STEM Project @ Zayed University

Unique design project in the STEM field

The student 8th graders experienced an exciting, varied but above all educational project week at the beginning of February. With a focus on STEM (mathematics/computer science/nature/technology), the two classes had the unique opportunity to participate in various projects, both at our school and at our cooperation partners Siemens and Zayed University.

The highlight was the one-day workshop on modern furniture construction. In the Design Faculty of Zayed University, under the direction of Professor Thorsten Lomker at Head of , seating for the DISD kindergarten was produced with the help of laser cutters, iMacs with suitable modeling software and a lot of manual work. The goal was to design and create modern and child-friendly seating.

The basis was a 2D hand sketch. Thanks to state-of-the-art technologies in the laboratories and the patient support of Prof. Thorsten Lomker and his staff, the student next used a computer program to develop 3D models from the sketches. In the process, they were able to contribute their own ideas about the design. The models were then cut into slices in the computer, which were then laser cut out of cardboard in individual components. The models were then meticulously glued together with their own hands.

The results were phenomenal: A total of seven very individual pieces of children's seating furniture were created. The young designers had to glue, cut, sand and press in teamwork in order to hold such great products in their hands in the end. On the last day, they even used the same method to create a vase out of MDF wood. A big thank you goes to Professor Thorsten Lomker and his team, who made it possible for the DISD to set up and implement such a professional project.

At the end of the project week, the student created walls on which they presented the project with pictures and descriptions. On Wednesday, February 26, Professor Lomker and his team came to the DISD for a ceremonial handover of the furniture to the kindergarten. Besides the head of the kindergarten Matthias Preiss, the principal Michael Lummel was also present.

The student gave a presentation about the workshop and their designs. Then the chairs they had made were presented to the kindergarten. The children were very happy about the interesting seats and tried them out right away. Afterwards, Professor Lomker handed over a special gift: the students had made a jewelry collection from the DISD logo of the sun. We thank them very much for this unique gift.

The 8th grade STEM project was a great success thanks to the active support of my colleagues Julian Kleij, Stefan Frisch, Danya Ouklah, Renée Karlström, Dr. Sammy Wafi and Corinna von Häfen and we are already looking forward to further collaborations with Professor Lomker and his team at Zayed University.

Marcus Brösgen, Head of the Natural Sciences Department