Engineering Everywhere // Museum of Science, Boston
Director, Editor, Co-producer
Created to supplement free curriculum units made available by the Museum of Science, the Engineering Everywhere series breaks down complex scientific processes in visually engaging and digestible ways for elementary and middle school students. It introduces them to engineering concepts and how people are using them in the real world to innovate, create, and move society forward. Utilizing the framework of the engineering design process, students are able to see how an invention evolves from an abstract idea into something usable and tangible that can change the way we live.
VERTICAL FARMS
Camille Richman and Caleb Harper are engineers in the City Farm Research Group at MIT's Media Lab, where they're developing ways to make fresh produce more accessible in urban cities, food deserts, and places unable to sustain robust agriculture. They take us through their prototype of a vertical farm - a concept that would provide climate regulated space to grow any kind of produce anywhere in the world - and explain the ways technology allows us to farm up instead of out, taking advantage of available space in areas where it seems sparse.
Producer: Owen Berliner, Jonathan Hertel
Director & Editor: Kristyn Ulanday
Audio Mix/Record: John Gage
Animation: Kristina Blanchflower
Correspondent: Daniella Ciccone
Bio-inspired textiles
Engineering and Technology Correspondent Daniella Ciccone visits Stone Zoo in Stoneham, MA where Assistant Curator, Pete Costello teaches her how animal biology allows creatures to survive and adapt to the environments in which they live. After learning about how animals temperature regulate and waterproof themselves, she visits the retailer Ministry of Supply to see how Engineer and Co-founder, Gihan Amarasiriwardena is creating clothing that are both comfortable and bio-inspired to adapt with the human body throughout the work day.
Producer: Owen Berliner, Jonathan Hertel, Melissa Higgins
Director & Editor: Kristyn Ulanday
Audio Mix/Record: Billy Wirasnik
Animation: Kristina Blanchflower
Correspondent: Daniella Ciccone
TIME
Keeping time has become so ubiquitous in everyday life, that we sometimes take for granted the engineering that goes into clocks and watches. Walter Rodriguex and Tyler Eisner - two mechanical engineers from the Electric Time clock factory in Medford, MA - take us behind the scenes to see how all the gears that keep time work together. Back at the museum, Masiah Jones - a Museum Youth Volunteer - shows us how our ancestors kept time before we started using modern clocks.
Producer: Owen Berliner, Melissa Higgins
Director & Editor: Kristyn Ulanday
Audio Mix/Record: Billy Wirasnik
Animation: Kristina Blanchflower
Correspondents: Ian Burnette, Masiah Jones
prosthetics
Humans aren't the only ones that can benefit from engineering innovation. Tara Anderson, an Engineer and Researcher at 3D Systems works with a dog named Derby, who was born with deformed front legs, to engineer a solution to help him walk, run, and play with other animals. Using 3D printing and a bit of inspiration from the running blade designed for humans, Tara and her team have been able to fit Derby with prosthetics that allow him to move across both hard and soft surfaces with ease.
Producer: Owen Berliner, Jonathan Hertel
Director & Editor: Kristyn Ulanday
Audio Mix/Record: John Gage
Animation: Kristina Blanchflower
Correspondent: Daniella Ciccone
Outbreaks
As advancements in technology have made it easier to travel around the world faster and more efficiently, so has the potential for humans to spread viruses and disease. Dr. Jonathan Li and Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, Virologists at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA explain what viruses are and how they spread. Over at Massachusetts General Hospital, Emergency Medicine Specialist Dr. Nirma Bustamante explains how doctors identify, isolate and treat viruses in an effort to contain them before they become an outbreak. Meanwhile, researchers like Hayat Ahmed use biomedical engineering to create anti-viral medications that will treat patients when they become sick.
Producer: Owen Berliner, Jonathan Hertel, Melissa Higgins
Director & Editor: Kristyn Ulanday
Audio Mix/Record: Billy Wirasnik
Animation: Kristina Blanchflower
Correspondents: Daniella Ciccone
bio-plastics
As the accumulation of plastic continues to be an environmental problem, our host Ian visits Metabolix in Cambridge, MA, where biochemical engineers are working to develop plant-based bio-plastics that degrade and are better for the planet. Biochemical Engineer Derek Samuelson took Ian into the Fermentation Lab to see how the bio-plastics are made, and then Dr. Mike Andrews, Materials Engineer and Applications Lab Director showed us what products can be made with bio-plastics and how their strength compares to more traditional materials.
Producer: Owen Berliner, Melissa Higgins
Director & Editor: Kristyn Ulanday
Audio Mix/Record: Billy Wirasnik
Animation: Kristina Blanchflower
Correspondents: Ian Burnette, Tania Tauer, Ph.D.