Communication For Makers

An address to the incoming class of the The Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program at the United States Naval Research Laboratory emphasizing the importance of developing good communication skills for technical professionals. 

Making, building, discovering are the good parts. And getting sponsorship for making, building, discovering requires communication. Communication is a professional skill you need to master.

My mentor Leonardo was backed by the Medicis, the Sforzas, and several Popes, the power elite of his time. That got him the assignments, the resources, and staff to do important work. He won contracts for both basic and applied research for naval technology.

Do you know the difference between basic and applied research?

Leonardo spent a lot of time hanging around in taverns, grooming the legend, the myth, of Leonardo, more than most. Even so, there were times of no support, no jobs, but less than for his competitors who neglected their communication.

Today, it is even easier to develop your following.

How many of you have published professional papers? Written a book?

How many of you curate a blog?

How many of you keep a journal to remind you of what you were doing yesterday?

Today, with the internet, it is important to build a legend of what you are doing. Like anything else that is worthwhile it is a practice. The more you do it, the better you get.

Every time I post on my blogs, I syndicate to over 200,000 readers. That takes 20 minutes. The Washington Post claims 500,000 readers.

I meet people I don’t even know who know what I am doing. And when they want help, they come find me.

Now is the time to develop your communication skills, just as you are building your scientific skills, and meeting the people who will have an impact of your future careers. Make the most of this opportunity. You are now in the major leagues.

You are getting a copy of this presentation because another mentor, Doc Fails of the Fails Management Institute, told me, “If it’s not written down, it doesn’t exist.” Welcome to the major leagues.

More from the Junior Academy.

Letters To A Young Scientist

Have you ever been called to give advice to someone just starting their career?

Heck, have you ever considered giving yourself a career checkup?

Letters To A Young Scientist by Pulitzer Prize winning author Edward O. Wilson is a delight. Twenty one “letters” (actually each is more focused than a letter, how about a great blog post?) shows how the author got into the science business, the coming importance of science and technology, how to work constructively, where career growth comes from, and mathematics.

Wilson is concerned that too many pre-scientists are scared off early by math bullies, who convince them they don’t know, can’t know enough math to be professional. He’s not against mathematics, just against using math as an early disqualifying tool.

As he sees it, most of research is data collection. After the data is collected and the hypothesis stated, there is some room for someone with a “math toolbox” to assist. A researcher can call on just about any mathematician to get his math.

However, a mathematician without field data to work on is a theorist, scribbling on the white board.

Then magnanimously, Wilson identifies the scientific fields where theoretical math is most valuable.

I have read and watch enough misused math to know that No Matter How Hard You Do The Wrong Thing, It Never Quite Works.

How to pick a career? Start with your passion. That will make it easier to fill in your education. Ph.D.s without a passion have a hard road.

Don’t be afraid to jump to a new passion when it comes along, usually as part of investigating/developing your current passion. Hit hard every swing. Time’s awastin’

New work comes from what you discover in your current work, enlarging, creating context, joining knowledge, creating new opportunities.

This is a book that builds confidence to quit worrying and start doing.

I wish I belonged to a book club where we could give each letter its own session. This book is that good.

Read Letters To A Young Scientist and then give it to someone you love.

Junior Academy – Source of the Future!

The Science Fair – Learning Abounds

(Guest Post - Jack Gates is COO of Sales Lab and a frequent contributor to the Junior Academy) 

The Junior Academy of the Washington Academy of Sciences judge school science fairs in the Washington DC area and I have the honor of participating as a judge.

WAS Judges - Paint Branch HS
Science & Media Signature Expo March 2012

What a delight to listen to the students presenting their projects, what they thought would happen, what actually happened, and what they discovered. How refreshing to see their passion and enthusiasm as they share what they learned – learning by doing – and their pride of accomplishment as they speak with the judges.

Each student participating in the science fair receives a certificate acknowledging their participation and the accomplishment of presenting the project. It has the student's name, their school, the date, and is signed by Dick Davies, the Vice President – Junior Academy – the certificate is presented to the student after the science fair. How do they feel about receiving the certificate? They appreciate the acknowledgment of their contribution and value a reminder of the accomplishment of doing and learning. How do I know what the students' think? They offer comments about being a part of the science fair and what they get out of their participation. Positive and meaningful!

Last year in a discussion about awarding a certificate to each student, I offered an observation about sports teams that give a trophy to each player regardless of their contribution – the better players have devalued the trophy as it is no longer evidence of their competitive ability.

Jack Gates

But a science fair is not a competition – it is participating in learning and sharing what is discovered, was the response to my point. In this light, I had to agree. However, when I heard from the students about their feelings on receiving a certificate, I was transformed into an avid supporter of 'certificating' students. In fact, I feel if you want to generate enthusiasm and engage the student, award a certificate to commemorate the student's accomplishment and contribution – it will add another dimension to the event.

