2nd Annual STEM Rotor Day

Our mission to inspire the STEM leaders of tomorrow and create an excitement about the STEM fields

This event was made possible by the generous contributions of the LORD Corporation and AERTS Lab

2nd Annual STEM Rotor Day

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Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3

Hands-on Activities ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Facility Tours ................................................................................................................................................. 6

Attendance Data ........................................................................................................................................... 7

Advertising Efforts......................................................................................................................................... 7

Event Feedback ............................................................................................................................................. 8

Advertising ................................................................................................................................................ 9

Preferred Demonstrations ...................................................................................................................... 10

Reason for attending .............................................................................................................................. 11

General Feedback ................................................................................................................................... 12

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 13

Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................................... 13

Sponsors .................................................................................................................................................. 13

Volunteers ............................................................................................................................................... 13

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Introduction

On Saturday, November 14, 2015, the Penn State Chapter of the American Helicopter Society came

together to offer a free community rotor-themed STEM event. This event was made possible by the

contributions of the LORD Corporation and AERTS lab at Penn State. The purpose of this event was to

provide exciting STEM activities and aerospace facility tours to elementary and middle school aged

children and their families. This event, however, was open to children of all ages. Following registration,

children were encouraged to enjoy a multitude of hands on STEM activities, and then attend facility tours

while enjoying PSU Berkey Creamery ice cream. Following the event, parents were asked to fill out an exit

survey. The survey results were processed to obtain valuable feedback on the year’s event while providing

a focus of where AHS should focus its resources on for the 2016 event.

This report will outline the event and the event feedback. This event consisted of hands on activities (small

scale wind tunnel, flight simulator, K-MAX gears, gyroscopic stability, RC helicopter lessons, high-speed

camera, and QH-50 hub) and facility tours (AERTS lab and wind tunnel, Hammond Wind Tunnel, flight

simulator, RC Helicopter Stand, Helicopter Museum). The surveys suggest that the efforts in advertising

were successful. They also suggest that the participants enjoy actively engaging activities and desire

activities for younger children.

The feedback also suggests that STEM Rotor Day was a complete success, and is succeeding in its mission

to inspire the STEM leaders of tomorrow and create an excitement about the STEM fields.

Hands-on Activities

Small Scale Wind Tunnel

The small scale wind tunnel used was built and donated to AHS in 2015 by Pierson J. Holcombe Jr. This tunnel was modified for a load cell and data acquisition system. This allowed children to actively investigate the relationship between lift and angle of attack. The children were also able to visually understand why airfoils stall at high angles of attack by the addition of tufts on the airfoil.

Flight Simulator X Plane flight simulation software was used for the flight simulations. The children were able to fly both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters using a joystick. The joystick stick allowed the children to control all control surfaces. We hope to have inspired future pilots!

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K-MAX Gears The main bevel gears of a Kaman K-Max gear box were setup to show how mechanical power is distributed from the engine to the rotors. These large gears were great for the students to play with. They saw how the two main rotors of the K-Max could spin in opposite directions even though it only has one engine

Gyroscopic Stability A bicycle wheel and turntable were used to teach children about gyroscopic stability and conservation of momentum. The kids were able to see how changing the direction of the wheel would affect the spin of the turn table. This was a fun event that drew a lot of attention!

RC Helicopter Lessons Children were very enthusiastic about the opportunity to learn and fly RC quadcopters. Volunteers taught the children the controls for the quadcopters and challenged them to fly through a course of hula-hoops. This was the most popular event at Rotor Day.

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High Speed Camera Children were able to explore life in slow motion. They dropped small objects into water, popped balloons, and make funny faces in front of a high speed camera. This allowed them to see as they never had before!

QH-50

A QH-50 hub was used to teach children about the various control mechanisms of a helicopter rotor and hub.

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Facility Tours

AERTS Lab

Children and their families were taken on guided tours of the AERTS Lab and wind tunnel. After a brief lesson on the importance of icing research, an icing demonstration took place. Afterwards, the families were able to enter the rotor test stand to see and touch the ice on the rotor! This was very exciting for children and their families.

Hammond Wind Tunnel Following the AERTS demonstration, the tour continued into the Hammond Wind Tunnel. Comparing the size of this 2’x3’ test section, closed loop wind tunnel to the small wind tunnel in Kunkle Lounge allowed for perspective about experiment size. They were also taught about the various uses of a wind tunnel.

