December 02, 2020

Level 1 Engineering students attend an annual field trip to Bridgestone Tire & Rubber Center located in Akron, Ohio. Students tour their Engineering Department after learning about the history of the company. Students see how CAD software is used in the tire industry and learn about the various types of tires produced from Indy Car to giant Farm Tractor tires.

Level 2 Engineering students attend an annual field trip to Goodyear Tire & Rubber company global headquarters located in Akron, Ohio. Students experience how the tire evolved over the last 100+ years while relating to how the field of Engineering has changed along with it. Goodyear also shares their additive manufacturing (3D printing) machines with the students to show how they are used in industry to build prototypes or models to share with potential clients. Goodyear also talks to the students about how they use their 3D printers to make custom parts for their assembly line machines to keep them up and running.

December 02, 2020

All Engineering students visited the brand new Washkewicz College of Engineering building at Cleveland State University. Students were given a tour of campus along with visiting the new state of the art facilities in the College of Engineering. The Academy students had the opportunity to hear from two former Academy graduates Megan Keleman (SMFHS) and Marcus Wilde (SMFHS) who led an activity for the students. Both Megan and Marcus were 2016 graduates of the Academy and now work as ambassadors for the College of Engineering.

December 02, 2020

Level 1 students took a tour of the College of Engineering at the University of Akron. Students took a campus tour and then toured the College of Engineering seeing the Donovan Design Center (includes Formula Car Team), Civil Engineering Design Room (includes Concrete Canoe Team and/or Steel Bridge Team), Chemical Engineering Laboratory, and Polymer Science.

December 02, 2020

Andrew Borsi, 2013 completer of the Engineering Academy, returned on September 24, 2019 to present to the students about Nuclear Engineering. He graduated from the University of Akron with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering in 2018. Andrew began working at FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) in 2015, leading projects in developing state-of-the-art risk-informed applications, ultimately reducing operating costs and regulatory burdens while improving nuclear safety margins. His presentation to the Engineering Academy included the process of Nuclear Engineering, as well as the industry standards, including safety. Andrew shared his educational path, including his studies in the Academy, his transition to University of Akron, and his journey toward a career at FirstEnergy. He says, “The Engineering Academy provided me with the tools I needed to succeed in my college career. The most important of those skills was technical writing, which I have come to learn is the most important aspect of engineering activities: writing things down. Being introduced to multiple engineering disciplines helped point me in the right direction when I chose a college major and even helped me when faced with problems outside the academic realm.”

December 02, 2020

Carving a pumpkin, the AutoCAD way Level I Engineering Academy students drew a 2D design in AutoCAD and then programmed the water jet to carve their design in a pumpkin.

Pictured above: Megan Braeutigam, Tallmadge High School

Pictured below left: Joe Gavriloff, Roosevelt with Jackson McMinn-Hyde, Tallmadge, in background

Pictured below right: Madison Kaufman, Tallmadge

December 02, 2020

Both Level 1 & Level 2 Engineering students attended the 2019 Cleveland International Elastomer Conference that was held at the Huntington Convention Center. Students participated in hands-on demonstrations and experiments led by the local Akron Development Laboratories (ARDL) employees to learn about polymer properties of elastomers. Students also were given special permission to visit the Conference floor and interact with the global vendors present showing off the latest technology in the polymer field. Students spent over an hour talking with the representatives from large corporations to see what the company produces or products they sell.

Pictured: Students mix polymers together to make an elastomer (bouncy) ball at the International Elastomer Conference, 2019.

December 06, 2017

Six District Education Compact Engineering Academy students had the opportunity to meet engineers and tour Bridgestone's Americas Technical Center in Akron.  The following engineers discussed their roles in inventing, designing, analyzing, building, and testing at Bridgestone. 

Race Tire Design-Dennis Boley

Mold Design-Neal Sehm

Consumer Tire Development-Ian McKenney

Product Design-Dave Schultz

Virtual Tire-Paul Wischt

Commercial Tire Development-Joe Woodward & Wesley Schwarz

Materials-Neil Lanterman & Jacob Tiernan

Labs-Rick Wright

Proud Engineering Academy Alumnus-Doug Costlow

November 17, 2017

On October 5th, Level 1 Academy students visited the University of Akron.  Students were given an opportunity to visit the campus and talk with a representative from the office of admissions and Dr. Mary C. Verstraete, the Interim Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies from the College of Engineering. The students toured the Chemical Engineering Laboratory, Robotics Design Lab, and Civil Engineering Design Room, including the Concrete Canoe Team and the Steel Bridge Team, as well as the Donovan Design Center that included the Formula One Car Team.

November 17, 2017

On October 19, the Engineering Academy visited Jergens, Inc. in Cleveland, Ohio.  Project Manager, Jason Bateman, presented to the students about the history of the company and demonstrated some of their manufacturing processes.  Jergens, Inc. produces tooling components, vises, and other workholding equipment.  After a tour of the facility, the students were able to meet engineers and ask questions about internships, career paths, and the technology that is used by Jergens, Inc.  The field trip was organized by Gregg Schoof, Assistant Director of Cleveland State University’s Washkewicz College of Engineering, which is an Engineering Academy university partner.

November 16, 2017

On October 5, the Level II students of the Engineering Academy visited Hyland Software in Westlake Ohio.  These students participated in the Hour of Code and toured the impressive facility.  During the tour, they learned about the creation of Hyland’s On Base software, saw the modern, open work areas, and ate lunch in the employee cafeteria.  Hyland is well known for its progressive mentality of workplace atmosphere.  The Academy members were impressed by both the professionalism and happiness that Hyland employees emulate.

November 16, 2017

Level II Engineering Academy students took part in STEM based activities at the International Elastomer Conference hosted at the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland. Students were exposed to the business world of elastomers with two speaker presentations from current professionals detailing their life experiences in the world of plastics. They then participated in the hands-on polymer work shown in the photos. Students used some of the same materials they actually test in the Polymer Rotation of the Engineering Academy. After a session of experimentation and debriefing on the polymers they were using, students were given special access to the International Elastomer Conference EXPO floor. Here, students participated in a scavenger hunt to obtain special stamps from the vendors present, where they saw large scale testing equipment in action. Some of the exact testing equipment was on-hand that we use in our Polymer Lab and students could talk to the vendors about their lab use of it.

November 16, 2017

This fall, we are excited to welcome representatives from the Colleges of Engineering from The University of Cincinnati, The University of Toledo, and Cleveland State University. These representatives will each speak about what their respective College of Engineering has to offer. These recruiters are eager to meet and speak with our Engineering Academy students. They know the high caliber learning that takes place in the Academy helps our graduates transition smoothly into college coursework.

November 16, 2017

Five graduates from the Engineering Academy were presented with the prestigious Audio-Technica Award on May 8, 2017.  Each year, Audio-Technica sponsors the award, which is given to students who maintain a 3.5 GPA in both academics and technology, while also upholding a 95% attendance rate, during their two years in the program along with completion of a capstone project.  

November 13, 2017

On the first day of school, Academy students were broken up into teams based on their home school to give Level 1 and Level 2 students a chance to work together. The students were given 10 sheets of paper and a meter of tape and were challenged to make a device that would protect an egg from breaking when dropped from the top of the stadium. They were given 20 minutes to design and build the device. The lightest weight device that kept the egg from breaking or cracking was declared the winner. Congratulations to the Tallmadge team, which won this year’s challenge.