New York Tech Middle School Summer Maker Academy
Program Overview
People around the world should all have easy access to safe and clean living space, local transportation, clean air, and open public spaces. Unfortunately, many communities lack the ability to provide these basic needs to their local populations.
UN Sustainability Goal #3: Good Health and Well-Being
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. During this weeklong program students will be faced with the challenge of building a Clean Cargo Allocation Ready Truck (CCART) that will meet the main objectives set forth by UN Sustainability Goal #3, to "ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages." The main task for your vehicle is to deliver products safely and germ-free between personnel in a retail and/or commercial environment.
Students will work in teams to design, develop, and build their CCART using skills learned in 3-D modeling, 3-D printing, laser cutting/engraving, and Arduino programming. Don't worry, our instructors and team coaches will be there with you to guide you along the way as your journey takes you from concept to reality. On the final day of the program teams will present their completed and operational small-scale CCART.
Major Goals for the CCART Project
- Meet UN Sustainability Goal #3
- Unique, innovative design
- Integration—use of multiple technologies
- Ability of final assembly to operate
- Presentation of design/project
- Teamwork—work as a cohesive team.
- Fit and finish of design
In addition to the main CCART challenge, there will also be individual and team-based mini-challenges and mini-projects throughout the week to build your skills, win prizes and further prepare you for the main CCART design challenge.
2024 Sessions
July 29 – August 2 Weeklong Workshop
The academy will run in-person daily at our New York City and Long Island campuses from 10 a.m.– 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. It is expected that if you apply to this program, your child is committing to attending the full week-long academy from July 29 – August 2, including the final presentation on August 2. Transportation is not provided.
Applications
Applicants are accepted to the program on a rolling basis. Admission is limited to 40 students, with 20 students each on our New York City and Long Island campuses. Once the program has reached capacity, students will be put on a waiting list.
Deadline to apply: July 12
Apply TodayRequired Forms
Parents must complete and return all the required forms to finalize registration.
Submit FormsContact
Jill Rogers
jillrogers@nyit.edu
516.686.7910
Meet the Instructors
Christopher Springston
Christopher Springston is assistant director for graduate admissions in the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences at New York Institute of Technology. He has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from New York Tech. He has an FE Electrical and Computer Engineering Certification from the state of New York and an AutoCAD Certification from the American Institute of Architects.
For the past four years Springston has worked as a graduate advisement specialist on New York Tech’s Long Island campus, where he advises new and continuing graduate students in the computer science, electrical and computer engineering, cybersecurity, and data science programs. He is also an instructor for undergraduate programs and currently teaches Career Discovery, a course geared toward providing incoming first-year students with the skills and tools necessary for an engineering career.
David Fanning
David Fanning is a laboratory engineer in the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences at New York Institute of Technology. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Stony Brook University. He is EPA 608 Universal Certified to work on Type I, 11, and 111 stationary refrigeration equipment. Over the past 18 years, his career has included architecture, manufacturing, professional educational training, management, and teaching in higher education.
For the past seven years he has been the lab engineer in the Mechanical Engineering department at New York Tech, managing the mechanical engineering student machine shop and student lab areas. He has taught at the college level as an adjunct professor in Career Discovery, Graphical Design (AutoCAD), Thermo-Fluids, Automotive Chassis Systems, Applied Mechanics and Engineering Materials, and Quality Management. He is also the advisor for the university’s Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) student organization.
Kevin Park
Kevin Park has a distinguished career as a leader in business and technology. He is currently a faculty member at New York Institute of Technology (2007) and NYU (2013), and a co-founder/director of UX design at ObjectivEye—a startup that provides a deep understanding and customized UX/UI design and analysis to the AR/VR industry.
Park is co-developer of the AR/VR certificate program, and assisted in developing the M.A. in UX/UI Design and Development in 2018 at New York Institute of Technology. He also teaches User Experience Design; User Interface and Interaction Design; AR/VR Design; Advertising and Branding; and Graphic Design.
He co-developed both the User Experience Design Professional diploma (2016) and UX Design curriculum for NYU's School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS). Since 2013 at NYU, he has taught in areas of UX Design, Brand Design, and Technology in Physical Space.
Park has more than 20 years of professional experience in the art, design, and emerging tech culture. He worked as a senior UX design manager at The Metropolitan Museum of Art for 17 years, and a design consultant for Pentagram, Antenna International, Smithsonian Museum, MoMA, Guggenheim, The Art Institute of Chicago, Harvard University, and McDonald's. He has been influential in the culture of design and remains unmatched through his passion of bridging the gap of AR/VR technology through our daily lives today.
Louie Aragon
Louie Aragon has been teaching at New York Tech since 2009. He has taught a variety of courses, from 3D animation and graphic design to package design and Web design. He also co-developed Brand Yourself, a summer program by the Digital Art and Design Department at New York Tech for high school students exploring the applications and field of graphic design and branding. He was an instructor for the program for five years and served as the director of Brand Yourself and Create Motion for two years.
Additionally, Aragon has been teaching at Sewanhaka High School since 2009. His classes include Studio Art to Digital Design as well as 3D Design. He has worked with the robotics teacher to introduce digital fabrication to the 3D Design course, using 3D printers, laser cutters, and the CNC machine. Currently, Aragon teaches a two-year course, Digital Animation and Game Design, that focuses on new media, 3D/2D animation. and game development. His senior students recently finished a collaborative project with the New York Tech Digital Art and Design Department in which they explored and created a game using Meta Quest 3 VR and the Unity Game Engine.
Aragon is also actively freelancing in both web and graphic design. Prior to teaching at New York Tech and Sewanhaka High School, he worked as a 3D generalist at Softlab located in Manhattan. He has worked on 3D animations as well as fabrication projects that involved 3D printing and CNC milling. He received his B.F.A. with a concentration in Computer Graphics in 2005 at New York Tech. In addition, he has an M.A. in Art Education from Adelphi University as well as an Advanced Certificate in Educational Leadership from Long Island University.