Alumni Spotlight: Katelyn Koons

As a senior at Johns Hopkins University, Germantown Academy alumna Katelyn Koons '12 has plenty of experience with the design process of bringing a product to life. Koons is majoring in both Mechanical Engineering and Applied Math, and while home on winter break she recently presented her senior Mechanical Engineering design project to GA’s Honor Engineering course in the makerspace of the Beard Center for Innovation.

Koons and her college teammates are currently making a prosthetic ankle with an infinitely adjustable heel height for female veterans who want to wear high heel shoes between 0-4 inches.
"We had a fall design day where we presented in front of seven judges who are part of the American Society for Mechanical Engineering and we had to show our final prototype and where we're going to take it; how we're going to test it and what sort of adjustments we might make in the future," said Koons, who will finish her innovative product with her teammates during the second semester.
During the course of her presentation, Koons offered important insight into the design process and encouraged students to battle through any frustration they might feel at times during the prototyping stages of a project.

"Just build," she said. "Who cares if it fails? You’ll find another way." Koons also noted how important it is to have experience working in groups before college, and she’s certainly excited for students at GA who have the opportunity to practice teamwork and go through the design thinking process on a regular basis. "I think that's great,” noted Koons in regards to GA’s design thinking and project-based learning initiatives. "It's a lot to go from reading everything in a textbook, having everything all in theory, and going from that to building something that works. I think it's a very good idea to have a lot of projects."

After graduation, Koons has plans to complete a one-year post baccalaureate premedical program at Thomas Jefferson University and then plans to attend medical school. (posted on Today at GA)

MS Students Test Solar Ovens in The Academic Courtyard

Save Humpty Dumpty: A PreK Design Thinking Challenge

Rhyming is an important pre literacy skill for young children.  At Germantown Academy, PreK children learn many Mother Goose nursery rhymes and perform them for an audience in the Spring. 

To complement this work, PreK students are participating in a series of nursery rhyme design thinking challenges.  Their first challenge was to help Humpty Dumpty.  Could they design something to keep Humpty Dumpty safe if he fell off the wall?  The children first thought about ways that they keep themselves safe: seat belts, helmets, etc.  They then made representational drawings of their ideas to protect Humpty Dumpty.  

PreK children were given a variety of recycled materials to build models of their designs in the Tinker Lab.  Students’ creations varied from soft beds for Humpty to car seats with seat belts. Some children wrapped Humpty Dumpty in masking tape while others created a slide so Humpty Dumpty could get down safely.  

They built a wall of blocks and children were given their own Humpty Dumpty egg for testing.  Some cracked and some stayed in tact.  In either case, children were encouraged to go back and revise their designs so Humpty Dumpty would be safer for the next fall.    

Design thinking challenges like this one ask students to be reflective, to solve problems creatively, and to try again if something doesn’t work the first time.  When young children engage in design thinking projects, we give them an opportunity to internalize these habits as they begin their journey into lifelong learning.