More than anything else, as researcher we want to learn. What happens when I do this to the droplet? Why does the particle react like that? Wanting to learn more is what drives us and what fosters future innovation and leads to the cutting-edge technologies that astound us every day. The DMFL is currently involved in a variety programs that seek to promote learning, especially in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Dr. Schertzer regularly teaches the several courses at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He was recognized for Exemplary Performance in Teaching by the Kate Gleason College of Engineering in 2014 and 2015.
Before graduating from their studies, engineering students at the Rochester Institute of Technology take a Multidisciplinary Senior Design course. Students are divided into teams of engineers of different majors and given a project to complete over the course of a year. The projects can be posed by other students, faculty, our even outside companies. The team follows an engineering design process in which they assess the needs of their customer, develop engineering specifications to meet, develop a concept for the device or system they will create, create a prototype, and then test the final product. Along with the final product, the team also thoroughly documents their entire project on a publicly available web page.
Imagine RIT is an innovation and creativity festival that takes place all across the Rochester Institute of Technology campus each year. RIT students, across all majors and student organizations, showcase the projects they have been working diligently on throughout the year. Students, alumni, parents, children, friends, neighbors, and everyone else are all welcome to visit the campus, enjoy the festivities, and maybe even learn something new! We have had the opportunity to share our research, share our Senior Design projects, and to work with Dr. Maki from the RIT College of Science and more than a dozen of her former SMASH girls.
Beyond 9.8 is a program held every year at RIT for sixth-grade students from Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School in Rochester. Dr. Schertzer serves as a co-director of this program. Students have the opportunity to explore a variety of STEM topics by participating in different interactive activities with professors and lab groups from the RIT Mechanical Engineering Department. In the DMFL, visiting students experience "Adventures in Surface Tension."
