R&D (research and development), technical, scientific and engineering jobs recruiting is expanding rapidly despite Covid-19. Unfortunately, there are not enough qualified scientists, engineers, researchers and technology job candidates to meet staffing managers hiring needs.
As MIT’s Office of Engineering Outreach Programs suggests we as a nation need to take further steps to mint more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) students. This will greatly increase the talent pool. Especially having parents encourage youngsters at an early age to pursue STEM fields.
Fostering Math, Engineering, Technology & Science skills
When children plan, build and rebuild structures, they develop needed math and problem-solving skills needed to think like engineers, scientists, technical and R&D professionals. Parents can promote STEM by using inexpensive materials found around the home.
Recruiting R&D Building Blocks
By encouraging young children to use large blocks or small boxes to build towers, forts, space stations or castles for their action figures, you will teach them early R&D, geometry and engineering skills.
Also, many preschool children can build a structure against a wall and then a family member can outline it using blue painter’s tape. This becomes a blueprint outline for them to follow and rebuild the structure. It doesn’t matter if they use the same blocks or different ones. Outlines can also be done with a piece of paper on the floor.
Another STEM idea is encouraging and supervising your children to explore, match and screw assorted large nuts and bolts together once you are sure no one in the house will swallow them. They’ll like taking them apart and putting them back together. They can sort nails and screws with an adult to help organize a workshop.
With an adult’s help children can push or pound golf tees into Styrofoam packing material or boxes to make geometric shapes or designs.
Recruitment Of Toothpicks and Gum Drops
Once you know it’s safe, provide your children with a few bags of gumdrops or miniature marshmallows and boxes of toothpicks. These are excellent and inexpensive building materials to mint future engineers, scientists, technical and R&D professionals.
Show your children how to poke a toothpick through a gumdrop and repeat the process to build. Help them construct triangles and squares and move to other flat and 3-D structures.
Since art is also part of STEM, you can first design and then build space stations and animals like giraffes and dogs. They can make furniture like tables and chairs for dolls, spaceships, and playground equipment. Let them play and explore with a pile of gumdrops and toothpicks. You might want to play a game of “Make what I make.”
Show children that triangles are stronger than rectangles. Experienced children might make a bridge to connect two books. How long can it be before it breaks? How many cars can it hold? Can you make a family Eiffel Tower? How high can a tower or skyscraper be?
Will a tower be taller if the base is a larger square and the rest are small squares? Give children an opportunity to experiment and question. Let them know it is ok if a structure breaks and they need to figure out a better way to build and redo.
There are also many commercial snap-together block variations such as Legos, Tinker Toys, train tracks, and Lincoln Logs for young engineers, scientists, technical and research and development talent.
By following these simple steps, parents can encourage your kids to enlist in paths towards lucrative R&D, scientific, engineering and technical careers. In the process you will not only assist future employers in recruiting scientist, engineer and research and development talent for their open jobs, but also you will improve our country’s R&D future!
Call me today at 312-944-4000 to discuss how we can assist with your R&D, engineering, scientific, technical, IT and manufacturing recruitment efforts in the highly competitive fields of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things (IoT) as well as Virtual (and Augmented) Reality. Or click here for my full contact information.
