Former Engineering Academy Seniors Building Connections at Philly Materials Day

Last February, Drexel University freshman Engy Khoshit was a North Penn High School senior attending the annual Philly Materials Science & Engineering Day. Better known as Philly Materials Day, the event connects local K-12 students and community members with undergraduate and graduate students from the College of Engineering's Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Drexel Materials), the University of Pennsylvania and other partners for a day of workshops and hands-on demonstrations related to the field of materials science and engineering. Please click here to read more.
 

Students Present at the 8th Annual Philly Materials Day Event: Drexel University

North Penn High School Engineering Academy seniors Mason Ahner, Kurt Barclay, Connor Bryant, Aidan Daly, Bryce Furek, Stephen Hammond, Alex Hotchkiss, Tahsinul Huq, Matthew Knoebel, Ryan Munch, Jessica Niebuhr, Jared O'Neill, Istiaq Rahman, Braxton Sweeny-Higley, Jacob Tarlo, Daniel Trumpp, Zach Warner, and Ryan Winkworth presented their research and Materials Science hands-on demonstrations to visitors in the Bossone Research Center at Drexel University from 10am to 3pm at the 8th annual Philly Materials Day event!  Please click here to read more.
 

Biosyn: Synthetic Muscle Development and Testing

Team Biosyn is working on the design and development of advanced prosthetics. 

The first first experiment was to develop a polymer actuator based muscle.  Their first experiment proved that they could actuate their polymer with an applied voltage.  The next step is to make modifications to their first experiment, re-run it, and begin force testing!

Synbionic Inc.: Synthetic Nerve Development

Team Synbionic Inc, is looking to develop synthetic nerves to help individuals with sever cases of nerve damage and peripheral neuropathy.

The first step in their research is to experiment with electrically conductive nanofibers.  Based upon their research, they had decided to work with a the highest conductive polymer known as Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with Poly(styrene sulfonate) PEDOT:PSS.  This polymer has a conductivity of 1000S/cm!  Copper is ~596000S/cm.

Sunposite:DSSC Development

The goal of the Sunposite research team is to design and develop a solid state solar cell utilizing novel materials and processes.  The first step they took was to recreate a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) utilizing a previous EDD research team's experiment from the 2012-2013 school year: Solarganics.

Their experiment was run without any challenges and they were successful.  The team is now looking at working with varius process, including, core-sheath electrospinning TiO2 to determine if the it improves the efficiency of the cell.

PCM United: Phase Change Characterization of Ice

PCM United research team members: Kurt Barclay, Jessica Niebuhr, and Braxton Sweeney-Higley are looking at developing a new phase change material for temperature management in clothing and homes.

To begin, they wanted to become comfortable with characterizing phase change, so they started out with ice.  They plan to use what they learned from this experiment to help them when they characterize their microencapsulated phase change polymers.

3D Printed Core Sheath Apparatus

Synthetic Nerve Research and Development - Assistance from LCR Embedded Systems, Inc.
Students in the North Penn High School Engineering Academy course, Engineering Design and Development (EDD), have begun their research endeavors for the 2017-2018 school year.  

One of this year's research teams, SynBionic Inc., has begun researching and developing synthetic nerves to aid individuals who suffer from peripheral neuropathy and severe nerve damage.  Since nerves have a protective coating called myelin, the students are utilizing a process known as core-sheath electrospinning to aid their research endeavors. Read More...

Student Research Teams - 2017 - 2018

The Engineering Design and Development students have chosen their teams and their specific research endeavors!

Energy:

Multi-Source Energy Harvesting

Piezoelectric Energy

		Phase Change Polymers for Energy Management
		Solid State Photovoltaics

Healthcare:

Advanced Prosthetics

Synthetic Nerves

Education:

Virtual Reality In Education

Environment:

Self-Healing Materials

Photo and Electrochromic Materials

A Day of Innovation for High School Students

 

A Day of Innovation, facilitated by Steve Melick, Executive Director of the La Salle Center for Entrepreneurship, began with high school students and their teachers at the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (MCIU) in Norristown on Wednesday, October 11, 2017.

Students in the North Penn High School Engineering Academy, Kurt Barclay, Dan Trumpp, Alex Hotchkiss, and Aidan Daly, participated in the full day event with 35 other students from surrounding Montgomery County High Schools to learn about the innovation life cycle, participate in ideation and creation exercises, and to learn about ways to think critically about problems and opportunities in order to devise innovative solutions to complex, real-life problems. Read More...