Broward Education Foundation Receives AT&T Full STEAM Ahead for Florida’s Future $5,000 Grant to Fund Learning Innovation

   DAVIE, FL — Students at Nova High School will benefit from a statewide investment by AT&T this year, one that seeks to engage students who may have fallen behind during the pandemic as well as those in underserved communities, families needing support with distance learning and high school students seeking to jump start their STEM careers through industry certifications.

For the 12^th consecutive year, AT&T is working with the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations (Consortium) to support hands-on learning opportunities. 19 separate projects organized and funded through Consortium member local education foundations will re-engage students who have gotten behind in academics and/or are in underserved communities through hands-on STEAM enrichment activities, student-led digital divide support or increasing CTE certification completion.

The AT&T Full STEAM Ahead for Florida’s Future $5,000 grant will help fund several innovative Allusions Made From Fusion projects taught by Joseph Kelly, a 9-12 grade teacher at Nova High School. By mastering computer aided design, students will learn how to apply aerodynamics, mechanical and structural design as they create physical models from virtual designs and test prototypes through simulation and real-world experiments.

    The Allusions Made From Fusion projects below aim to increase the number of students certified in Fusion 360 Mechanical Design through hands-on design and creation of custom projects on a 3D printer or laser cutter.

CO2 Dragster Activity – Students will learn about aerodynamics and the physics of cars as they are applied to their dragsters. Testing their design and simulation skills using Autodesk CFD program, student will create virtual designs which will be transformed into CO2 dragsters from balsa wood blocks, culminating in a classroom competition ranked by the fastest time and most innovated designs.

Solid Fuel 3D Printed Rocket Activity – Students will learn about aerodynamics. By developing simulations to determine stable flight designs, develop 3D modeling skills, rapid prototyping, and advanced computer-aided design techniques. Simulation software will test designs virtually, culminating in print their models in 3D to conduct actual test flight of their prototypes.