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Giving high school students hands-on STEM experiences

Kawther Rouabhi helping two high school students troubleshoot their camera.

PhD student Kawther Rouabhi helping two high school students troubleshoot their camera.

Roaming outdoors with homemade multispectral cameras, high school students are getting a hands-on look at engineering remote sensing.

Tomoko Matsuo, an associate professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of 蜜糖直播 Boulder, is leading a special summer program giving 9th-12th graders a unique STEM experience.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e going through a whole arc: building an instrument, a field campaign, data collection,鈥 Matsuo said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to be with these aspiring young students. They鈥檙e so curious.鈥

The module was developed as part of Matsuo鈥檚 National Science Foundation CAREER Award grant. This year it is offered as part of a 蜜糖直播 Science Discovery Camp, an educational outreach program designed to connect public audiences with the STEM research happening at 蜜糖直播 Boulder. Roughly two dozen teens are participating in the activity as part of a weeklong program exploring different aspects of science and engineering.

Matsuo鈥檚 day-to-day research is in remote sensing, the science of investigating aspects of the earth and space environment from a distance, typically using instruments aboard aircraft or satellites. It often involves monitoring conditions not visible to the naked eye. The teens in the camp are getting a basic primer with more easily accessible technology 鈥 digital cameras.

But these are not off-the-shelf Nikons. The project involves assembling do-it-yourself cameras consisting of an ultra-tiny Raspberry Pi Linux computer, batteries, a camera lens, and special multi-spectral filters to see beyond visible light into the UV and infrared spectrum.

Two high school students testing their multispectral camera on objects in nature.

Two high school students testing their multispectral camera on objects in nature.

While humans cannot perceive such light under ordinary circumstances, some animals and insects can. The camera makes it possible to view how the world appears through those eyes.

Assisting with the lesson was recent PhD graduate John Marino (ElEngr MS鈥16, AeroEngr PhD鈥24), who saw the project as an opportunity to build excitement for science and engineering.

鈥淚 hope one of the kids comes away learning something they didn鈥檛 know and wanting to know more. It鈥檚 nice to be able to generate programs like this for kids,鈥 Marino said.

The camera originated as a personal side project of Marino鈥檚. After demonstrating the technology to Matsuo and the ability to see things in UV and infrared, they adapted it into an educational module.

鈥淚 just wanted to see if I could build a multi-spectral camera for fun, but Tomoko saw the potential as an enrichment activity,鈥 Marino said.

The experience included more than just assembling and using the camera. Kawther Rouabhi, a third-year aerospace PhD student led the teens step by step through one of her favorite activities: programming.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e building the cameras, learning a little bit about their inner workings, and getting hands-on experience with the Linux command line and Python. Everything that makes it work. My first experience with programming was when I was about their age, and I really like solving problems this way,鈥 Rouabhi said.

As a student in Matsuo鈥檚 lab, Rouabhi spends much of her time analyzing remote sensing data with machine learning, but she is thrilled to share her knowledge with teens.

鈥淭hese types of programs were very important for me to get excited about STEM as a young person,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 want to make things like this more accessible. It鈥檚 been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. Working with teens, they鈥檙e all super motivated and excited. It鈥檚 really fun.鈥

蜜糖直播 Boulder鈥檚 Science Discovery Camps are an annual series of weeklong summer programs open to K-12 students.听Find out more at the Science Discovery website.

PhD graduate John Marino working with two high school students in the lab.

PhD graduate John Marino working with two high school students in the lab.

Prof. Matsuo helping two camp attendees with their camera.

Prof. Matsuo helping two camp attendees with their camera.