Engineering Education Department, please visit their websites: www.northpennengineering.org or www.thefutureisnear.org.

(From L to R) Mash Pramanik, Tommy Novia, Jon Hollenbach, Nick Seiberlich, Grant Pietrzykoski, Abdullah Nahean, Nate McWilliams, Bailey Harp, Thomas Gerhart, Mark Wallace and Brian Lawn  

Students present at Philly Materials Day Saturday 2/6/16! Jon Hollenback explaining phase change polymer with visitors. Brian Lawn and Tom Gerhart demonstrating medicinal encapsulation. Tom Gerhart discussing core-sheath nanofibers. Tommy Novia and Mash Pramanik discussing water filtration. Grant Pietrzykoski discussing noise cancellation with a visitor. Nate McWilliams discussing the thermoelectric demonstration. A "birds'-eye" view of the students presenting... Mark Wallace and Mash Pramanik presenting. Thank you to all of the grant funding organizations!