Flight Simulator

Following the lab tours, families were given the opportunity to take photos in the cockpit of an XV-15 helicopter and see a large flight simulator! Families and kids both loved this event, and it gave families a great memory of the day.

RC Helicopter Stand

After taking photos in the flight simulator, the group met in an RC stand where they had the opportunity to see another lab and ask general questions about the STEM fields and aerospace research. This was a great time for learning away from the large group.

Helicopter Museum

At the end of the tour, the group was taken through the helicopter museum where they were able to see a fully constructed QH-50 UAV, the controls, as well as various other helicopter parts. Everyone enjoyed seeing UAV from the mid 1900’s and comparing it to what they see today.

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Attendance Data

The increase in attendance to the 2nd Annual STEM Rotor Day was unprecedented. 76 children attended

the 2015 event, a 422% increase from the previous year which saw only 18 children. This number was

determined by counting the number of children on the registration forms. In total, 55 groups attended

the event. Based on observation, an average of 2 parents/guardians were with each group. This leads to

a projected attendance of 186 people! The increase in attendance can be attributed to improved

advertising. This will be discussed in the following section of the report.

In order to improve an understanding of the event for next year, it is recommended that both party size

and the age of each child be requested on the registration form. This will allow AHS to target the largest

age groups and create more age appropriate events.

Advertising Efforts

At the 1st Annual STEM Rotor Day in 2014, there were 18 children in total who attended. The primary

advertisement for the event last year was through STEM teachers at middle and high schools in State

College. 75 percent of the attendees in 2014 were in 6th and 7th grade. In order to improve the overall

attendance and interest in the event, elementary and middle school aged children were targeted for the

2015 event in place of high school students. Advertising efforts were also improved. A flyer was developed

for the event that can be seen below.

Parents/Gaurdians (Estimated), 110

Children (Actual), 76

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Estimated Attendee Data

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This flyer was developed with modern, simple graphics and colors that would draw attention. This flyer

was distributed to the information tables of all 11 elementary and middle schools in the State College

Area School District. The event was also advertised on statecollege.com, a local event website, 93.7 the

Bus, a local radio station, and the Penn State AHS Facebook, Twitter, and website. These flyers were also

distributed at Exploration-U, a STEM event held in Bellefonte that AHS was invited to attend the Tuesday

prior to Rotor Day.

Event Feedback

An exit survey was provided for the groups to fill out before going home. This addressed advertising,

favorite demonstrations, reason for coming, and general comments. This survey can be seen below.

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Of the 55 groups who attended rotor day, 19 completed the exit survey. That is 34.5 percent, and enough

to sufficiently represent the viewpoints of the attendees.

In order to improve survey participation next year, it is recommended that AHS sets up a computer at the

exit with a simple digital survey of check boxes. This would remind attendees to fill out a survey upon exit

rather than being asked to fill out a survey before they leave when they are filling out the registration

forms upon arrival.

Advertising

The question “How did you hear about this event?” was asked on the survey. The results can be found

below.

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The surveys suggest that the majority of participants, 26 percent, learned about Rotor Day from

statecollege.com, a local event website. This was followed by Exploration-U advertisement and the SCASD

information tables at 21 and 16 percent, respectively. The Penn State AHS website, Twitter, Facebook,

and 93.7 the Bus were not nearly as effective, only accounting for 10 percent of the attendees. 26 percent

filled out “other” as their source of learning about the event. In the other category were macaronikid.com,

a Happy Valley Moms Facebook page, and word of mouth.

This suggests that it is most effective to target local event advertisement websites, schools directly, and

other STEM events. As a result, it is recommended that for next year’s event many more local event listing

websites should be targeted, flyers should be sent to more schools, and advertisements should be present

at STEM events throughout the year.

Preferred Demonstrations

The question “What was your favorite demonstration?” was asked on the survey. The results can be found

below.

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RC helicopter lessons was the 47 percent favorite, followed by the lab tours and flight simulator at 31.5

percent, and the high speed camera at 26.3 percent. Only 10.5 percent chose the gyroscope. 5.3 percent

chose the gears and wind tunnel, and 0 percent chose the QH-50 demonstration as the favorite. The

results suggest that the participants enjoyed actively engaging activities. The RC helicopter event was a

high action, hands on, and challenging demonstration. The flight simulator was challenging and likely a

new experience. The tours and high-speed camera was gave the children an opportunity to see something

they had never seen before and was also very engaging. By contrast, the gyroscope, gears, wind tunnel,

and QH-50 were much more passive and observation based activities.

