Florida Tech’s Surf Engineering Featured On Science Channel Show, Science Works

By Adam Lowenstein, FIT News Bureau // February 24, 2017

Program to Air Friday at 8 a.m.

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Institute of Technology’s Surf Engineering Analysis course, which allows students to gather data by surfing with specially equipped surfboards, will be spotlighted on the new TV program Science Works, airing at 8 a.m. Feb. 24 on the Science Channel.

The show will be rerun on March 17.

The class, led by Robert Weaver, associate professor of ocean engineering, was filmed last year in the field at Melbourne Beach and at Weaver’s lab on the Florida Tech campus.

“I am thankful for the opportunity to showcase the course to such a broad audience,” Weaver said. “One of the great things about being a professor here at Florida Tech is that we have the ability to develop unique, hands-on and integrated learning experiences for the students.”

Kickstarted with the help of funding from the Florida Tech Academic Information Technology Committee mini-grant program, the course involves students learning to use high-tech gear to analyze the motions of surfers and the waves they are riding.

“The students learn skills that directly translate to their future careers in a fun and unique environment,” Weaver said.

Science Works! is a “virtual field trip” for students and lifelong learners of all ages to see how Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) concepts are not just important in school, but can also lead to fun and fulfilling careers.

“A lot of people think being good at math and science means you’ll get good grades in school but afterwards you’ll get stuck in some boring job,” series director Al Ward said. “It’s so exciting to see people using their STEM education for fun careers, in many ways that I never imagined.”

Find the Science Channel on channels 82, 141 and 1265 on Spectrum (formerly Bright House Networks). It is available on channel 193 on Dish Network, 284 on DirecTV and 258 and 1258 on AT&T U-verse.

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