Be a star at the Great American Teach-In !!

tom blair tom_blair@ieee.org 813-245-5842	Thursday, October 02, 2008 at 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
	Meeting Description Each year, local school systems invite professionals and parents into the classroom to step into the shoes of teachers and share their experiences with students. Visitors engage students in a variety of activities. Visitors often use the opportunity to share the joys and challenges of their professions. Professionals with unusual experiences or special expertise may prepare and teach classes about topics of current interest. For example, one Power Engineering Society member who was involved in the TECO/Department of Energy project to build the first commercial scale coal gasification plant in Polk county taught a class on clean coal technology to environmental science students at Bloomingdale high in Hillsborough County. Schools in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties are holding their teach-ins Wednesday, November 19. Other counties may have teach-ins on other dates. Contact your local schools for more information. This year, FWCS members have decided to show students what engineering is all about by engaging students in a design challenge to “Build Your Own Robot Arm.” The activity was inspired by the heroic accomplishments of Apollo 13 engineers who saved the lives of the crew by adapting the command module CO2 removal filters to work in the lunar module using only miscellaneous “junk” that happened to be on the spacecraft. The FWCS is holding a special meeting to prepare members to present this activity. The meeting is Thursday, October 2, 2008 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and will be held in TECO Hall, which is on the ground floor, just off the atrium of TECO Plaza at 702 N. Franklin Street, 33602 in downtown Tampa. Refreshments will be served at the meeting.
	Additional Information Come join the fun! Whether or not you plan to participate in the Great American Teach-in, this is a cool activity you can use anytime you are called on to explain just what it is that engineers do. Attendance is free. Register on line at http://time2meet.com/fwcs-meetings/. For further information, please contact Ralph Painter, rdpainter@ieee.org, (813) 228-4685.
	Meeting Location 702 N. Franklin Street, Tampa
	This reservation service is provided by Time2Meet.com.