Helping Bahamian High Schoolers “Hack” for Social Impact

Who doesn’t love a HACK-A-THON in the Bahamas?! St. Andrews School in Nassau, Bahamas, hosted a HACK.IT, a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education camp for high school students. The great mission is “bringing together students, engineers and entrepreneurs to create a wave of innovation and build a better tomorrow”. 

I had the honor to share some of my electrical engineering expertise with a small group of students over the course of five days. 

My instruction was geared towards basic electrical concepts while focusing on solar PV systems and sustainable energy in general. The students were challenged to apply this new knowledge to social issues in their country. My group addressed transportation and pollution (part of the environmental social impact track), applying sustainable energy in their solutions. 

We had so much fun building solar cars, proving Ohms Law and constructing series and parallel circuits. Not all of my equipment survived but it was worth the sacrifice!