Curiosity fueled Ally Coker’s interest in joining the Huskie Motorsports team.
This past weekend, following her passion led to the sophomore mechanical engineering major getting featured in a segment on WTVO’s coverage of Northern Illinois University’s 16th Annual STEM Festival: NIU’s 16th annual STEM festival: A hands-on learning event.
The event attracted students, families and community members for a day of interactive learning. The festival included hands-on exhibits in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, highlighting real-world applications and building connections between Huskie students and the community.
The aerodynamics lead for Huskie Motorsports, Coker shared how the festival experience deepened her passion for hands-on design and manufacturing.
“The hours and hours spent in the lab, both in the design, simulations and manufacturing, it feels so validating, especially to see our young future engineers get in that car and think, `This is the coolest thing ever,'” Coker said.
Previously, Coker was part of the NIU Supermileage Team before a friend invited her to check out Huskie Motorsports.
“I just fell in love with being able to see your design go through, get manufactured and actually be able to see the car (in action),” she added.
In the segment, Kristin Brynteson, director of NIU STEAM, emphasized the event’s value in connecting students with potential future employers. Year after year, the STEM Festival serves as both an educational showcase and a networking hub for tomorrow’s innovators.
We appreciate the spotlight on our Huskie Motorsports team; we’re proud of all our student organizations who apply what they’re learning in the classroom as they bridge theory with practice.
Among other CEET student organizations who participated in STEM Fest was the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the Supermileage Team and the NIU Robotics Club.
Building connections with the community is nothing new for students. Last fall, for example, the Robotics Club held a program at the DeKalb Public Library that was dedicated to spurring on the engineering passion of children.
Learn more about CEET student organizations.
See the video from Saturday’s STEM Festival.
