Tinkering School turns small appliances into art with the help of TCC students

Tyler Nitsche was always curious. He remembers taking things apart and rebuilding them as a kid and now he is paying it forward. The TCC student volunteered to be a mentor for the first ever Tinkering School at Tulsa’s Fab Lab, sponsored by Tulsa Alliance for Engineering, where middle and high school students deconstructed machines and reconstructed kinetic sculptures. Nitsche said he enjoyed his time working with the young students and helping them build the sculptures that were powered by motor, wind, water, batteries or other sources.

“I got to see how creative these students were and how they worked as a team. Most importantly, I got a chance to work with many students in the electronics lab teaching them how to solder electronic parts together and how electricity works,” Nitsche said.

This is not the first time that Nitsche has volunteered to work as a mentor for younger students and tried to foster the passion and love of engineering. He said events such as Tinkering School have been very rewarding and he sees himself in the young students.

“I think that this experience is wonderful for students because the students get a chance to work beyond their normal curriculum which makes the majority of them much more passionate about engineering,” Nitsche said.

He will graduate with an associate degree in Mathematics and Physics in May 2013.