COURT HOUSE – American economic resilience has become tied to how our children and future generations apply the knowledge within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).
The rolling tide of technology is not being ignored by New Jersey. Thanks to an annual STEM-friendly state-wide event, Garden State residents are being made familiar with the advances being made in all facets of science and technology, and Cape May County citizens are in the forefront of shaping a new New Jersey.
A Call for Innovation
In 2015, state residents began collaboration with small businesses, libraries, museums, and governmental agencies to sponsor a one-day, hands-on, ‘meet and greet’ style event where people could experience the current advances in STEM research and experimentation. Called New Jersey Makers Day, organized as an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and a registered New Jersey Charity, the event also educates visitors on the fundamentals of science and technology.
The success of the first Makers Day caused the event to be held over two days beginning in 2016.
Last year, New Jersey Makers Day events were held in 306 sites in 21 counties of New Jersey and reportedly were attended by 85,000 people. This year’s event bore the news that the New Jersey State Library was assisting the event through its Inventor Level Sponsorship, which provides $2,000 in financial donations.
In a statement, New Jersey Makers Day Board President and co-founder Doug Baldwin said, “We are excited and proud to have the continued support of the New Jersey State Library as a major sponsor of New Jersey Makers Day! This level of sustained commitment demonstrates their recognition of the impact of bringing STEM and making experiences, education, and career-awareness to New Jersey communities and residents throughout the state.”
The STEM of Cape May Innovation
Jeff Trout, supervisor, of the Technology Learning Center (TLC) at Cape May County Library, directed New Jersey Makers Day activities at the library. Assisted by Michelle Bingnear, co-head of the TLC, and John Morris among others, Trout was a blur of energy as he and his team were busy welcoming guests to the second-floor exhibit of the Fourth Annual New Jersey Makers Day.
Normally, the TLC acts as a support center for people learning about new technology and software. They offer one-on-one assistance through appointments, although walk-ins may be helped based on the availability of staff. Anyone interested in their assistance should contact TLC at 609-463-6341 or connect with them on Facebook, facebook.com/cmctlc.
At the Makers Day event, visitors were allowed to get hands-on with stations dedicated to touchscreen painting, ham radios, 3D printers, television broadcasting, drones, virtual reality, simple engineering, computer coding, crafts, and robotics.
Judging by the reaction of attendees, including Middle Township Mayor Michael Clark, the event was a success, with some guests amazed by what they encountered.
Excitement for the Future
“This is awesome,” “wow,” “so cool”; these were just a few of the exclamations heard by residents using the virtual reality station at the TLC.
Wearing a virtual reality headset, users were immersed into a virtual world called ‘Diner Duo.’ In it, they played the part of a fast food restaurant cook taking orders from a human cashier. The user had to look at what the order consisted of and cook the food. It did not take long for young participants to get the hang of dwelling in a virtual world.
In the Robot Lounge, visitors could operate via a tablet or remote control a variety of robots, like Star Wars’ BB-8, Anki’s Cozmo, “Q,” and several kit-based robots.
Robots and virtual realities involve effective programming or coding. The TLC had three stations dedicated to differing levels of coding difficulty. A preschool-level station involved matching two puzzle pieces together. The more advanced station had users entering a sequence of commands that would make a Minecraft character perform varying tasks. Trout said that the programming was based on the ‘Scratch’ software used at MIT.
Two 3D printers were also busy turning computer-generated images into physical objects. The 3D renderers act as a normal printer in that a mechanical arm races back and forth over a space to produce an image. The difference is that a 3D printer, using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), builds an image from the bottom up by sequential layering of ABS material.
These printers have been a boon for industries throughout the economy. From creating specialized tools to prosthetic limbs, 3D printing is proving to be one of the most flexible innovations seen in some time.
The TLC offers use of the 3D printer for a nominal $1 fee and 5 cents per gram of plastic used. Anyone interested can go to a program like Thingiverse, thingiverse.com, or Tinkercad, tinkercad.com, to download a model or create one that can then be uploaded at the TLC for production. The creative process generally runs between two to four hours; so, appointments are required.
Another exciting innovation to emerge from STEM is the drone. In recent years, the unmanned vehicles have taken off.
Present to demonstrate the operability and features of drones were the Cape May County chapter of the Wireless Aircraft Sports Pilots (WASP), wasprc.org.
Before trying out a real drone, visitors could use a drone simulator that used the same controls as a real drone. On display were a Syma X5 drone and a variety of homemade drones that were mounted with a small camera, allowing the operator to view what the drone saw through a headset.
For those more interested in feats of engineering, Café 101 and Carvery, of Court House, hosted a station in conjunction with Strawbees, strawbees.com. Visitors were encouraged to build structures from straws and connectors. On display were various geometrical models and an umbrella.
Special Guests
Joe Martucci, meteorologist, Press of Atlantic City, attended Makers Day to demonstrate the technology behind television broadcasting as it relates to weather forecasting. From a green screen station at the TLC, Martucci conducted a weather report and then talked to guests about the job and the science behind it.
Making a special appearance was Clickety the Library Dolphin, official mascot of the Cape May County Library. Making the rounds to the various stations, Clickety greeted guests and even participated in some of the activities.
As mentioned previously, Mayor Clark also spent time at the Makers Day event talking to residents, children, and taking questions from Martucci about what made Middle Township a unique place to live.
For those who attended the event, it was evident that the intellectual curiosity of our citizens, aided greatly by Trout and his expert team, was a great distinguishing characteristic of Middle Township and, indeed, all of Cape May County.
For more information about ways to participate in or support New Jersey Makers Day, please visit njmakersday.org.
To contact Christopher Knoll, email cknoll@cmcherald.com.
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