On February 10, 2023, the STEM Clubs Boba Social took place at Skyline College’s STEM Center. The event was hosted by Skyline College’s MESA (Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement) program and showcased all the many STEM clubs that Skyline College has to offer.
With over 60 participants, the event was well-attended by both new and familiar faces who enjoyed a variety of sweet boba drinks.
The presentations began with Megan White speaking about the BioMedical Engineering Club’s recent achievements and future plans. During the Fall 2022 semester, the club won the best table award at Skylloween and experimented with electrocardiograms (EKGs) and muscle twitching. This semester, there are open roles for the Secretary and Vice President positions, plans for a robotic hand project, and the club hopes to brainstorm more projects and workshops.
Matthew Dacanay highlighted the Computer Science Club’s productive Fall 2022 semester with events including a guest speaker presentation by Tony Hong, an Arduino workshop, and the completion of a heatmap project. Looking ahead, the club has even more opportunities to develop new skills and learn more about the industry as they have another guest speaker coming up with Frank Schubert – an engineering manager at LYFT – and a Coding Interview Prep Series.
John Michael Rada and Leonardo Calle of the Engineering and Robotics Club (ERC) discussed how they’ve successfully reorganized the club and started working on a Solar Boat project. One of ERC’s upcoming events is to use the Solar Boat to compete in the California Solar Regatta on May 6, 2023, while other future events focus on recreation with a Game Day and a Chess Tournament in the works – to be played across students and faculty.
Paul-Frederik Schubert presented about the nEXO program and their research in collaboration with SLAC National Laboratories in pursuit of neutrinoless double beta decay. In his presentation, he covered upcoming workshops for students regarding soldering and 3D printing. Furthermore, the nEXO group will be partaking in the Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) workshop to increase interest in STEM for middle-school-aged girls and would love to have additional volunteers from the community.
Mayra Lopez-Thibodeaux and Gabe Hapin-Aranda of the Skyline Physics and Astronomy Club (PAC) showcased the many activities that will be held for students. The projects being held will have activities such as creating comets and working with telescopes. If you enjoy star gazing, come join their observation nights. Upcoming events this semester they will have are a Field trip to SLAC on April 20, 2023, and an EYH workshop: Scaling the Solar System. Astro lectures, projects, and space movies will help students gain a deeper understanding of astronomy.
Lasheana Dilian Husni, Chel Myint, Florence Thwe, and Jerry Hnin of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society highlighted several events from the Fall 2022 semester with the most prominent being the PTK Induction Ceremony, the NV/CA Fall Leadership Conference, a Navigating College Workshop, the Samaritan Toy Drive, and their Speech Contest. In addition to this wide range of activities, a PTK Orientation will soon take place on February 21, 2023, from 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
Julia Rogers of the Science and Research Club gave an overview of one of the events they hosted last year which was a guest speaker presentation by Dr. Jing Folsom. Several events for the spring semester were also announced as the club is planning to host an Internship Application Workshop on March 3, 2023, and research exploration workshops in the near future.
Chenran Kang and Mowen Tan of the Skyline Cube Association shared their Fall 2022 highlights as several members learned how to solve a Rubik’s cube, held various cubing competitions, and developed a program to solve a Rubik’s cube. Steps the club wishes to take this semester include hosting competitions across multiple games – like Rubik’s cube, chess, sudoku, and Klotski – as well as teaching members how to cube blindfolded.
Amanda Ratti and Rick Hough of the Skyline Sustainable Cooking and Real Food (SCARF) club shared their Fall 2022 highlights and talked about their delicious vegan chili. SCARF’s cooking events promote healthy, sustainable, and affordable foods.
Florence Thwe of Women in Science and Engineering Represent! (WiSER!) provided some achievements from Fall 2022 such as tabling for the Skylloween event and the LED light workshop in partnership with Kiwanis. This spring semester, WiSER will be hosting a workshop at the Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) conference, volunteering for the STEM Frenzy Festival, and a Fab Lab workshop.
Many of the presenters emphasized that prospective members didn’t need prior experience to join. For those thinking about joining or contacting these clubs, consult the presentation slides shared during the event! And for more information on events from MESA, follow us on Instagram @skyline_mesa.
