Project SYNCERE
In November of 2010, eight students from Perspectives Calumet Middle School took a field trip to the College of Engineering at University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC). The students are all participants in an after school program called Project SYNCERE, focusing on teaching science and math to minority students by engaging them in project based learning. This year students will be competing in a citywide competition to build robots, which will be able to complete various complex tasks.
At UIC students met with various faculty members, including bioengineers, electrical engineers and the Associate Director of Minority Affairs, Gerald Smith. These faculty members showed students the different projects they are currently researching as well as how the students’ work at their school is a building block for future success in Engineering. After the professors had showed their work, the students were able to turn the tables on the professors and demonstrated their own research in the fields of Robotics and Nanotechnology.
Following lunch, students were given a tour of campus by current students and were taken to the Richard J. Daley Library, the Recreation Center and many of the other academic buildings on campus. Students asked many questions about what college would be like for them in only a few years. Many of the students expressed the desire to return to UIC looking forward to learning about the exciting opportunities in science and technology so close to their school.
Stay tuned for more from Project SYNCERE.