STEM Adventures:
Bringing K-12 Students to Research Labs and Facilities 
General Douglas MacArthur High School

On March 21, students from Levittown School District’s General Douglas MacArthur High School visited the Stony Brook University R&D Park.  Twenty-six (26) AP Physics students, led by teachers Eric Thompkins and George Donovan, interacted with energy researchers at the AERTC, to learn about educational pathways in hydrogen, battery storage, power electronics, and combustion. At CEWIT, the students simulated AI-programmed robotics with Sunrise Technologies and concluded their tour at the Reality Deck.  Afterwards, the physics students learned about quantum computing from lunch speaker Paul Kassenbaum of SandboxAQ.

Economic Development’s K-12 Engagement series will continue with a visit from Mineola High School’s robotics students in April.

Feedback from the students included: 

“My experience at the Stony Brook field trip opened my eyes to a different environment that I have never explored."

"Seeing the hard scholarly work being done makes me look forward to what the future has in hand for society.”

“It was a very eye-opening experience and I will very much consider Stony Brook as a potential college.”

“The combustion lab has enlightened me into motorsport engineering!”

“AMAZING Day! Thank you! The virtual reality was top-notch!”

“Inspiring field trip that showed us where studying science can take us.”

“I liked driving the race cars and the virtual reality room was cool. It was interesting that could predict eroding. Fun stuff!”  

Organized by Derek O'Connor - Workforce Development Manager (Economic Development)