This is the third blog of a four-part series to introduce the most recent Department of Defense Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education and Outreach Advocate of the Quarter awardees.  We invite you to check out the earlier blogs to learn more about Mr. Steven Corbin and Ms. Tiffany Owens.

I'm excited to introduce the FY20 Quarter 3 DoD SAQ Awardee, Mr. W. Tim Miedzinski!

Mr. Miedzinski is a Lead Mechanical Engineer for the Prototyping, Instrumentation and Experimentation Department, Mechanical Instrumentation Branch at Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Patuxent River. Beyond his role as a lead mechanical engineer, Mr. Miedzinski works hard to impact his community through STEM education and outreach significantly. 

Mr. Miedzinski is a board member with growing STEMS, a nonprofit organization focused on developing the next generation of problem solvers. He is also a lead design mentor and lead strategy mentor for RoboBees, a local high school robotics team. The robotics program develops technical acumen and leadership skills as well as introduces students to STEM disciplines. Serving in this position, Mr. Miedzinski has mentored over 105 students in RoboBees Maryland and over 30 students in the West Virginia program. He has self-authored a SolidWorks training guide to include lessons and in-person design challenges to build his students' confidence and improve their design and modeling skills. In addition to this work, Mr. Miedzinski has mentored a small team to develop a robot-scouting app for android devices that allowed the team to scout opponent robots, helping the team exercise their programming skills.

When COVID-19 halted the RoboBees robotics program, Mr. Miedzinski kept his students engaged in STEM by encouraging them to serve the community. At the onset of COVID, there was an immediate demand for personal protective equipment for first responders and health care facilities. He led his student team to develop, test and iterate face shield prototypes to protect health care professionals. They began production runs in March 2020 and have delivered over 2,000 face shields to Maryland healthcare facilities. Additionally, usable N95 respirators from the local hospital required repair. Mr. Miedzinski led a team of students to develop and implement repair procedures using the skills learned in the RoboBees program on equipment in their facilities. He and his students have repaired and returned nearly 6,000 respirators to their local hospital for use.

Furthermore, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, they identified a need for intubation boxes. They undertook the effort to design and develop prototype boxes to overcome this high-demand life-saving device shortage. The team worked tirelessly to design and prototype the first article by the end of March 2020 and have delivered five boxes to the local hospital.