STEM Outreach Events Makes Impact in Local Communities

Andrew Mannion Asst. Sports Editor

Manhattan College’s STEM outreach event focused on reaching out to local communities and schools to provide opportunities for students to learn some of the basics of engineering.

The engineering societies at MC did a multitude of demonstrations at local schools, churches and other gathering places.

One of the hosts of the event, Velbeth Cifuentes, described the work that the societies do and how it benefits students in the area.

“Our mission is to bring engineering fundamentals to minority groups, whether that’s teaching middle school or high school students, the basic concepts of engineering and kind of introducing to them the field,” Velbeth said. “A lot of these places and schools that have a high percentage of minority students, they don’t get the ability to get well informed on the different kinds of jobs that they can do in the field.”

By showing them different uses for engineering, students can find their own interests within the field.

Mechanical engineering student Brody Sims stated how he gained a passion for engineering from his interests at a young age.

“In elementary and middle school, my interest [in engineering] had to do with my passion in cars that I have had ever since I was young,” Sims said. “Anything from sports cars to your everyday drivers that you’d find on the road. It always took a fascination with me. I’ve always wanted to be able to build and design them. That’s why I chose engineering as my major here at Manhattan College.”

The event focused on showing young students different examples of engineering and how it impacts the world. The societies demonstrated different things such as making drawbridges and seeing how

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