EL Scientists Entertain Winning Students at STEM Expo

Published Aug. 24, 2012
Passing around critters, Dr. Karl Gustavson shared ERDC Environmental Laboratory’s environmental efforts with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics students who won first place competitions in their eCYBERMISSION contests nationwide.

Passing around critters, Dr. Karl Gustavson shared ERDC Environmental Laboratory’s environmental efforts with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics students who won first place competitions in their eCYBERMISSION contests nationwide.

ERDC Environmental Laboratory’s Senior Scientist Dr. Jeffery Steevens prepares ERDC’s display and activities as part of the Corps booth for students attending the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Expo.

ERDC Environmental Laboratory’s Senior Scientist Dr. Jeffery Steevens prepares ERDC’s display and activities as part of the Corps booth for students attending the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Expo.

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Leesburg, Va. -- “ERDC’s growing involvement in eCYBERMISSION is a great way to teach young scientists and engineers about the opportunities in the Corps of Engineers and Army,” said ERDC Environmental Laboratory (EL) Senior Scientist Dr. Jeffery Steevens.

Steevens was an adviser and exhibitor representing ERDC in the Corps booth at the Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Exposition in Leesburg, Va.

EL’s Dr. Karl Gustavson joined Steevens to demonstrate ERDC’s hands-on activities in round-robin sessions with 16 first-place regional winning teams of sixth through ninth grade students from across the nation.  The teams competed for a chance to win up to $2,500 and the national title in each grade.

Free to students, eCYBERMISSION is a U.S. Army-sponsored Web-based STEM competition. Each team is made up of three to four individuals, who, with the guidance of an adult adviser, identify a problem in their community that aligns with one of nine mission challenges.  Team advisers assist students in applying the scientific method to propose and implement, if feasible, a solution to that problem.  Student teams compete against thousands of their peers to become a regional first-place team and win cash prizes.  Staffing half of the 25 by 25-foot Corps booth, Steevens and Gustavson demonstrated ERDC’s civilian and military research mission through three hands-on activities.

The first activity showed the effects of oil spill dispersants on surface oil and the tools used by ERDC to assess the environmental effects of the oil.  In the second activity, students used rapid-set runway repair cement to create test samples with an ERDC coin centered on top.  The third activity demonstrated the use of dust stabilizers to control fugitive dust on helipads using remote control Apache helicopters.

“Who would have thought they could have so much fun with hands-on activities that demonstrate principles in chemistry, biology, physics and engineering,” Steevens said.  “The students are so eager to learn more about the real solutions we provide for the Army and nation.”