Dr. David Benson (left) explains the principles behind a mini hydrogen fuel cell to teachers at Stark State College during a recent Sustainable Energy Workshop.
By Eve Vitale
For a second consecutive year the DTE Energy Foundation has supported Kettering University’s Sustainable Energy Education Program (SEEP) with donations totaling $87,000.
SEEP, the brainchild of Dr. Joel Berry, professor and former department head in Mechanical Engineering, is a multi-layered program offered by the University.
“The broad vision of the program is to impact Flint and Michigan through education, research, development of ideas and commercialization that leads to jobs,” said Berry.
The sustainable energy push at Kettering began with a $1.8 million grant from the Economic Development Administration in January, 2004. It continues with ongoing fuel cell research, a Fuel Cells & Hybrid Technology minor and Alternative Energy Specialty for undergrads, a Green Business graduate certificate, a sustainable energy pre-college program and the Sustainable Energy Workshop for Science and Technology Teachers.
Michigan’s push to develop an energy economy was Berry’s call to action.
“Before we can sell anyone a vision, they must be educated: Girl Scouts, postal workers, moms and dads, students and teachers,” Berry said. “Everyone has to be aware of the issues and new technologies.”
The DTE Energy Foundation supports future-oriented educational initiatives and was especially interested in funding the development of nuclear energy modules for the annual pre-college program, Get Energized!, and the ongoing Sustainable Energy Workshop for Science and Technology Teachers (SEWFSTT).
The SEWFSTT program was developed and is managed by Dave Namenye, specialist in curriculum design, IMS, with input from Berry and Dr. David Benson, assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering. It targets middle school, high school and community college teachers.
Benson, with the assistance of Namenye, facilitates the workshop. They attribute the success of the program to their team effort citing that teaching the integration of energy concepts into current science programs rather than adding curriculum enables teachers to easily go back to the classroom and educate students about the issues, opportunities and core science principals related to alternative energy including fuel cells, biogas, wind, solar and nuclear energy.
Benson used to be a high school science teacher which makes him especially qualified to understand the factors necessary to make SEWFSTT successful.
“First and foremost, this workshop is about connecting with people,” he said. “We give teachers the skills to adapt the content delivered and to feel comfortable making it their own.”
So far nearly 180 teachers have benefitted from the program with the impact being felt by 5,400 high school and 240 community college students.
Lisa Richter, a Macomb Community College Professor who attended the workshop in 2008, is one example of the workshop’s impact. After her attendance, Richter developed the Renewable Energy Technology Certificate which grew from 24 to 120 students in just over a year. The certificate provides the knowledge and skills required to integrate renewable energy applications in business and industrial environments.
Teachers participating in SEWFSTT don’t spend four days just listening to lectures. Benson engages them with hands-on laboratories and the “Energy Chain” model he developed to encourage discussion and debate regarding alternative energy topics.
“When one energy chain is compared with another, such as nuclear energy to coal-fired electricity, students (the teachers) see the benefits and detractions of each, explore trade-offs and predict where the future will go,” Benson said, emphasizing that there is no ‘right’ answer and that discussions change depending on the circumstances, values and available information. In this way students appreciate the complexity of the arguments and understand that these are the decisions society makes every day.
Energy is critical to our quality of life and economy. As our societal desires shift to greener, more sustainable ways to meet energy demands, it is important to educate, inspire and encourage one another in developing knowledge, solutions, and applications to address those demands. Kettering University is proud to partner with the DTE Energy Foundation in making a new energy paradigm possible.
