Next Meeting Presentation

Tech Fest has become a very popular Engineers Week event at The Works in Edina, last year over 1700 people attended and it is expected that 2000 people will attend this year's event.  The purpose of Tech Fest is to provide grade school aged students with a hands-on opportunity to experience "engineering" in action.  This year Tech Fest will take place on Saturday, February 27th.  The event runs from 9 AM to 5 PM.  The Works is located on the 3rd Floor of the Edina Community Center, 5701 Normandale Rd, Edina.

Due to the growing popularity of this event, more volunteers are needed to help staff the event and assist with the numerous hands-on activities.  The Minneapolis-Saint Paul Post has volunteered to recruit volunteers to assist in 2-3 hour shifts during the event ... we would like to have six to eight volunteers or more to help with activities.  Here is an opportunity to have some fun and be a participant in one of the biggest Engineering events of the year.  Please take a quick look at the TechFest Event Flyer ( www.same-msp.org/PDF/TechFest2010_VolunteerFlyer.pdf ) and then contact Jim Mosner at 651-290-5512 and volunteer for a couple hour time slot.

The Works is a non-profit "hands-on, minds-on" museum that makes science and engineering fun for kids 5 to 15.  More information on The Works can be seen at www.theworks.org or by contacting Kris Banks atkris@theworks.org or 952-848-4848.

The Scholarship Application Form is now available on the Grants & Scholarships page of the web site.  The form can be downloaded as either a MS Word file or as a fill-able PDF form.  There will again be three $1500 scholarships available.  The deadline for submitting scholarship applications is Friday, April 9th.

Two scholarships are planned to be awarded in what is called Category I, which is for high school seniors and Post-secondary students, regardless of discipline, who are children, grandchildren, or siblings, of members of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Post.  Sponsoring members must be a SAME Minneapolis-Saint Paul Post member for the current year and have been a member of the Post for a minimum of at least one year prior to the current year.  Applicants must be registered as full-time post-secondary students in the fall of the year of selection. 

One scholarship is planned to be awarded in what is called Category II, which is for all Student Members of the SAME Minneapolis-Saint Paul Post who will be registered as full-time post-secondary students in the fall of the year of selection.  Applicants under this category must be registered through SAME as a Student Member; student memberships are free for full-time undergraduates at an accredited college or university, or high school students.  At least one of the scholarships in this category will be awarded to a student in an engineering, science, or technology-related field.

A committee of Post members evaluate the applications.  All applications are kept confidential, and only the winners are announced.  For additional information, please contact Jane Flewellen at 651-290-5554.  Scholarship Application Packages can be downloaded from the Post’s website at:

http://www.same-msp.org/PDF/Scholarship_AppInst_2010.pdf

SAME offers high school freshman, sophomores, and juniors the opportunity to attend a one week camp.  They learn leadership, engineering and construction skills, and have fun with students from all over the world.

The Minneapolis-Saint Paul Post would like to sponsor a high school student to attend either one of the following summer camp opportunities.  The Post will pay the Registration Fee and and ¹/₂ of the Airfare; the student's family is responsible for the remainder of the airfare.  High school students that are interested in this opportunity should:

1) review the camp website(s) and the links to eligibility requirements and application forms so that all requirements are clearly understood, and

2) contact Jane Flewellen at 651-290-5554 to submit your name as being interested in this opportunity.

Students interested in applying for one of the camps should start by reviewing the information on the SAME Camp web page at http://posts.same.org/camps/.

From the qualified respondees, the Post will select one attendee and one alternate; the alternate may be able to attendee if the primary selectee is unable to attend or if additional space becomes available at the camps.  Once the Post has selected an attendee and an alternate, the selectees will be given additional instructions for submitting the required applications.  Selections will be made by 30 March 2009, which will the selectees adequate time to complete the required applications.

Click on the names of the camps below to hyperlink to the National SAME web pages that have additional details about the camps along with detailed registration information.

SAME / US Army Camp
Vicksburg, Mississippi
June 13-19, 2010
Application deadline is March 19, 2010

SAME / US Air Force Academy Camp
US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO
June 25-July 1, 2010
Application deadline is April 23, 2010

SAME / US Navy Seabees Camp
Port Heuneme, California
August 2-7, 2010
Application deadline is May 21, 2010

This will be the second year our our new endeavor with sponsoring a Grant Program for teachers to help them bring resources they would not ordinarily have.  The goal of this program is to promote the learning of science and math which supports engineering to students through a creative activity/project of the teacher's choosing.  The Post will award two grants of up to $2,500; one grant will be targeted for a teacher in the grades of K-6, and the other will be targeted for a teacher in the grades 7-12.

New for this year, we expanded the geographic area form which we will accept applications ... last year we limited the area to the 7-county metro area, this year we've expanded the area to the 13-county metro area (Anoka · Carver · Chisago · Dakota · Hennepin · Isanti · Ramsey · Scott · Sherburne · Washington · Wright - Pierce · St. Croix).

Teachers who which to apply for one of the grants must provide a detailed description of the activity/project that they plan to do, as well as provide an estimated budget for the proposal activity.  In deciding how to award the grants, the Post will place a high value on the creativity of the proposed activity and the expected impact that it will have on the students.  The proposal should specify the equipment, materials, and supplies required and how they will be used to promote science and/or mathematics.  It should also address how the project supports the Minnesota academic standards for science and/or mathematics.  List how many students will be impacted in the proposal.  The students and faculty will be asked to present their finished product to representatives from SAME in the spring of 2011.  The presentation must demonstrate what the students have learned from the experience.

Applications for this year's grants are available at http://www.same-msp.org/grants.htm

Please pass the word about this opportunity on to any teachers that you may Know.  The application deadline is Friday, March 19th 2010.

The SAME M-SP Post will be hosting study sessions for anyone who is taking their PE/FE exam this April, starting in the end of January.  The study sessions will be held at the Black Dog Café in St. Paul from 6 PM to 8 PM and will be informal.  We will have light appetizers.  The second study session will be on February 21st and will continue to be on every other Sunday night until the exam.  Here is a link for the Black Dog Café … http://blackdogstpaul.com/black-dog-directions.shtml.  Please contact Jane Flewellen with any questions.

Thanks to Post volunteers who helped with this year's judging of the Future Cities Competition, the state finals were held on Sat, January 23rd at St. Thomas University.  Post volunteers who helped with the judging of the SAME Special Award, shown in the picture to the left, were: Robert Rimstad (3rd from left), Rachel Pichelman (left of poster), Jane Flewellen (right of poster), and Elizabeth Killian (far right).  The students in the picture were from Valley Middle School in Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan and their city was named Uusi Alku.

Twenty three schools were entered in this year's state finals.  Ultimately the team from Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School in St. Paul, shown in picture to the right, were awarded the SAME Special Award for best addressing the issues of Readiness for Natural and Manmade Disasters.  Jane Flewellen (l) presented the award to the team.

Numerous other volunteers from the Post helped with the Computer Simulation Judging, the Essay and Abstract Judging, and the Scale Model and Oral Presentation Judging  phases of the competition.  Post volunteers included: Keith Anderson (HR Green), Suresh Hettiarachichi (HDR Inc), Leslie Knapp (AECOM), Andrew McGovern (HR Green), and Alan Palmer (Stanley Consultants).