Republican Candidates Propose “Madison Stem Community Program”

Eighth grader and future Madison High School student Matthias works on his inquiry based STEM project, a rechargeable long board with a range of four miles
Eighth grader and future Madison High School student Matthias works on his inquiry based STEM project, a rechargeable long board with a range of four miles

Madison, NJ News — Republican Candidates for Borough Council, Dr. Ron Hendrickson and Mr. Denis Schreiber, would like to see our Borough provide concrete support to help Madison’s population – young, old and in-between – to anticipate and prepare for the evolving job market.

In a joint statement this week, the Republican candidates Hendrickson and Schreiber, emphasized that STEM and Computer Science have taken on an increasingly prominent role within almost every industry across our global economy over the last few decades. High-quality STEM and Computer Science education is more important than ever before because it provides a necessary pathway toward well-paying jobs and stable employment. Dr. Hendrickson commented that, “The Madison School District has recognized this fact and has made investments in educational spaces that are dedicated to STEM and advancing the STEM curriculum. Denis and I believe that our larger Madison Borough community should engage in this effort as well.”

“Our goal is to create interesting, inexpensive and innovative out-of-school experiences and co-curricular activities that reinforce what the students learn in school.”

Hendrickson and Schreiber propose a collaborative partnership between the Borough and institutions of higher education in Madison, further solidifying Madison as a college town. Towards that end, Dr. Hendrickson has already begun forging a relationship with the Drew University Robotics Club, and has spoken with them about leading a hands-on innovation program for Madison students. College students today are looking for meaningful internship opportunities and ways to develop their resumes as they prepare for the job market.

These students are very talented, highly motivated, and are looking to engage their local communities. Hendrickson stated, “I invited the Robotics Club to lead a group of about 10 students in building a 3D printed aerial drone or underwater robot at the Madison Public Library within the Maker Space Initiative. The robotics club members were enthusiastic about the idea.”

Hendrickson points out that this type of partnership would benefit everyone: the Drew club members would gain leadership and teaching experience; the Madison students would learn valuable 3-D modeling skills; and the broader community would benefit from the additional town-gown interactions between Madison residents and the local University. “Everyone would benefit and have fun – and the financial cost to all parties is minimal,” explained Hendrickson. “Our goal is to create exciting, innovative and inexpensive out-of-school experiences and co-curricular activities that reinforce what the students learn in school.”

Environmental Sustainability and STEM

One of the key elements of the Hendrickson/Schreiber platform is financial and environmental sustainability within the Borough. To promote renewable energy and recycling, Dr. Hendrickson proposes a STEM project to develop a small biofuel facility that can serve as a learning laboratory for our youth in Madison as well as an excellent thesis project or internship for one or more Senior engineering students.

“In preliminary discussions with an expert in the field, the Dean of Engineering at a Pennsylvania-based University, the financial cost to the Borough of Madison would be negligible and possibly zero if we applied for funding from the National Science Foundation for this innovative proposal,” remarked Hendrickson. According to Hendrickson’s proposal, Madison would provide a small amount of space at the Madison Department of Public Works facility (roughly the size of one or two parking spots) subject to support by the Madison Borough Council. Initial calculations suggest that approximately 120 gallons per week of the Madison needs for diesel could come from recycled bio fuel at the small facility. “Imagine a program that converts the waste product from just one or two restaurants into bio-fuel.

This is one small step to build awareness, to improve recycling, and reduce environmental pollution within the Borough. As an added benefit, this project provides specific hands-on-experience for STEM education. We know for certain with Denis and myself on the council we would have two votes for this project, and, when elected, would endeavor to earn the support of the other council members, the Mayor, and partners in Department of Public Works,” stated Hendrickson.

Solar Energy is another example to build STEM in our community and to link environmental sustainability and renewable energy. Second generation architecturally attractive solar roofing or solar sidewalks guiding walkers from satellite off-street parking to the Madison Historic Downtown are items to consider now. In the future, 3rd generation painted surfaces that generate electricity or constructed with nano-materials are under development in renewable energy research labs around the world. "Who know what the future holds?” says Dr. Hendrickson. “With the pace that Tesla, Elon Musk, and other companies are innovating, for example, we can imagine a future where one or two of the Madison’s Department of Public Works or Madison police vehicles are powered by carbon free electric energy rather than internal combustion.”

