Penn students benefit from high-tech learning experience

Standing under the bright lights of one of Chicago’s expansive McCormick Place exhibition halls, Penn High School Junior Braden Huffman stood at the controls of a robot that was constructed by students on Penn’s Team 135 Robotics crew. Huffman explained how to operate the robot to students from one of Chicago’s public high schools, and then let those students take over the controls to maneuver the robot through a series of tasks.

A few feet away, Penn Senior Julia Fisher let a high school student from Wisconsin take a turn driving the robot T-shirt launcher designed and constructed by Penn Team 135 members.

Penn High School was one of two schools in North America invited to present at the International Manufacturing Trade Show the week of Sept. 10-15. The bi-annual event attracted more than 115,000 visitors from more than 117 countries at one of the world’s premiere manufacturing technology shows (Click to view the Photo Gallery of the event posted below).

“The biggest gain for Penn students attending the trade show is the ability to interact with the largest machining companies in the world,” Penn Robotics instructor James Langfeldt said. “There is no other place to experience what you can experience than at IMTS.  A primary goal of Penn-Harris-Madison Schools and Penn Robotics is to prepare our future STEM leaders – there is no better place to join in the conversation than at IMTS.”

Langfeldt said that the opportunity to present gave Penn students a special learning opportunity that focused on relevance in the world of technology.

“Students presenting learn how to effectively communicate your program to many others from across the world,” Langfeldt said.  “This work started last spring with organizing the content, planning and executing a media plan, maintaining high expectations on effective communication skills, and organizing the entire trip for six days at IMTS, all being done by students on Team 135.”

According to Penn Robotics student Braden Huffman Huffman, Team 135’s mission is to create a new generation of problem solvers and to inspire young minds through diverse experiences.

“At IMTS specifically, we were showcasing the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program and its benefit to students, schools, and communities,” Huffman said.

“Team 135 is spearheading a nationwide program entitled Mission to Engineer,” Huffman explained. “This program started four years ago when our team developed a prosthetic arm for a young girl in the P-H-M community, which we followed up with two more similar projects for other children in the following years.

“We are now in the process of expanding this Mission to more than ourselves allowing more children in need to be paired with makers. Attending events such as IMTS, we are able to communicate with other teams, schools, and business, as potential makers.”

Penn Team 135 students alternated presenting to other students and professionals in the manufacturing technology field. That way, students could have a chance to explore other exhibits and learn about the latest innovations.

“I believe our biggest learning objective being measured out on the show floor is largely where the latest trends are moving in advanced manufacturing and what the world’s leading companies are doing to stay on the cutting edge,” Langfeldt said.

“I sat in a conference yesterday and listened to Tony Stewart [co-owner of Stewart Haas Racing].  He and his team explained the unique partnership he has with his entire machine shop making almost every piece of the race car on their own. 

“I was blown away at the level of creativity and precision that goes into this process.  Also quite proud to say our process at Penn High School is quite similar with regard to how we design and build on Team 135.”

Huffman, who plans to attend Purdue University and work toward a degree in Aerospace Engineering, used the trade show to speak with engineers in the field and see innovations he may use in his career.

Penn Team 135 students were invited to the trade show to teach others about high school robotics programs, but they were also eager learners.

Huffman was on the look out to help Team 135 Robotics when he was not presenting.

“Although Team 135 was at IMTS to run a booth, we also were looking for new technologies and ideas that we could implement at Penn High School and better our STEM program,” Huffman said.

In addition to Penn Team 135 students presenting at the trade show, more than 100 STEM Academy students from Penn attended the event as part of a field trip.

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