Last year, the science leaders at Paint Branch High School - Jeanette Dixon (Principal), Brian Eichenlaub (Signature Head), Pamela Leffler (Science Head) – reinvented the Science & Media Signature Expo (science fair) from the traditional format: shifting it to the evening so more parents can attend, staging the projects in locations throughout the building with science posters and items in the hallways, and encouraging the students to have fun and share what they learned – it was a carnival atmosphere with plenty of fun. 

Brian                                       Pam

As a result, this year the number of exhibits increased from approximately 150 to 500, and the Expo took over most of the first floor in the school. As visitors entered the exhibit halls, students would greet them eagerly and try to entice them to visit one or another of the demonstration stations where students did live experiments to show a specific scientific principle followed by a crisp explanation of what happened and why. The students were having fun, the visitors were engaged and learned – and stayed for hours – and the teachers, planners, and judges saw potential scientists and life-long learners.

The students discovered what happens when an experiment works or doesn't work and that you can learn from both. The Paint Branch HS science leaders made changes which enhanced the program by greater community participation – students, parents, schools staff. We learned that certificates are placeholders for student accomplishments and achievements – saved and shown to others with pride.

Would you share other initiatives that engage and excite the students in hands on learning?

Join us -

April 10 is the next Capital Technology Management Hub featuring Sales Lab's Rainmaker 13 - Are You Making The Most of Your Opportunity? 300 seconds of pure profit. The main speaker will be Tom Cooper of Bright Hill Group, presenting How to Deliver On a Project - When Your Team Doesn't Report To You.

Montgomery Blair HS Science Program Extends Work Of Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Mendeleyev, Lovelace, And Some Famous Scientists As Well!

Jim Disbrow has been a Science Judge with the Junior Academy at the Washington Academy of Sciences for almost as many years as he has been a presenter at the Professional Development Institute (PDI) hosted annually by the Virginia Association of Science Teachers (www.VAST.org ). Props he lent were from his collection of PDI discrepant event props. He is currently WAS Vice President for Administration. 

 

Montgomery Blair High School (MBHS) has one of the country’s top magnet high school science programs. The MBHS Magnet Program had the 2012 Senior Research Project’s Convention and Program’s Poster Exhibit in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Thursday afternoon and evening, February 22nd. Students made presentations of their individual research projects. On display were the results of 90 research projects covering the physical sciences of astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth/geospace and physics, as well as the behavioral, computer, and social sciences.

The Junior Academy of the Washington Academy of Sciences provided 16 volunteer judges to evaluate the projects of these young scientists - and to decide which special recognitions were deserved by each. The judges spoke directly with the students, inquiring on the research and study behind their presentations. Many of the judges commented on the enthusiasm and excitement the students brought to their work. 

The students presented their research as the judges moved about the room in small groups, each group evaluating posters addressing a specific field. The judges engaged the students in a free flowing discussion of ideas and lessons learned, including how much fun they have had during their project’s unfolding process.

When the judges heard the initial presentation by a student presenting a poster on Astronomy, one judge offered the student an opportunity to review and display some additional props that had bearing on his research subject:

• Complete facsimile of Einstein’s 1912 Manuscript on the Special Theory of Relativity (in German - with a complete robust set of equations - and with an English translation);
• Lexicon sharing knowledge on the current status of the Millennium Prize Problems, posed in 2000. Of seven of the world’s greatest unsolved mathematical puzzles, six apply to his topic: Poincare Conjecture, Hodge Conjecture, Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture, Yang-Mills existence and mass gap, Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness, Riemann hypothesis); and
• A prop that demonstrates field theory via Maxwell’s Equations (rare-earth magnets that drop through a foot-long plumber’s copper pipe).

When the student came on stage to receive his recognition as the 1st Prize Winner in Astronomy, this offer was pointed out to the audience, including where to see the props.

Over 50 individual special recognition awards were made at that evening’s ceremony. Jim Disbrow, Washington Academy Vice President of Administration, made these individual awards on behalf of the Washington Academy of Sciences.

After the awards ceremony, the young scientist kept running the prop through its paces in front of a gaggle of people, using both a cow magnet and the rare-earth magnets - drawing spontaneous laughter from the amazed parents, teachers and students as he explained and they realized why it worked so far differently than they might have ever imagined. With event props demonstrating different physical realities, the student was engaged and drank from each of these three fire hoses, understanding what topologies he had in hand - and responding appropriately.

The students’ hard work was demonstrated in their presentations and response to inquiries. The judges were continually amazed at the ingenious ideas and approaches the students took, often under the guidance of professional scientists associated with local Universities, Government Laboratories, and private corporations. Those mentors present were introduced and honored by their student-proteges.

