MARYSVILLE, Ohio – A group of students enrolled in Ohio Hi-Point's Engineering satellite program at Marysville Early College High School (MECHS) worked hand-in-hand with industry professionals to create a solution to a need during Tiny Term, which is a two-week window between semesters for students to take advantage of enrichment courses or remediation work.
"These enrichment opportunities provide students with challenging problems where they can give back to the community and watch their ideas become reality," said OHP Engineering instructor, Bethany Smith.
A group of students worked with Rocky Grimes, the founder and owner of the Heart of Unlimited Boundaries (HUB), in West Liberty, Ohio. The HUB is committed to empowering individuals with special needs through innovative and effective person-centered experiences.
The students tapped into multiple facets of research, engineering, and troubleshooting to help redesign a platform that wheel chair bound students can use to remotely control a toy vehicle. The design created by the students will be used by students within the district and beyond!
In a second section of the enrichment course, Engineering students worked directly with Honda of America engineers to design a SMART solution to a local traffic problem. The students, broken into teams, designed a SMART stop light at the 5-point intersection in Marysville. Afterwards, the students presented their ideas to a panel of engineers at Honda.
"This is a unique opportunity for our students," said Smith. "It's very cool for them to create a solution, troubleshoot with professionals and see how it all relates back to the work that's happening in the industry today."
The students presented their projects to the community during MECHS' STEAM night on January 16.
Ohio Hi-Point provides career programming, like Engineering, to 11 out of the district's 14 partner schools. Today, Ohio Hi-Point offers nearly 60 programs to students from seventh to 12th grade students.