Inquiry Based Learning in STEM

The Madison community can support STEM in multiple meaningful ways without large expense by linking volunteers and expertise with those young, old and in between who want to learn more about STEM. Currently, a Madison volunteer and an 8th grade student, Matthias, who plans to enter the Madison High School next year, are building a boosted skate board as a hands-on STEM project to reinforce what he is learning in his math and science classes. As the goal of his self-directed inquiry based learning project, Matthias chose to build a rechargeable electric skateboard.

He needs the charge/discharge system to support a range of 4 miles without recharging to commute back and forth to Madison High School next year on his longboard. His budget is $400. With some guidance from his STEM mentor, he sourced the materials from around the globe. The high torque electric motor was sourced from China, the aluminum alloy gear, belt drive mechanism and wireless speed control from Australia, the battery charger from Oregon are just a few examples.

Of course, design problems and challenges are expected in such a project. The student develops the skills needed to work through those issues, as one would expect in real life. “I learned that currency exchange rates and shipping cost and taxes are important to consider”, commented Matthias. One of the most challenging problems he encountered, however, was with the high torque motor needed.

In order to get fast acceleration with the boosted board, the gear must be keyed so that it connects tightly to the gear without slipping. “When I ordered the DC electric motor from the supplier in China, I didn’t know a key was important”, grumbled Matthias. “Ugg. The motor I chose had a steel axel already hardened. It was so hard the metal files I was using barely scratched it. I needed help from my STEM mentor. We tried carbide tipped drill bits and other things that just didn’t work. We consulted with two machinists for advice and settled on a composite fiber based grinding wheel. It was inexpensive and seems to work ok. I hope to finish soon!”

Mr. Schreiber commented on other components of the Republican candidates’ proposed “Madison STEM Community Program.” “We would like to see local businesses getting engaged with the educational efforts within our community as well – after all, our local schools are teaching their future employees – the business leaders might as well provide some context to what the students are learning.” Schreiber described an ongoing program that would bring together educators from the Madison School District and our local colleges, leaders from the Downtown Development Commission, the Borough of Madison, and local companies to plan a Madison STEM Career Awareness Day, with students visiting specific sites to see the behind-the-scenes activities in local companies that relate to STEM.

Schreiber explained that there are also many potential opportunities for students to learn how our local government agencies rely on science, technology, engineering and math every day -- although we would not necessarily think of them as STEM-related agencies. “Our water management processes rely on principles of chemistry to keep our water safe and clean, as well as physics and engineering to keep the water flowing all through the Borough.

Detectives and crime technicians in Madison’s police department employ mathematical principles, logic and forensics to process crime scenes and solve cases. Our fire department needs to understand the chemistry and physics of fire, and how fire behaves under many different circumstances.” Schreiber would like to provide opportunities to demonstrate to Madison students how STEM relates to the everyday functioning of the Borough’s different departments.

Dr. Hendrickson also described his vision for an exposition of STEM college majors. “The goal of this expo is for the high schoolers to learn how to prepare for college, what it is like to major in a STEM field, and see science in action in one of our local universities – Drew, Fairleigh Dickinson or the College of St. Elizabeth. By enabling our high schoolers to spend a few hours meeting students, faculty and staff at each of these three universities, we will provide students a crucial and valuable opportunity to see the next steps they need to take to pursue STEM careers,” said Hendrickson.

Over the last few months, we have been meeting and listening to the concerns of residents and business owners throughout Madison. Education is a top priority for many. We hear their voices, and we look forward to bringing a much-needed fresh perspective and collaborative innovation to the Borough Council.

On November 7, please vote for the team of Dr. Ronald Hendrickson and Mr. Denis Schreiber.

Join us at Bottle Hill Day, Saturday Oct. 7th to see and talk about STEM. You can follow our campaign online at madisonnjgop.com for regular updates from the candidates and upcoming events