One aspect that struck every judge was each student’s personal involvement in their projects. Many students had received scholarships and internships that led directly to the hypotheses and results reported on the posters. The posters were made by the students in school facilities that supported making wonderful professional-quality posters - and they made good use of them.

The judges evaluated the research on scientific thought, creative ability, project thoroughness and clarity, and exhibit presentation. Judging the presentation on the accuracy of the science, the merit of science, and the challenges of the research along with the enthusiasm of the student made it a difficult task for all. In line with the non-competitiveness of science poster exhibits, each participant received an award suitable for inclusion in their college applications. However, after much deliberation and reevaluation by the judges, 50 projects received special recognition.

It was good to see that science and technology exploration is in the hands of qualified and enthusiastic young scientists. At the awards ceremony, the keynote speaker was an MBHS graduate (a participant of this same poster presentation event 6 years prior) told his story about what he had experienced in higher learning since he had graduated from high school, where he was now in his career, and, based on the lessons he has learned, encouraged the students on making the most of their futures. He gave some very insightful comments to these students whose paths are still open.

The Washington Academy of Science provided formal certificates to each student in appreciation of allowing us to be a part of their experience, with the hope that each of the students will continue with their enthusiasm and interests in Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STREAM) - wherever the currents take them. 

Your comments? 

Please join us 6 pm, March 13^th, at the Capital Technology Management Hub, where Sales Lab’s Jack Gates presents Rainmaker 12, Lessons from Makers, followed by the featured CTMH Presentation, Sales Lab’s Dick Davies speaking about The Direct Economy, How to Profit from The Most Lucrative Market in the History of the World! 

St. Charles School Science Fair 2012

(Guest Post - Kevin Brogan)

The annual St. Charles Middle School Science Fair in Arlington was held Friday morning, Fedruary 3rd,  in the auditorium, exhibiting the research of the sixth, seventh and eighth grade classes. On display were 39 research projects covering the physical sciences of chemistry, physics, and earth science, as well as the behavioral and social sciences.

The Junior Academy of the Washington Academy of Sciences provided 14 volunteer judges to evaluate the projects of these young scientists. The judges spoke directly with the students, inquiring on the research and study behind their presentations. Many of the judges commented on the enthusiasm the students brought to their work. 

The students presented their research as the judges moved about the room in pairs, each group evaluating a specific field. The judges engaged the students in a free flowing discussion of ideas and lessons learned.

The students’ hard work was demonstrated in their presentations and response to inquiries. The judges were continually amazed at the ingenious ideas and approaches the students took.

One aspect that struck every judge was the personal connection, where the presentation was tied to some aspect of the student’s life; from a cook who wanted to know if sugar substitute could be used for cooking (each substitute lost convincingly to the real thing in a taste test) to a musician who wanted to soundproof her sister’s room so as not to disturb her during practice.

The judges evaluated the research on project clarity, accuracy of the science, and the presentation by the student. Judging the presentation on the merit of science and research along with the enthusiasm of the student made it a difficult task for all. In the end after much deliberation and reevaluation by the judges six projects rose to the top:

Honorable mention:

• Confirming sugar vs sugar substitute as a matter of preference
• Determining Vitamin C in vegetable as correlation to leaf darkness
• Measuring vegetation growth in sand vs gravel

Third Place

• Assessing fear and phobia as a factor of maturity

Second Place

• Discovering bacteria in the Mall

First Place

• Examining soundproofing materials

It was good to see that science and technology exploration is in the hands of qualified enthusiastic young scientists. At the award ceremony, several speakers noted how science comes in many different forms and research can be applied across a vast range of inquiries. Washington Academy of Science provided certificates to each student in appreciation of allowing us to be a part of this experience, with the hope that the students will continue with their interest in science and technology wherever it takes them.

Kevin Brogan, PhD, helps run the Junior Academy at the Washington Academy of Sciences. He is a published author on Defense Policy and the Value Of Performance In Technology For Government at the Northrop Grumman Corporation. 

 

Education 2012

Happy New Year!

The purpose of education has changed. It’s past time to change the methods and results.

For Socrates, a scroll could be read twenty times before crumbling. Read it each time to twenty students and you have squared the impact of the technology. Efficient.

It was really expensive to read alone in the Golden Age.

In the 1400’s, before Gutenberg, young scholars would go to University to get their education, principally to memorize the great works. Scholars were repositories of ideas for their society, walking, breathing, search engines, since a wealthy household might own two or three books. Scholars weren’t expected to put their knowledge to practical solutions, but to share their knowledge as tutors and speakers.

Classical education began as the efficient way of learning, holding, and distributing knowledge before printing.

Today some classic educators hold to that model. I can remember, as a scholarship student at a private academy, being mocked as hopelessly bourgeois (trade oriented), by a snooty trust fund academic, the end of his granddaddy’s mouthwash empire. Go Ben Franklin!

