As a result of a “Learning on Location” (LOL) grant awarded to Scotlandville Magnet High School Academy of Engineering by Public Education Project (Forum 35), senior engineering students traveled to the Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans earlier this month to learn about the engineering process used in completion of the Hurricane Storm Damage and Risk Reduction System in conjunction.  This site visit also helped students in preparation for an engineering model build.  Students were able to examine the Engineering Design and Development process at work from research and development to implementation. 

Students networked with engineers as they developed their own designs for the class.  They were able to investigate each phase of the design process used to build the largest pump station in the world. The value added for these seniors is not measured in money, but the long lasting educational experience of how this massive project was built from conception of the idea through brainstorming, research and development and the actual design to building, testing and the final product through implementation.

Student Rodrick Brown commented, “When I learned that we were going on a trip to visit the Army Corps of Engineers, I thought we would see some new technology relating to weaponry and defense.  I could not have been more wrong.  This experience was absolutely amazing! I was able to make the connection between the engineering design processes that we have been implementing since our ninth-grade year to exactly what the Army Corps of Engineers utilized in the construction of the West Closure Complex to limit the risk of flooding as a result of the Katrina event.”

“This was the best field trip that I have ever experienced,” said student Ray Armant.  “I was able to see the application of engineering design and development and how it actually aligns with what we have been learning in our engineering class.  The process actually became real for me.”

The school’s Academy of Engineering director, Beatrice Arvie, applied for the grant with the understanding that the grant served Learning on Location sites in the Baton Rouge area.  When the grant’s focus landed at the top of the list in the committee, she was excited that academy seniors would actually experience the process that they have been utilizing in each of their five engineering courses. “We are extremely grateful to Public Education Project for funding the transportation to provide the experience for the engineering students,” she said.  “I am very pleased to know that all of our students realized the value of the field experience and can now understand the engineering design and development process even better.”