Over the last nine years, Design Lives Here has reached close to 2,000 middle school students in its semester-long program. Design Lives Here, a WQED program, with the financial support and participation of Daedalus, MSA Safety, PPG, ANSYS, and others, engages kids in design challenges that foster an interest in careers in engineering, technology, and manufacturing. The program culminates in the Invention Convention, a two-day event that includes hands-on and minds-on challenges.
This year, Daedalus engineers and designers returned to the Invention Convention, mentoring the students in challenges which included building an air-propelled rocket, a car powered by a rubber band, and a roller coaster for a marble. Our team also interacted with the kids in the Daedalus Design Hub, where they interacted with and asked about some of the devices we have helped create. The SKC Air Sampler was a hit with the kids, as was the Continuous Mining Machine Remote Control that we developed with Komatsu's Joy Global Underground Mining division.