For the past decade, I have been privileged to work with students and teachers at the elementary, high school, college, and post-graduate levels. Here’s what I’ve learned.

Except for the apocalypse purveyors, there’s not much demand for memorization. Even with a really fast pen, it’s hard to out-produce a search engine.

The purpose of education is increasingly to make something, whether it’s a good story, an app, a performance, or a rocket. Then make something else. Malcolm Gladwell writes that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert.

Learning new facts is a necessary step in creation. Learning new facts in the context of creating a deliverable is more productive than learning theoretical facts without immediate usage.

Rafters were my key to decoding trigonometry.

What about theoretical physicists?

I would rather back a theoretical physicist who has experience building some of his equipment. Betcha he knows the guidelines for soldering copper water pipe, “Neat, but not gaudy.”

This week, get out there and make something. Put it on the refrigerator. Next week make a better refrigerator, then go read and love Makers.

Please MAKE a comment!

Events next week:

How To Tune Your Work For The Internet

Capital Technology Management Hub

Tuesday, January 10, 6:30 – 6:35 pm

Arlington GMU Campus
Founders Hall, Room 126

3351 Fairfax Drive Arlington, VA 22226

AND/OR

How you can benefit from the strongest economic opportunity
in the history of the world!

Association Of Information Technology Professionals (AITP)

Thursday, January 12, 6 – 9 pm

Alfio's La Trattoria,

4515 Willard Ave, Chevy Chase MD 20815

A New-Style Science Faire

Paint Branch High School launched their Science and Media Signature Expo March 15^th.

It is a new take on their traditional annual science fair.

“We knew we were losing the students with the traditional story boarded report of past experiments,” said Brian Eichenlaub, Signature Coordinator at Paint Branch. “We wanted as much motion, and actual demonstration as we could get.”

“In years past, we held our science fairs during the school day, attended mostly by science students. This year we moved it to the evening, and had an audience of almost four hundred students, parents and people who support the school entertained by over 100 projects with light, sound, and motion.”

The Signature Media Expo looked like a circus and a carnival, objects in the air, water spouting, and teachers racing for a vacuum cleaner to clean up spilled powder.

It was a happy confusion, hugely entertaining, and a lot of learning going on.

Where are you seeing education breakthroughs?

Washington Math Science and Technology High School

The Washington DC Math, Science and Technology Public Charter High School is one of the top schools in the area. I have been judging at this school for over 6 years.

To the Scientists of the Washington Math, Science and Technology Public Charter High School, congratulations!

Today we have seen a hundred experiments and projects and much new knowledge.

You have proven you can conceptualize, invent, overcome problems, and give the world answers.

The next time someone comes to you and asks you to do something you have never done before, you can say, “I know how to do that!” and you will be telling the truth, because you have shown you can figure things out, complete a project, and report your results.

Those are pretty important things to know how to do.

On behalf of the Washington Academy of Sciences, we welcome you to the community of scientists and salute your achievements.

Science and America

Dick's remarks at the St Charles School Science Fair Awards Ceremony.

On behalf of my colleagues today and the Washington Academy of Sciences, I would like to thank you for inviting us to today's St Charles School Science Fair. Judging new scientists is fun for us older scientists, that's why my colleagues and I keep showing up year after year. Again, thank you for inviting us. 

 

I would like to put our efforts today into a context. Science has always been a source of American strength. Tim Ferris, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, our landlord, wrote a book about America and Science called The Science of Liberty. I remember his detailing that over 60% of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were practicing scientists. You are in good company. 

He also told the story of how James Madison and General Washington, two local boys, on a slow afternoon during the Revolutionary War, took a flatboat out into the swamps of Jersey, and were poling the bottom to determine how swamp gas was formed. That's the American Way. 

 

My friend Enrico Fermi said, “Experimental confirmation of a prediction is merely a measurement. An experiment disproving a prediction is a discovery.” 

So science is inherently messy. Scientists learn early that the best part is figuring out why you didn't get what you expected. 

Science fairs are a most important part of the science process. Learning is good, but professionals know nothing counts until you ship. A science fair is when you put up or shut up. Every presenter here today completed something important today. 

We probably won't know how important for years to come. I hope many of you will continue developing your understanding of these projects for years to come. 

Today we saw some great science and now we would like to tell you about it.

I would first like our judges to come to the podium and introduce themselves, and then we will call up the award winners from today's program. 

Dick Davies is Vice President, Junior Academy, for the Washington Academy of Sciences. Every year the Academy Judges Scholastic Science Fairs in the Washington DC, Northern Virginia, and suburban Maryland. If you are a member of the Washington Academy or our more than 60 affiliated societies, and would like to participate as a judge, please let me know. We need you! If you are an educator looking for professional scientists and technologists to judge your science fairs, we would be pleased to provide resources.  

Your Comments?