Project Lead The Way Ohio Archives

Summer Training Institute once again a triumph for PLTW Ohio

The PLTW Summer Training Institute for 2007 once again exceeded all previous attendance records and proved to be the biggest year ever for PLTW’s teacher training workshops.   125 teachers from Ohio and eight other states were trained in two two-week sessions, in a total of nine classes.  Two sections of the foundation courses, Introduction to Engineering Design and Principles of Engineering, were offered, along with classes in Digital Electronics, Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Civil Engineering and Architecture, Engineering Design and Development, and the middle school offering for PLTW teachers, Gateway to Technology. 

This year, the students of Engineering Design and Development, who must design, thoroughly research, and manufacture a prototype product, took part in the first open “trade fair” for PLTW Ohio, during which the students from the other classes evaluated their products and asked probing questions about their viability and manufacturability.  

The trade fair concept proved to be popular and informative, and both participants and instructors loved the format and the casual yet businesslike reality of the trade fair.  Four teams took part, with products ranging from a portable folding la crosse goal to a washing machine lint filter. The trade fair attracted as audience members most of the students from the other classes, who evaluated the merits of each  team's product and asked probing questions about their viability and manufacturability.  Engineering Design and Development instructor Tim Newton had high praise for the trade fair, both in concept and execution.  "This is the model to hold up for all upcoming STIs," he said.  "This will be our standard to live up to."