In an international partnership designed to spark interest in STEM careers, University of Florida chemical engineering Assistant Professor Fernando Merida, Ph.D., recently brought hands-on engineering lessons into a classroom in Mexico.
He served as an instructor for Clubes de Ciencia México, a program that brings together students and instructors for intensive, one-week STEM experiences centered on collaboration, experimentation and discovery. The program is for students — ranging from high-school juniors to college seniors — who are eyeing disciplines across STEM fields.
The goal: make seemingly abstract concepts visible, tangible and relevant. Working in four teams, 16 students explored fluid mechanics and heat transfer through bioengineering applications using miniaturized experiential-learning laboratory kits developed in UF’s Department of Chemical Engineering.
Students assembled the kits, collected and interpreted data, troubleshot experimental challenges and connected transport phenomena to biological and biomedical systems.