Engineering/STEM

SIGNATURE PROGRAMS

ENGINEERING/STEM

Recent graduate Madeline Hart’s ‘21 desire to pursue engineering extends as far back as her memory itself.

“I don’t think I actually knew what that meant until eighth grade. We had the option to take a second science course, and ever since the Rube Goldberg Machine project, I’ve had my heart set on majoring in mechanical engineering,” said Hart, who will do just that in the fall at Cornell University.

Hart is one of many students who have immersed themselves in Benjamin’s STEM curriculum. Beginning at age 3, students are exposed to the exciting world of STEM. As they travel through all three divisions, students benefit from hands-on instruction in the state-of-the-art Maglio Family STEM Center, and at the upper school in innovative labs and maker spaces.

The School’s curriculum inspires a new generation of innovators across multiple disciplines. Many subjects, including English, social studies, and geography, all incorporate a STEM application into their studies.

Mrs. Perretta and engineering students.

“In a given week, you may have teachers and students talking about the science and mathematics involved in the design of a pinhole camera, or a group of students designing a tensegrity sculpture and applying physics and mathematics to the design. You may find a student experimenting with chemical techniques in photography that have a huge connection to what is being learned in a chemistry class. There is a concentration on preparing students to be aware of spatial visualization, both in 2D and 3D spaces, to solve design problems,” says Upper School Engineering and Design teacher Debra Perretta.

Perretta says the Department of Innovation and Design is a great example of an arena where you can see students involved in hands-on work, ideating, prototyping, and assessing their work.

Perretta is also the Engineering Certificate Program Coordinator, a program at Benjamin that allows graduates to earn a certificate following completion of a variety of engineering courses, extracurricular activities in the STEM field, and a capstone project.

MS STEM Coordinator Matt Oster displays coding robot.