From building bicycle powered cell-phone chargers to hovercrafts, Parkland’s engineering club offers an outlet for students to express their creativity and innovation.
Club History
When talking to the club advisor, Jeremy Jang, she revealed that the engineering club has been around for a while but originally shut down a long time ago due to a lack of interest. However, around two years before COVID-19, students of Jang had expressed interest in an engineering club, and after learning there had been one previously, they took the initiative to revive it. Unfortunately, during COVID, the club had to shut down again but was able to rekindle after the pandemic.
Club Experience
I had the opportunity to join the club this Tuesday in one of their first meetings of the academic year. Something I noticed was that students from all types of disciplines in engineering, civil engineering, marine engineering, computer science and more gathered; which made for a welcoming environment.
In said meeting, students were learning how to solder wires onto printed circuit boards (PCB) in a larger effort to make circuits. Although the majority of students, including me, had little to no experience soldering, the instructors took time carefully explaining each step of the process and supervising, ensuring we were successful and safe.
After giving everyone an opportunity to practice, the instructor used the soldering skills we learned to solder more wires, completing a circuit that powered a lightbulb.
After the demonstration, we began discussing one of the long-standing practices of the club to look forward to: the semester projects. According to Jang, previous projects included a “micro mouse [that] automatically solves an entire maze” and an “app for a cell phone.” Additionally, Jang noted that the club tried to enter local engineering competitions, highlighting a programming competition they did in the previous years. On top of that, the club will host their own competitions, with previous ones ranging from building the paper airplane that goes the farthest to building the tallest bridge.
With the world of engineering opening up the door to creative design, Jang and the engineering club offers a myriad of opportunities for “anybody [who] wants to design something, build something.” The club is open to all students with no requirement of being an engineering major. Whether you are looking to kill some time between classes or want to 3D-print a build you have been eyeing, the engineering club would love to have you!
The engineering club meets on Tuesdays at noon in room M124. For additional information or questions, email Jeremy Jang at jjang@parkland.edu
