Design Lives Here
PITTSBURGH – This year, Design Lives Here will again be a virtual event and a fun 90-minutes of design, invention and competition for hundreds of local students. This will be the 13th year of the competition and includes ten returning schools from previous years with the addition of five new participating schools and four libraries that are part of WQED’s Inquire Within initiative.
This year, 827 students in grades 5-8 will represent different southwestern Pennsylvania educational stakeholders in preparation for the culminating competition day on March 29 with a virtual event. More information on Design Lives Here is available at
This Year’s Challenge: Build a Hovercraft
The students will meet virtually on Tuesday, March 29 to construct a hovercraft, which is an air-cushion vehicle that can travel over land, water, and other surfaces. Teams will float a disk on a cushion of air and play games like air hockey. They will construct the hovercraft using a CD, straw, a three-inch piece of packing foam, a balloon, duct tape, rubber band, and a barbeque skewer. The hovercraft will be tested to see how far it will go on a smooth surface.
WQED will distribute all supplies needed for the event, and will include a swag bag and T-shirt for each participant.
Participating schools include:
· Marshall Elementary – North Allegheny School District· Valley Junior Senior High School – New Kensington Arnold School District· Cecil Intermediate – Cannon McMillian School District· Independence Middle School – Bethel Park School District· Deer Lakes Middle School· Franklin Regional Middle School· Canonsburg Middle School· Pittsburgh Schiller STEAM Academy· Stewart Elementary – Burrell School District· Propel Montour Middle School· Propel Pitcairn· Propel Hazelwood· Propel East· Baldwin Middle School – Baldwin-Whitehall School District· Laurel Highlands Middle School will host their own Design Lives Here event day in May. The school includes Design Lives Here activities as part of its STEAM curriculum.
WQED Inquire Within libraries will participate in Design Lives Here in their communities on a separate schedule:
· Carnegie Free Library of Swissvale· Chartiers-Houston Community Library· CC Mellor-Edgewood Library· Moon Township Public LibraryDesign Lives Here is a student outreach program based on the PBS show Design Squad Nation, a reality-style program created to “inspire the next generation of engineers.” The original show featured teens engaged in challenges all over the United States and globe, vying for available scholarships by engaging in the engineering design process to discover solutions that addressed various challenges which occur in the complex, yet compelling, world of engineering.
About WQED
WQED was an experiment in educational community-supported television that was the forerunner to PBS. Today, WQED is a multimedia powerhouse that is as much a part of Pittsburgh as the three rivers. WQED is WQED-TV (PBS); WQED World; WQED Create; WQED Showcase; WQED PBS KIDS Channel; Classical WQED-FM 89.3/Pittsburgh; Classical WQEJ-FM 89.7/Johnstown; the Pittsburgh Concert Channel at WQED-HD2 (89.3-2FM) and online at About The Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania
The Engineers’ Society of Western Pennsylvania (ESWP) has provided a forum for the professional development and social interaction of its members for more than a century. Headquartered in an historic landmark building and club facility, the ESWP is chartered to advance the professions of engineering, architecture and applied sciences through technical activities, public services participation and social organizations. It also supports the needs of industries, communities and government in Western Pennsylvania. The ESWP is a non-profit organization with more than 950 members representing more than 400 local, national and global firms. Learn more about ESWP and our other STEM initiatives at About Howmet Aerospace Foundation
Howmet Aerospace Foundation invests in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education outreach, technical education programs and workforce development initiatives, with a goal of increasing the access of underrepresented communities to STEM disciplines. The Foundation is the independently endowed charitable arm of Howmet Aerospace, a leading global provider of advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries. It further enhances Howmet’s inclusive work environment by investing in programs that support diversity and inclusion. For more information, visit About PPG and the PPG Foundation
PPG’s global community engagement efforts and the PPG Foundation aim to bring color and brightness to PPG communities around the world. We invested $13.3 million in 2021, supporting hundreds of organizations across more than 40 countries. By investing in educational opportunities, we help grow today’s skilled workforce and develop tomorrow’s innovators in fields related to coatings and manufacturing. Plus, we empower PPG employees to multiply their impact for causes that are important to them by supporting their volunteer efforts and charitable giving. Learn more at About MSA
Established in 1914, MSA Safety Incorporated is the global leader in the development, manufacture and supply of safety products that protect people and facility infrastructures. Many MSA products integrate a combination of electronics, mechanical systems and advanced materials to protect users against hazardous or life-threatening situations. The company’s comprehensive product line is used by workers around the world in a broad range of markets, including the oil, gas and petrochemical industry, the fire service, the construction industry, mining and the military. MSA’s core products include self-contained breathing apparatus, fixed gas and flame detection systems, portable gas detection instruments, industrial head protection products, firefighter helmets and protective apparel, and fall protection devices. With 2018 revenues of $1.4 billion, MSA employs approximately 5,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered north of Pittsburgh in Cranberry Township, Pa., and has manufacturing operations in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. With more than 40 international locations, MSA realizes approximately half of its revenue from outside North America. For more information visit MSA’s web site at About Mastech Digital
Mastech Digital, founded in 1986, is a leading provider of Digital Transformation IT Services. The Company offers Data Management and Analytics Solutions, Digital Learning, and IT Staffing Services with a Digital First approach. A minority-owned enterprise, Mastech Digital is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, with offices across the U.S., Canada, and India. The company takes a Digital First approach in believes that while transformation is digital, innovation is human while understanding the growing need for the digital workforce across the enterprise transformation curve.
