‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.
The next Bluestamper we’ll meet is Surya B. Surya, one of the younger students, is a sophomore at Newark Collegiate; she’s a self-described “tech nerd”,but she also describes herself as “artsy”,and is interested in singing. Consistent with this eclectic self image, Surya aspires to learn something different every summer; she acknowledges that it was an adjustment to work with older students, but with her broad range of interests and academic talents, she proved herself well matched for the task. Surya says she’s been interested in neurosurgery since she was little, and wants to ‘help people’ when she gets older; her Bluestamp summer project was a multitouch sensor.
‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.
The next Bluestamper we’re going to meet is James K., a senior at Birch-Wathen Lenox. James is quite eclectic in his interests; he plays three sports in school (basketball, soccer, and golf), and he’s also involved with the “rocket club”. James also works with the “Room to Read” program in his spare time, helping spread literacy to young people around the world, and he’s traveled as far away as Zambia. His Bluestamp summer project was an omnidirectional robot arm that was operated by remote control. The software was capable of interpreting the position of 2 joysticks into motion in any direction! With his penchant for engineering and interest in global issues, James is sure to have an impact in this world!
‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.
The next Bluestamp engineer we’ll meet is Ariel Z. Ariel is entering her senior year at Brearley High School, and wants to study biomedical engineering in college. She’s also interested in nanotechnology, and says she likes to see the direct effect that research has on people’s lives. Like the rest of our Bluestampers, Ariel has diverse interests outside the classroom; she’s a drummer, she plays squash and badminton, and she represented Chile at the Harvard Model United Nations. Ariel’s summer project was a robotic arm; she called it Voldemort!
‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.
The next Bluestamp Engineer we’ll meet is an incoming junior named Iltimas D. Iltimas has an animated personality with varied interests; he’s a long boarder (as you can tell from his instructable) and a drummer, and he wants to study aerospace in college. His BSE summer project was a mini wind turbine; it was fully designed by his own research to be of smaller size for Manhattan living, and he called it his “baby”. Asked about the Bluestamp program, he said “I’m so glad I did it”; he also enjoyed assisting his fellow Bluestampers in their efforts thanks to his broad interests in all disciplines of engineering.
‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.
The next Bluestamp engineer we’re going to meet is Tasha M, who is entering her senior year at the NYC Lab School. Along with her interest in engineering, Tasha is deeply concerned with social issues; the summer before she became a Bluestamp engineer, she went to Stanford University’s campus to study law and engaged in mock trials. Tasha is interested in political science, and is considering studying immigration law or intellectual property–and last but not least, she’s studied classical piano for most of life. Her diverse array of interests shows that one need not only be interested in engineering to become a capable engineer! Tasha’s summer project was a GPS tracking device that uses an ATMEL microcontroller and a GPS module.
‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.
The next Bluestamp engineer we’ll meet is Kadeem T.B., who goes to school with Deondre at Harlem’s Promise Academy. He’s also entering his senior year, and is considering Duke and Morehouse for college. He and Deondre have been friends since the third grade! Quiet in disposition, Kadeem offered some thoughtful insights about his opportunity at Bluestamp; he appreciated the chance to do more “hands-on” work, and he enjoys the “preciseness of the engineering field”. He offered another observation that some will consider sobering: “statistically, where I’m from, we ain’t gonna make it”…this sort of thing is exactly why Kadeem, like all of our aspiring engineers, is a good candidate for Bluestamp’s program. When all the students were asked to make a statement, he said “thank you for believing in us”…he also does the ‘pay it forward’ thing, engaging in community service work with fellow Bluestamper Deondre.
‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.
The next Bluestamp engineer we’re going to meet is Deondre. Deondre’s an incoming senior at the Promise Academy in Harlem; he’s charismatic and easygoing, and in his own words, he “learned a lot this summer”. Along with being a basketball enthusiast, Deondre volunteers at a food kitchen in his spare time, and has traveled as far as Alaska with his family and the Galapagos Islands with his science class. He hopes to attend Carnegie Mellon, and his Bluestamp project was a laser security system. He’s considering applying for next summer’s Bluestamp program, as well. Good luck Deondre!
‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.
Our next young engineer is a mild-mannered fellow named Sam F. One of the few in Bluestamp’s inaugural class who’s only entering his sophomore year, Sam goes to Staten Island Technical High School. Sam’s calm disposition belies an intensity and apparent centeredness that seem beyond his years. His summer project was a CD player, though he was only present at the first of my visits, it seemed to be coming along nicely–as he filled the room with, among other things, old Beatles tunes. Thanks for the soundtrack, Sam, and keep engineering!
‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.
The first BlueStamp graduate we’ll meet is a mild-mannered Belgian-American named David, who is about to enter his junior year at the Ramaz school in Manhattan. He’s got a wide array of interests: he’s an avid fencer, and he’s a big fan of military history who’s considering studying biomedical engineering in college. He’s led history classes via powerpoint, as both a freshman and a sophomore! He also enjoys programming in his spare time, and his Bluestamp summer project was a robotic arm. He had to disassemble it along the way because of a few glitches; for a while, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to pull it off! But David’s a smart and focused lad, and by the end of the program he had his project up and running.
David’s blog article and videos can be found here. Nice work David!
‘Production & Promise’ is a series of articles by Paul West, author of First Cause, who spent a few days with BSE’s 2011 class.
Taking an elevator to the modest office space within which Bluestamp Engineering holds its daily operations, I had little idea what to expect; its co-founder, my friend Robin Mansukhani, had told me a fair amount about Bluestamp’s mission and operations, but that was my sole preparation. Peering into a rectangular room full of boxes, wires, curious contraptions and casually-dressed high-school students, I saw a scene that many would find hard to interpret at first.
Students of varying ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds, not to mention varying stylistic descriptions, were tinkering at their work stations, talking amongst themselves, huddled over their laptops or dodging each other around the room. The energy was vibrant and scatterbrained, but interestingly unified; it didn’t take long to recognize that these kids were not only genuinely committed to their projects, but genuinely on board with the experiment they were all part of.
The experiment is the brainchild of Mr. Mansukhani and his friend, fellow Case Western graduate David Young. The objective? To expose a broader range of young people to engineering. Bluestamp’s ten students are immersed in a six-week internship of sorts, where they gather for several hours each weekday to work on individual projects–the goal being for them to ‘learn by doing’. It’s akin to on-the-job training, only their margin of error is a little more relaxed (which is to say, nobody’s life is in peril if their wind turbine or robotic arm malfunction) and the instructor-student ratio is a hard-to-find 2.5 to 1. The students are disparate, coming from the Bronx and the Upper East Side and New Jersey, and many will be happy to read that there are several young women in the program as well–counterbalancing the idea of engineering as a ‘male’ province.
In the coming weeks, we’re going to meet each of Bluestamp’s first class of students. We’ll learn a bit about their backgrounds and individual personalities, and we’ll get to read, in their own words, how they feel about the experiment they’re part of. Stay tuned; some of these kids might go down in history.
Production & Promise | PaulW | 
March 22, 2012 2:17 pm | 
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