The Baltimore Post held our annual Easy as Pi Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) event on 24 April, 2024 at the historic Garrett-Jacobs Mansion, home to the Engineer’s Club in downtown Baltimore. Over 120 middle school students attended from Anne Arundel, Charles, and Carroll Counties in Maryland to learn about various careers in STEM fields. It was a record breaking number of students for this event! The day included 4 one-hour sessions where students were divided into five smaller groups based on their interests. During each session students learned about different STEM fields and were given the opportunity to interact, play games, build, and ask questions. Speakers included representatives from the following organizations:
- American Industrial Hygiene Association (Ashton Alban, Ryan Hines, Chelsea Connor, and Kelli Peritz) presenting industrial hygiene in the workplace;
- Maryland Department of Transportation (Dr. Richard Woo, Sharon Hawkins, Leo Gray, Steve Wyatt, Rowland Oloye) presenting the future of transportation with autonomous vehicles;
- Maryland Science Center (Andrea Rabinowitz and Hannah Meredith) presenting synthetic biology;
- Maryland Zoo (Kelley Schultheis and Erin Keenan) presenting breeding programs in zoos; and
- US Naval Academy (Lt Nick Doeller, Dr. Sarah Durkin, LCDR (ret) Ray Guethler, Antje Hlavaty, Solomon Woldeselassie, Jordan Mueller, Matt Robinson, Diego Montez, Chester Castillo, Brady Todd) presenting:
- constructing a hydraulic arm to investigate mechanical advantage and force at a distance; and
- building a tensegrity super-ball to investigate tension/compression forces and their application in space.
This event becomes more successful every year, with more local students attending and learning STEM! Thanks to Easy as Pi Co-Chairs Rosemarie Potocky (Arcadis) and Ivy Harvey (EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., PBC) who organized the event. Special thanks to the speakers, the Engineer’s Club, the students, and the Easy as Pi committee. If you are interested volunteering for Easy as Pi in 2025, please contact Rosemarie Potocky (rosemarie.potocky@arcadis.com) or Ivy Harvey (IHarvey@eaest.com).
