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Lab Partners Grant Allows UM Scholars to Share Knowledge With Area Science Students

Posted on: Wednesday, 22 March 2006, 21:00 CST

By RUTH-ELLEN COHEN; OF THE NEWS STAFF

ORONO - Since 2002, a National Science Foundation grant has enabled University of Maine science and engineering graduate students to work with area teachers who are conducting learning activities involving sensors.

Now, thanks to a new $2 million NSF grant that continues the program for another five years, more area youngsters will have the opportunity to get excited about science and engineering and to learn about the tiny devices being developed by UM researchers to detect the presence of everything from gas emissions to fish pathogens to pesticides.

The continuation of the NSF GK-12 Sensors! Program is good news, said John Vetelino, a UM electrical and computer engineering professor who oversees the program.

"We're very pleased. This indicates to us that we must be doing something right," he said.

Through the program, 10 master's degree and doctorate students collaborate with about 20 area middle schools and high schools in Bangor, Bucksport, Corinth, Hampden, Hermon, Carmel and Newport. Other schools in Dexter, Lee and Jonesport also have been involved.

The hope is that the program will spur young people to pursue careers in science and engineering, said Vetelino, noting the job losses that have occurred in Maine's paper, fish and shoe industries.

The state must set its sights on other economic opportunities, according to the professor. "Everyone is looking at the university, and we are trying the best we can in terms of incubation. But the real source of talent - five to 20 years down the line - are those students in middle and high school. We've got to get them excited about science and engineering so we can incubate and attract new industries," he said.

Meanwhile, a bill sponsored by Rep. Emily Cain, D-Orono, would allocate $2.5 million of state money to help continue the program when NSF funding expires. The Legislature's Appropriations Committee will consider the proposal at the end of the session.

"This is the type of program the state should be investing in," said Cain.

The sensor program also offers a host of other benefits. Besides enriching science education for students and helping them understand today's complex scientific issues, it provides classroom teachers with professional development opportunities, access to state-of-the- art equipment and travel funds.

In addition, graduate students or "fellows" receive valuable teaching experience that may motivate them to choose an academic career. Each fellow works with the same 200 or so students throughout the year, spending about 10 hours a week in the classroom. Young people can relate to sensors because the devices are used commonly today in everything from fire and smoke detectors to automatic doors, traffic lights and airport scanners. Navigation tools such as geographic information systems and global positioning systems also rely on sensors.

And, because the fellows often are not a great deal older than the youngsters in their classes, they have a unique opportunity to convey their excitement about the cutting-edge scientific research in which they're involved, Vetelino said.

"They might be [only] half a generation away from some of those students who look at them as strong role models," he said.

Through the program, graduate student Judith Walker is helping Bangor High School students create electronic maps for community agencies. Graduate student Wade Pinkham recently was working with pupils at Central Middle School in Corinth on a unit about hydrogen cars.

"The kids are great. They eat it up," Pinkham said.

He and his class discussed how sensors are used in speedometers, odometers and gas gauges. They talked about the shortage of fossil fuels and the high cost of gas and oil.

Hydrogen cars aren't yet marketable, but Pinkham said that, down the road, his students could change all that.

"The idea is to get them interested in engineering so that maybe they'll be the ones who will one day solve the problem," he said.

Led by Walker, Bangor High students are using a global positioning system and geographic information system to create electronic maps. One for the Bangor Historical Society shows historic landmarks around the city. Maps for the Bangor Police and Fire departments are designed to be used during a biological attack and denote, among other things, the number of people who would need to be evacuated from a school or nursing home as well as potential inoculation sites.

Bangor Assistant Fire Chief Rick Cheverie said students are providing a valuable service that the department wouldn't have the time or resources to undertake. "They're a tremendous asset," he said.

Bangor High School teacher Jim Smith praised graduate students' "technological know-how and all their abilities in the classroom."

Expressing his appreciation for the project's uniqueness, Smith added, "You've got a university graduate student working with high school students who are working with first responders. The three are working in tandem, and it's not happening anywhere else."

Source: Bangor Daily News

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