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Mountain Ridge High School

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Mountain Ridge High School
Home of the Mountain Lions!

Engineering

The Engineering Program at Mountain Ridge High School offers four classes including Introduction to Engineering Design, Principles of Engineering, Digital Electronics and engineering Design and Development.  All classes use the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) curriculum format which utilizes the activity-project-problem-based (APPB) teaching and learning pedagogy. APPB learning challenges students to continually hone their interpersonal skills, creative abilities, and problem solving skills based upon engineering concepts.  In addition to the classes, the after school program, MRHS Engineering Club, provides students with the opportunity to participate in robotics competition, develop leadership skills and provide community service.

The major focus of the Introduction to Engineering Design course is to expose students to the design process, research and analysis, teamwork, communication methods, global and human impacts, engineering standards, and technical documentation.  Students will employ engineering and scientific concepts in the solution of engineering design problems. In addition, students use a state of the art 3D solid modeling design software package to help them design solutions to solve proposed problems.  Several design projects will be constructed in our prototype lab. These include the design and building of a puzzle cube and solving the “MacGyver Project”, which is designing a solution to a problem given in class.

Principles of Engineering, the second year course, exposes students to some of the major concepts that they will encounter in a postsecondary engineering course of study.  Students will develop problem-solving skills and apply their knowledge of research and design to create solutions to various challenges. Students will also learn how to document their work and communicate their solutions to their peers and members of the professional community. Students will have an opportunity to investigate engineering and high tech careers. This course also allows students to develop strategies to enable and direct their own learning, which is the ultimate goal of education.  Projects include investigating the uses of solar, hydrogen and wind energy sources and designing, building and programming robotics for real world applications.

Digital Electronics, the third year course, is the study of electronic circuits that are used to process and control digital signals. Digital electronics is the foundation of all modern electronic devices such as cellular phones, MP3 players, laptop computers, digital cameras and high definition televisions.  The major focus of the DE course is to expose students to the use of combinational and sequential logic design, teamwork, communication methods, engineering standards, and technical documentation.

Engineering Design and Development (EDD) is the capstone course in the PLTW high school engineering program. It is an engineering research course in which students work in teams to design and develop an original solution to a valid open-ended technical problem by applying the engineering design process. The course applies and concurrently develops secondary level knowledge and skills in mathematics, science, and technology. After carefully defining the problem, teams of students will design, build, and test their solution. Finally, student teams will present and defend their original solution to an outside panel. While progressing through the engineering design process, students will work closely with experts and will continually hone their organizational, communication and interpersonal skills, their creative and problem solving abilities, and their understanding of the design process. 

Mountain Ridge also has Engineering Clubs to allow students enriching opportunities throughout the school year. These include both extracurricular and co-curricular activities that give the students opportunities to design and build projects both in and outside of normal class time. Students can participate in the state and national competitions through SkillsUSA Mobile Robotics, SkillsUSA Engineering Technologies CTSO (co-curricular only), and the Model Rocket Club. These clubs offer a safe environment for students to socialize while developing engineering and leadership skills.