Engineers create the future at CVHS

If you could pick any school activity to do right now it would probably be in engineering. Why? As Engineering 2 student Bryan Tunggal said, “When I think about  my favorite school projects I think of engineering because I can make my own projects.” In the class right now every student will design and build a 3 inches by 3 inches by 3 inches cube, while still learning about how to draw models and assemble parts which they will use as the foundations for their futures in the class. 

“We need more engineers because engineering enables all skills,” said engineering teacher and CTE chair Lisa Holmes. CVHS engineering can serve as a fun cross between math and problem solving. When using their method of finding a problem, researching said problem, creating a solution, building said solution and improving on it as much as possible you will have a complete and commercially ready product. Even someone who sees no future career in engineering can enjoy this class for the simple life skills and problem solving that it teaches.

The cube is 3 inches by 3 inches by 3 inches made out of multiple parts made with between four and six smaller cubes that must fit together to make the larger cube; besides those constraints students are free to create any type of pattern on their cubes. The kids in the class can be seen solving each other’s puzzles as quickly as possible in an attempt to break the cubes record. While they may look simple it’s a struggle to find the true solution when put under the pressure of the timer. Once you have a cube that you personally made you feel a larger sense of accomplishment. 

As Engineering 2 student Vincent Cavalieri put it, “Engineering is fun because you can use your imagination to create a final product.”

Before the puzzle cube activity the students are taught how to draw with isometric drawing which is essentially drawing in 3D. They then use this to draw the sketches of the cube and to draw future models that they will then build like in the case of the Recycle Racer which is a car made out of everyday items you may have around your house or designing a catapult. The students will soon start to use the modeling software auto desk inventor to model their future projects as accurately as possible. The first assignment on this software is to recreate and animate their puzzle cubes coming together and coming apart.

A student in engineering will see all this and more because engineering is the combination of everything you can think of. When a CVHS engineer sees a problem they will use what they have learned to create a solution in a way no other classes teaches. The initial proof of this is the puzzle cube because in learning this you are taught about things like statistics and model drawing. When you think of the first steps in a promising future it starts off with a small thing like the puzzle cube but ends with large things like a problem solving mindset or potential career in engineering.