STEMinars: Online Workshops and Professional Development
We offer STEMinars (STEM Workshops) throughout the year to bring new STEM technologies to light and new students into STEM. In addition, our STEM Education Coordinators work with each school division to provide hands-on technical training to support teachers in academic and co-curricular programs.
Now, in response to social distancing measures, we are launching Online STEMinars, led by STEM staff and faculty, so you never have to distance yourself from project-based learning! These video-recorded or virtually live sessions are offered for FREE and cover a broad range of STEM topics. Some of these sessions include introductions to design software, computer programming, electronics such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi, 3D scanning, makerspace/fabrication equipment, robotics, and more.
STEMinars are designed to be an online resource for the community and will walk you through sample projects and design challenges so that you can develop STEM skills. Registration is required at least 24 hours before a session starts. Sessions run 30-60 minutes depending upon age level and topic.
NOVA staff are working remotely to make additional STEMinars available in the coming months so be on the lookout for new offerings on our website and social media.
Upcoming STEMinars
STEMinar: Cybersecurity Workshops
Tuesdays & Thursdays 12:00-12:50pm starting March 19 through end of May
Check out our popular virtual Cyber Workshops, presented in partnership with ISACA and NOVA faculty and staff. All sessions have different topics and speakers and are recorded for future playback. Topics include Continuity of Operations for the Home, Personal Security Tradecraft, Cyber for High School Students, Teachers, & Parents, and more.
For videos from past workshops click here
STEMinar: Robotics Competitions – A Strategic Approach.
Monday April 6 (4pm) for VEXIQ Challenge
Wednesday April 8 (4pm) for VEX Robotics Competition
Then weekly through May on Mondays (VIQ) and Wednesdays (VRC)
Learn how to start the robotics season right! Afnan Ali, a world champion roboticist, will spend an hour each week working through game strategy. Participants will learn how to analyze and breakdown previous year’s games as well as document strategies that lead toward successful robot prototypes. This introduction on how to apply the engineering design process to competitive robotics is a great introduction for students, parents and mentors. Suitable for ages 10 and up.
STEMinar: Intro to Programming with Python
Wednesdays starting April 8 through April 29 (all at 2pm)
Python is a programming language used to develop software on the web and in app form, including mobile. It’s relatively easy to learn, and can be used to process text, display numbers or images, solve scientific equations, and save data.
Intro to Python: Mad Libs (I/O, variables)
Learn about basic keyboard input, terminal output, and variables by writing a simple Mad Libs game.
Python Branching: Text Adventure Game (if/elif/else)
Explore how to make decisions on the fly with if/elif/else statements in order to create a simple text adventure game.
Python Looping: Guessing Game (repetition)
Examine and use ‘while’ loops to have your user guess a random number until they run out of tries or get it correct. We’ll explore the dynamics of user feedback as well as scoring.
Python Collections: Hangman (managing lots of items)
After a brief intro to Python’s built-in list collection, we’ll use these data structures to implement a simple version of the classic word-guessing game Hangman.
STEMinar: Introduction to SketchUp.
April 10 (2pm) & April 23 (7pm)
SketchUp is a premier 3D design software that truly makes 3D modeling for everyone, with a simple to learn yet robust toolset that empowers you to create whatever you can imagine.
STEMinar: Introduction to Inkscape.
April 14 (7pm) & April 30 (7pm)
This session provides an overview of the free software program called Inkscape, which helps the user transform ideas into a digital representation, which can then be converted to a physical product.
STEMinar: 3D Scanning
April 14 (7pm) & May 1 (7pm)
3D scanning allows users to copy real objects for editing on software. Learn about the present and future possibilities of 3D modeling. We’ll discuss the current technologies such as Photogrammetry and 3D scanners and more emergent technologies such as NeRF (Neural Radiance Fields).
Digital Realty Mock Interview
Date: TBD
Fab Lab – Sewable LED Emoji Pin
Date: TBD
Fab Lab – TinkerCAD
Date: TBD