School’s Out! Every kid’s two favorite words now sound daunting as COVID-19 spreads across the country, forcing most schools and daycare facilities to close. For parents, this is distressing, as they handle working from home while tackling digital learning and homeschooling. To help, Maroon Weekly and the SEAD Academy team put their heads together to gather useful resources for parents to quickly and easily manage the task so that children can continue their education effectively.
To view the full SEAD Academy article on Maroon Weekly, click here:
The end of the summer is drawing near which means SEAD Academy is coming to a close as well. Over two weeks, the SEAD Gallery was filled with the sound of young voices and laughter as students observed the art on the walls, worked in teams, and enjoyed a multitude of snack breaks along the way. The distinct energy these students brought allowed anything and everything to become fun- a skill I believe the world often forgets.
Thanks to our incredible leaders who taught each camp, foam board became Smart Homes worthy of a king and metal rods became DSTR Rovers that would some day make it to the moon. As we come to a close and look forward to next summer, I hope we all can to sit back and look at the future through the eyes of a child- with wonder and creativity.
Thank you to all of our sponsors who made this time possible!
Through out our DSTR Rover SEAD Academy, each team had a student who served the role of publicist. Our publicists learned the skills of communication and marketing to equip their team with an array of media that will be used to document the camp. Thanks to their hard work, each student who served as the publicist became a liaison between the public and fellow engineers.
Team Something Simple
On Monday, Diego was learning how to code, Nathan and Travion were shaping parts of the robot. On Tuesday I was making the twitter page, Nathan was making the electrical parts, Travion was working with the body of the robot, and Diego was coding the board of our robot. On Wednesday I was working on the slide, Travion was building the body of our robot, Nathan was putting together the motors, and Diego was coding. On Thursday, I was finishing my slide and making this blog, Travion and Nathan were finishing on the robot, and Diego was finishing coding.
Team Botics
The first day we got to know each other and picked who was on our teams and what we wanted to be. We had the choice of Electrical, Mechanical, Coder and Publicist. The second day we started making the parts with the help of Texas A&M Students that work with the rovers we were working with. The Publicist made a twitter account to document the week. The third day was when we started to wrap up all the twitter stuff and started on our google slides. The coder had a couple problems, same with the Mechanic. The coder messed up by typing the wrong thing but he went back and changed it to resolve his problem. The mechanic was going too fast and messed up with the pipe and forgot to put in a screw. The fourth day was when the publicist made the blog post and learned how to email the photos to ourselves to get all of our information we would use in one place.
Team Grande Papi
This week we have been making a robot, the robot we have made is the smaller version of the one they are going to send to the Moon. The jobs that our team has is mechanical engineer, electrician, publisher and coder. All of these jobs have an important value to making the robot like the coder, without him the robot wouldn’t be able to do simple instructions like move or turn. The mechanical engineer jobs is to make the frame of the robot. The electrician job is to wire the robot so that the battery power can move to the motor and power the rest of the robot. The publicist’s job is to manage the twitter page, write the blog and make slide shows. With all of the help we have made a robot in one week. We had all the pieces to make the robot but we had to put it all together the competition is who put it together better. We had all the tools to soldering guns, saws, computers, tablets etc. a problem we had was with putting the screws into the screw sockets so we solved it by drilling bigger holes into the plastic.
Thank you to all of young publicists for all of their hard work and creativity this week- SEAD Academy 2019 is a wrap!
SEAD Academy’s Smart Home competition is wrapping up with final home details and presentation preparation.
Thursday, our students were busy wiring the electronics within their homes, we are amazed with these young engineer’s work as they apply math, engineering, and electrical skills to spruce up their Smart Homes.
Along with these skills, students also had the opportunity to learn about agriculture and how to apply Smart Farming techniques to their homes. Our guest speaker, Brady Grimes, lead the students through a hands on experience on smart agriculture, vertical farming, and aquaponics which the students then added as an element to their Smart Homes.
Friday was filled with the final stages of building and practicing for each team’s Smart Home demonstration. Parents then arrived for the big moment where our students gathered up their homes, set them up for display, and awaited their time to share about each project.
Through out the presentation, students shared the many features their Smart Home had to offer. This included color changing lights, automated front doors, and even a zip line- safe to say these students had a blast! We were so lucky to work alongside these young engineers this week, and we look forward to next year’s SEAD Academy.
It’s Wednesday at SEAD Academy and the Smart Homes continue to evolve each day of our competition. Students have solidified the home’s architecture and have even begun to add personal touches like pool tables, flags, and marble counters.
Along with home construction, our students are learning about the engineering behind their Smart Homes. This includes electrical wiring, lighting, and programing that will connect and create a home that is smart in all areas of science, engineering, art, and design.
We are wrapping up the first half of the week with house framework completed and moving into the agricultural side of our Smart Homes. We look forward to seeing what else our young engineers create!
Today marks day two of SEAD Academy, students started the day reviewing their Smart Home budgets and preparing for home building. Each team has created unique floor plans that will soon become model SMART Homes as the week continues.
Students then had a field trip over to Downtown Bryan’s Grand Stafford for a lecture by Texas A&M’s Dr. Mathew Kuttolamadom. During this lecture, students gained hands on experience with different forms of 3D printing and knowledge on materials used in their home building process. To wrap up this guest lecture, students observed a 3D printer in action where they were able to get various printed trinkets to remember their experience.
For the rest of day two, students finished their home floor plans, supplies budgets, and SMART Home purchases for the construction phase of our competition. Check in over the next few days to see each team’s construction.
Today at SEAD Academy, we welcomed students to the gallery where they will spend the week designing and building prototypes for our Smart Home Competition. Throughout the week, students will learn what it takes to create a durable and aesthetic home along while competing against other Smart Home teams.
Students began the day mingling and discovering artwork in the gallery until everyone arrived, where we then jumped into introductions and learning what it takes to be an engineer.
Students then broke into teams, designated roles, and learned the basics of Smart Home design to begin creating. This simulation included many real life examples to teach students about construction materials, budgeting, and building permits that can be used to further their education.
To wrap up the day, each team began the draft process for their Smart Home floor plans and selecting materials to be used in their project.
THANK YOU!!!! SEAD Academy 2016 was a huge success! We loved exploring science, engineering, art and design with our students! Many thanks to our dedicated instructors and interns that made it all possible. See you all next year!
The week at the Digital Photography Fundamentals Camp was a blast! We began the week by learning the basic functions of a camera. Abigail taught the students that aperture, ISO, point of focus, shutter speed, and white balance were all important factors to consider to take a great picture. Much of the week was spent walking around Downtown Bryan taking pictures together. Our interns, Emma and Dana, even posed as models for the portraits! Abigail provided critique on the photos taken; she offered ways to improve and complimented all the wonderful photos. Even though so many pictures turned out great, the photographers had to choose which ones to include in their photo story. The students transferred their pictures to computers and got to work on editing. At the end of the week, the photographers showcased all their hard work by presenting their photo story in the SEAD Gallery.
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seadacademy
That’s a wrap! It has been such a joy and honor to explore science, engineering, art and design with our students this summer. Big huge thanks to our partners, sponsors and dedicated instructors and interns that made it all possible.
Please continue to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates and upcoming announcements as plan for another great summer.
Questions? Contact Us
216 West 26th Street
Bryan, TX 77803
Office Phone: 1.979.216.0548
