{"id":129838,"date":"2019-07-10T10:29:23","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T08:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.ferrovial.com\/noticias-locales\/lbj-express-sponsors-stem-camp-day-with-140-students\/"},"modified":"2025-03-12T18:05:28","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T17:05:28","slug":"lbj-express-sponsors-stem-camp-day-with-140-students","status":"publish","type":"local_new","link":"https:\/\/newsroom.ferrovial.com\/en-us\/local-news\/lbj-express-sponsors-stem-camp-day-with-140-students\/","title":{"rendered":"LBJ Express sponsors STEM Camp day with 140 students"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Wednesday, June 12,\u00a0LBJ Express<\/a>\u00a0highway sponsored for the third year, a\u00a0STEM\u00a0camp day for\u00a0140 Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD students<\/strong>. LBJ Express<\/strong> has partnered with Carrollton-Farmers Branch Education Foundation, the STEM camp organizers, to help teach middle schoolers STEM and civil engineering concepts. In those three years, the three-day, STEM camp has been hosted at Barbara Bush Middle School and has impacted approximately 440 middle school students.<\/p>\n

Over the years,\u00a0LBJ Express<\/strong>\u00a0has challenged the students to build different structures out of K\u2019NEX pieces. Previous design challenges have included a bridge and a tower. After the success of the past two challenges,\u00a0LBJ Express<\/strong>\u00a0developed a new curriculum and came up with the\u00a0LBJ Express<\/strong>\u00a0Crane Design Challenge. Thirty-two volunteers from LBJIG, NTEMP, NTEMPS3, NTI, Webber and Jacobs came together to represent\u00a0LBJ Express\u00a0at the STEM camp.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n

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At the beginning of each session,\u00a0LBJ Express<\/strong>\u00a0explains several civil engineering concepts and applies them to real-life examples and challenges that are not only important to consider for the design challenge but also for when an engineer is on the job in the day-to-day. After the presentation, students get to become \u201ccivil engineers for the day\u201d and are divided up into even smaller groups so that\u00a0LBJ Express<\/strong>\u00a0volunteers can provide individualized instruction and mentorship.<\/p>\n

Students were given the rules of the challenge, presented with the judging criteria and were asked to build a crane that was a minimum of one foot tall with an overhang of at least 4 inches. The challenge also required the use of gear mechanics and a K\u2019NEX motor to be incorporated into their design. The winning crane would be determined by a series of tests. Each groups\u2019 competitive edge was in full force as students eagerly waited for the 120-minute countdown to begin. The winning crane held 2 bottles of water and had a maximum pull strength of 8.20 lbs. All in all, students successfully applied the civil engineering concepts that they learned from LBJ Express and also practiced team work, strategic thinking and public speaking.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n

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Jean Elias,<\/strong> Senior D&C Engineer for\u00a0NTE 35W,<\/strong> third-time volunteer who developed the LBJ Express Crane Design Challenge curriculum,\u00a0commented on his experience:<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n

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\n \u201cI understand how a simple activity in a camp can inspire a kid and decide to pursue a career in STEM. Some of these kids are already interested, but do not have a close family member that has pursued a STEM career to guide them, so hopefully we are giving them additional tools and inspiration to follow this path.\u201d <\/blockquote>\n\n