Bullitt County Public Schools is continuing its partnership with GE Appliances (GEA) and their Director of Engineering Development, Mr. Mike Ekbundit. During his most recent visit to the district, Mr. Ekbundit brought with him a team of engineers from GEA, including mechanical and electrical engineers, to help guide the students through an engineering process known as “7 Ways." This process is designed to help students think as creatively as possible and delve into exploring lots of different ideas, not just the first one that jumps to mind.
Students at Bullitt East, Bullitt Central, and the Bullitt Advanced Math & Science Program completed “7 Ways” through the lens of their projects focused on accessibility and inclusion. To begin this process, each student had to independently come up with 7 different ways to solve “mismatches” (barriers to inclusion) in their chosen community space, and then they collaborated with their project groups in order to determine the effectiveness and buildability of each idea before selecting just one to pursue together.
“Ways 1, 2, and 3 are easy; 4 takes some thought; 5 and 6 really stretch you; and you’re really thinking deeply if you make it all the way to 7,” said Mr. Ekbundit.
Now that students have completed this step in the process, they are now ready to start prototyping their top concepts on a small scale with readily available materials. The early prototyping stage will allow the students to uncover more challenges and opportunities with their ideas. Students will solve these challenges on a small scale before moving forward to full scale models later this school year. Student teams will make their first presentations to Mt. Washington or Shepherdsville city councils or to Bernheim’s leadership team in the upcoming months (depending on the project), and then incorporate that feedback into their designs moving forward.