This data suggests that AHS should focus its efforts on making all of the activities engaging, exciting, and

new for the children. It is recommended that future activities limit pure observation to keep the children

interested.

Reason for attending

The question “Why did you come to this event?” was asked on the survey. The results can be found below.

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What was your favorite demonstration?

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Science demonstrations were the primary reason for attending Rotor Day at 84.2 percent, followed by lab

tours at 31.6 percent, ice cream at 26.3 percent, and other at 5.3 percent. The other response, however,

was STEM activities which can be considered science demonstrations.

This data suggests that STEM Rotor Day is targeting the proper attendee needs and is serving its designed

purpose. This is an event meant to inspire children to enjoy the STEM fields and become interested in

STEM education. It is also meant to show children what a career in STEM could look like. Science

demonstrations and tours achieve this goal. It is important that the AHS club and sponsor recourses for a

STEM activity are not going to an event which people are attending for the ice cream!

General Feedback

The final question of the survey was “Did you enjoy rotor day?” All 19 survey participants did enjoy Rotor

Day! The comments and concerns section also provided very positive feedback addressing three main

areas:

1. Thanking AHS for the opportunity

2. Excitement for future years

3. Enjoyment of the lab tours

This feedback is encouraging because it both shows that the event was very strong and popular, and the

participants are looking to return to next year’s event. The comments predict growth in the event.

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One comment asked for more interactive activities for young children. This event was intended for

elementary and middle school ages children, however, a large number of pre-school aged children were

in attendance. In order to meet the needs of this large group it is recommended that AHS develop a new

activity specifically for very young children.

Conclusion

The 2nd Annual STEM Rotor Day was a success in nearly every measurable statistic. Attendance was 422%

of the previous year’s event, 76 children vs 18 children. This increase can likely be attributed to advertising

efforts and a new target age group of elementary and middle school based on survey data. Everyone

enjoyed rotor day and is looking to come back in future years.

AHS is encouraged by the success of the event this year and is looking to broaden its efforts to expand the

event next year. The recommended focus areas for next year’s event are listed below:

Advertise on more local event websites and event pages in the towns surrounding State College,

including Bellefonte, Centre Hall, Penns Valley, etc.

Deliver flyers to local schools in the above towns and to more STEM events

Expand the survey to include party size and attendee ages

Make surveys more easily accessible upon exit

Dedicate new activity for preschool aged children

Ensure all activities are actively engaging

Implementing these recommendations will ensure that STEM Rotor Day will continue to grow as an event

and that AHS can continue to serve the children of the community. It is our mission to inspire the STEM

leaders of tomorrow and create an excitement about the STEM fields, and STEM Rotor Day fits this

mission.

Acknowledgments

Penn State AHS would like to acknowledge its sponsors and volunteers.

Sponsors

Penn State AHS would like to thank the generous sponsorship of the Lord Corporation. Their contribution

continues to make STEM Rotor Day possible and allows us to continually inspire the STEM leaders of

tomorrow. AHS also thanks the AERTS lab for its contribution to the event. Its contribution makes

volunteering time to this event possible and enjoyable.

Volunteers

This event would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of its volunteers. The volunteers

are pictured and named below.

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Left to right:

Matt Drury: M.S. Student – AHS Member – Flight Simulator

Miguel Alvarez: M.S. Student – AHS Treasurer – High Speed Camera

Edward T. Rocco: M.S. Student – AHS Public Relation – Tour Guide, Advertising & Data

Jared Soltis: PhD Candidate – AHS President – Event Founder & Photographer

Ahmad Haidar: M.S. Student – AHS Event Coordinator

Sihong Yan: M.S. Student – AHS Secretary – K-MAX Gears

Dr. Jose Palacios: Assistant Professor – AHS Chapter Advisor – Event Sponsor

Left to right:

Jason Stanko: M.S. Student – AHS Member – QH-50 Hub

Sarah Aguasvivas: M.S. Student – AHS Member – Gyroscopic Stability

Tirth Patel: B.S. Student – AHS Member – Event Volunteer

Bryce Connelly: B.S. Student – AHS Member – Wind Tunnel

Belen Veras-Alba: M.S. Student – AHS Member – Hospitality

Not pictured:

Jason Cornelius: B.S. Student – AHS Vice President – RC Helicopters

Dr. Edward Smith – AHS Chapter Advisor