Illinois ITE attended the 7th Annual STEMapalooza Expo hosted by Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana. This event occurred on Saturday, March 24 from 10:00 am to 2:00 PM at the Friendship Center in Country Club Hills. The goal of STEMapalooza is to inspire girls to explore the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) by providing hands-on activities for the 400 girls who attend. ILITE has collaborated with Girl Scouts for the past few years and hopes to continue inspiring young girls to pursue STEM subjects.
Illinois ITE provided laptops with the traffic control game “Gridlock Buster” available to play. Gridlock Buster is an online traffic control game developed by the University of Minnesota and applies concepts vital to traffic engineering. The game incorporates the concept of delay and queue in a fun and easily understandable way. Players must control the traffic signals to ensure maximum capacity through the intersection. Illinois ITE was able to explain the role of traffic engineers to both the Girl Scouts and the attending parents. Illinois ITE would like to thank the organizers of this fun event and looks forward to future collaborations with the Girl Scouts of Great Chicago and Northwest Indiana.
Thank you to ITE board members Josh Harris and Monica Shei and ITE member Bryce Wegner for volunteering for this event!
Feel free to play Gridlock Buster here: http://www.its.umn.edu/GridlockBuster/