Warren County High School student Logan Wilson has completed the National Youth Leadership Forum: Engineering & Technology, an Envision program offered at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
Outstanding high school students from across the nation took part in this unique career development opportunity. The eight-day, intensive program challenged scholars to become leaders of engineering and technology innovation.
Students participated in classroom and lab activities and had the opportunity to listen to several keynote speakers. Several workshops were offered including 3D Modeling and Printing, Robotics, Computer Programming, Engineering Design and Management, Industrial Engineering, Electronics, Green Technology and Sustainability, Communications, Web and Game Design, and Circuit Design and Wiring.
Wilson says his favorite activity was the Helicopter Electronics Workshop in which students were allowed to program a microprocessor to fly a model helicopter.
“A classic RC helicopter is flown with a remote that sends infrared signals to the helicopter,” said Wilson. “In this workshop, I had a computer program called Arduino and a complex circuit composed of LEDs, a transistor, a battery, a fan, and a disc of infrared lights. I used the Arduino program to throttle, fly, and land the helicopter. The infrared from the circuit flew the helicopter without the need for someone to control it.”
The week-long activities led up to an assignment called a Capstone Project. Wilson had to choose an engineering field, then design and present an invention for that field. He chose biomedical engineering, and with his group, came up with the idea of the “Robo-Nurse 1.” This robot would not take away the jobs of nurses, but would rather perform the monotonous check-ups to save the nurse’s time, allowing for other pressing work to be done.
This year’s NYLF sessions were held at three universities: the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, the University of California-Berkeley, and Georgia Tech. All three schools are ranked among the top five schools nationally for excellence in engineering and technology by U.S. News & World Report.
Many of the students who attend the conference are nominated by teachers and guidance counselors based on their academic excellence, leadership potential, and interest in engineering and technology fields.
Wilson is an upcoming junior at WCHS, and he was nominated to participate due to maintaining academic excellence with a challenging schedule of honors and AP level classes, while participating in multiple clubs and playing sports.