35 Ohio STEM teachers to attend sustainable energy summer school at Ohio State
Students aren’t the only ones who attend summer school. Thirty-five middle and high-school teachers in the science, technology, engineering and math disciplines will learn about topics ranging from smart lighting to clean coal to the future power grid during a sustainable energy workshop, June 20-22, at The Ohio State University. The two and one-half day workshop will include hands-on engineering activities and tours, and equip participating teachers from all corners of the state to bring those activities and newly acquired knowledge back to their classrooms next fall.
“We want to teach high school teachers about energy and the engineering process and, while doing so, we also hope to change their perception of engineering,” said Betty Lise Anderson, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Ohio State and workshop coordinator. “After all, K-12 teachers are one of the most important factors in developing the needed science and technology workforce of the future.”
Ohio State faculty and researchers from American Electric Power, among others, will cover five areas in sustainable energy and power: electric power basics, the smart grid, photovoltaic wind, and clean coal technologies, smart lighting and the future power grid. Lectures will be followed by hands-on activities and tours of campus and AEP labs, including the Ohio State High Voltage and Power Electronics Laboratory, the Ohio State Clean Coal Research Facility, the AEP west campus substation, the Byers Wind Turbine and AEP Dolan Labs.
Participating teachers represent schools from all corners of the state, including high-need schools such as Linden-McKinley 7-12 STEM in Columbus and Rosemore Middle School in Whitehall.
The Summer Sustainable Energy Workshop is sponsored by The Ohio State University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and American Electric Power, under a grant from the US Department of Energy. The grant is part of $2.5 million in Recovery Act Funds from the U.S. Department of Energy awarded to the Ohio State Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to reinvigorate electrical power engineering education. American Electric Power contributed additional funding for the workshop.
Workshop lectures and modules will also be posted online for access by teachers in Ohio and beyond.
News media: For more information, including the schedule of events, contact Candi Clevenger, public relations coordinator, (614) 292-1806, clevenger.87@osu.edu.
