Cypress Lakes lead the way in engineering skills
Cypress Lakes High School senior students concluded their fourth year in the engineering program Project Lead The Way with final senior engineering design presentations at the school on May 13, according to a Cy-Fair ISD press release.
Project Lead the Way, a nonprofit organization and the nation’s leading provider of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education programs, offers a rigorous curriculum that allows students to apply math and science skills to real-life activities, projects and problems.
It also offers professional development for its teachers and an engaged network of business, community and university partners.
Cypress Lakes and Cypress Creek high schools offer the only nationally certified programs in the district.
The students followed the engineering design process throughout the year to solve a problem they chose back in the fall.
“Everything is meticulously constructed, from research to actual design of their concepts,” said Giovanni Neri, Cypress Lakes PLTW instructor. “The rest of the PLTW courses prepare them for the curriculum; this one prepares them for actions they’re going to take when they become an engineer or major in engineering in college.”
Senior Abel Gallegos, who worked on an integrated automotive lifting jack with partners Nicholas Rechner and Hayden Drollett, said it was a rewarding experience to share the results with the audience, which included professional engineers.
“I was very excited. This program has taught me a lot and showed me the engineering process, which I will be utilizing on a daily basis,” said Gallegos, who plans to major in civil engineering at Texas A&M University. “The feedback from the engineers was very insightful, because there are many things we didn’t look at the way that they did.”
Neri said he was proud of the students for their hard work and ability to solve problems and learn new skills.
“The main thing I love is when students learn something new; when they find something out without me telling them,” he said.
“I get satisfied from hearing them give straight answers to questions asked by professionals. Seeing their confidence after tackling a problem they never knew existed over the course of a year and defending it, it makes me feel like we’ve done a good job preparing them for their future.”