Mastech Digital’s services include Data Management and Analytics that aim to architect enterprise intelligence, and IT staffing services, delivered with a Digital First approach. The Company offers skill in Digital technologies, as well as other technologies. Mastech Digital also contributes to social causes such as children education, and health, in the US, and India. Its social responsibilities are themed a “Company with a heart”. Visit us at About Rizzo International
Over the course of nearly 35 years, RIZZO has grown from a small, 6-person office to a large corporate headquarters with regional (United States) and international representation. Our qualified staff of technical and design professionals, most with advanced engineering or geoscience degrees and corresponding professional licenses, collectively work to support projects coordinated from our corporate headquarters, but also service clients and markets specific to our regional representatives and our key collaborators.
About Ansys
If you’ve ever seen a rocket launch, flown on an airplane, driven a car, used a computer, touched a mobile device, crossed a bridge, or put on wearable technology, chances are you’ve used a product where Ansys software played a critical role in its creation. Ansys is the global leader in engineering simulation. Through our strategy of Pervasive Engineering Simulation, we help the world’s most innovative companies deliver radically better products to their customers. By offering the best and broadest portfolio of engineering simulation software, we help them solve the most complex design challenges and create products limited only by imagination. Founded in 1970, Ansys is headquartered south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Visit About Venture Engineering
Venture Engineering & Construction, Inc. is a closely held, multi-disciplinary engineering and construction company and one of the nation’s premier process engineering solutions firm. Venture is known as a leader in the treatment and conversion of biogas derived from landfills, animal manure and source separated organic food waste to various forms of energy including electricity, heat and renewable natural gas.
About Hatch
Whatever our clients envision, our engineers can design and build. With over six decades of business and technical experience in the mining, energy, and infrastructure sectors, we know your business and understand that your challenges are changing rapidly. We respond quickly with solutions that are smarter, more efficient, and innovative. We draw upon our 9,000 staff with experience in over 150 countries to challenge the status quo and create positive change for our clients, our employees, and the communities we serve.
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Daedalus has over thirty years experience solving difficult problems in the commercial products industries, including medical devices, laboratory equipment, occupational safety and resource management. Daedalus brings extensive design and engineering capabilities to the product development process. We develop market-leading and award-winning products on time and in budget. Capabilities include User Research, Industrial and Interaction Design, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Human Factors/Ergonomics, and Manufacturing Liaison specialties support a user-centered methodology. Strategic Consulting Services improve client’s internal development processes and identify new product and service opportunities.
About University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering
Welcome to the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. For 175 years, engineering at Pitt has had a singular mission: To create new knowledge which improves the human condition. And this new knowledge is not simply lab experiments, or journal articles, or textbooks. New knowledge lives in people, most especially in our outstanding students.Throughout our academic, research, and community programs, we seek to build a culture of collaboration and inclusivity, supported by pillars of People, Partnerships, and Translation. Our focus is the holistic success of our students and alumni through life-long learning and engagement. Our path forward is challenging, but our future lights the way. Forge Ahead. Learn more at About Design Squad Nation
Design Squad Nation is a 10-part series of TV shows and video blogs that build on the success of the award-winning PBS reality competition series Design Squad to get kids excited about engineering. Design Squad Nation is high-energy, high-drama reality TV led by hosts Nate and Deysi, two professional engineers who work with kids around the world to make their wishes come true through engineering. In fact, one of the most important goals of Design Squad Nation is to inspire viewers to take-on their own hands-on engineering activities.