Ed Surge – Jen Curtis
“It started with an underwhelming science fair—the type we’re all familiar with: students standing next to handmade posters, listlessly describing their projects, usually alone. While some of the projects were impressive, for onlooker Greg Brown, a former engineer, this just wasn’t the way real engineering worked. So he set about to create a more authentic experience, partnering with the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose to launch The Tech Challenge, a program that has served over 20,000 students since it launched thirty years ago. The Tech Challenge has come a long way, with close to 700 teams competing this year, and big-name sponsors including Dell, Intel and Cisco. During the annual April competition, student participants, as young as 4th graders, tackle real-world design challenges like how to build earthquake-proof structures and get arctic explorers safely across ice.”(more)