On Tuesday, November 1, a group of 14 juniors and seniors participated at a STEM Forum called Believe in Ohio STEM  Commercialization and Entrepreneurship Forum at YSU Kilcawley Center, which included a creative brainstorming session that led to the students creating their own product and presenting it in front of everyone.

STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

After the STEM Seminar, students were asked what they thought of the experience. Some students thought that it was great preparation for a career in the STEM field.

“The stem session was very educational and insightful into the STEM professions,” said junior Tyler Rabenstein.

While some noticed the merits for a career in STEM that the event inspired, others noted that the experience of creating products was worthwhile too.

Kevin Rabindra said,“It was a cool experience to be a part of and I had cool time trying to come up with ideas for products at the end of the day.”

For the first three hours, the students listened to four guest speakers.

The first speaker was Wim F. A. Steelant, Ph.D., Dean of STEM, and a Professor of Chemistry at YSU. He gave a lecture on medicinal plants and how they can be used to aid in the fight against cancer and other medical fields.

The second was Brett Conner who is an Associate Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Youngstown State University. He talked about 3D printing and its various uses, such as 3D printing can be used to make special parts for specific spacecrafts so that they can be interchanged easily if needed.

The third speaker was Bonita Sharif, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems. Her presentation was about Eye Tracking Research. One noteworthy way  that this technology was used included directing a special wheelchair for disabled children by moving in the direction that their eyes looked at a screen.

The last speaker was Wim Steelant, Ph. D., is Dean of College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. He talked about how he was tired of everyone else inventing things before him, so when he had an idea he and three of his friends set out to make it a reality.