My capstone was centered around blending my CTE engineering education and music experience to improve the SLA music spaces. I did this in two main parts; first by starting the SLA Rock Band and then subsequently improving the band room using direct feedback from the musicians using it. It was also important to me to get the SLA band involved in school events so that I could cement it as part of the community. I held rock band practice every Monday, and we played at both the SLA Game Show event and the SLA Art Show in the spring. We also collaborated with Juni’s capstone by playing several hours of music at the fundraiser.

For the engineering portion of my capstone, after playing with the band for a while and assessing what would be the most beneficial, I decided to focus on organization and simplifying the sound system process. Using funding from Braskem, I was able to organize the room using a pegboard and buy new equipment to fix and replace broken instruments. I created a binder to guide students that includes explanations about setting up for a performance, how to fix common issues they might encounter and a long list of song suggestions for future bands at SLA. Overall, my capstone renovated and created a friendly space where experienced musicians and new musicians can play together, as well as simplified the technical process of live music so students are capable and feel comfortable performing in SLA future.

• Below I have attached images of the pegboard I put up in the band room to organize new equipment, the guitars I was able to replace strings on and the secondhand bass we purchased with remaining Braskem funding.

Here is a picture from one of our three sets at Juni’s capstone event!

Here is a link to the information I left in a binder for the band room (to help guide future students):

Band Information

Here is a link to my annotated bibliography:

Annotated Bibliography

My Senior Capstone was the teaching and revamping of the senior CTE Engineering Kerbal Space Program curriculum. Kerbal Space Program is a spaceflight simulation game, often used by educators due to its accurate physics model. I updated the software on all of the engineering computers, and I created a set of assignments for students to do. Throughout the process, I met with the Engineering teacher, Ms. Baruzzini, to coordinate and plan the lessons. I learned a lot about the responsibilities of teachers and the effectiveness of different types of teaching. During my teaching, I inspired multiple students to use Kerbal Space Program in their own time, which I consider a success. I believe this will inspire future SLA Engineers to pursue Aerospace Engineering.

Link to my Capstone: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iq084FQSbQJG35lJHnxRF1C1C6p3WyYt?usp=sharing

This Capstone project was undertaken with the goal of improving the engineering room as a place of learning. To accomplish this, three models were created for four air and spacecraft: a realistic model, an artistic model, and an educational model. The realistic models were designed in AutoCAD Fusion 360 and produced using a 3D printer. The artistic models were created as unique posters for each craft in Adobe Photoshop, and the educational models were presented as websites containing the history and functionality of each aircraft.

This project was selected due to the personal significance of the engineering room. More time was spent in Room 601 than any other room at SLA — not only for classes, but also for lunch, lab sessions, and after-school studying. As a result of this connection, the project was shaped by a desire to give back to the space and to Ms. Baruzzini, and to leave the room in a better state than it was found.

Link to site: https://sites.google.com/scienceleadership.org/milesbleicapstone/home

For my senior capstone, I created a website called Achieve. The purpose of this website is to help athletes who are struggling with mental health or just need a little help and guidance to achieve their goals. They have inspirational quotes on the front page, then a journaling setting in the second tab, in the third tab their is an XP unlocking feature, and for my final tab, it’s a tab that helps you make up a plan to achieve a goal. If you feel confused or aren’t sure where to begin, this tab creates checkpoints to help you start on the goal. The process of making this website began by finding a problem and creating something to help solve it. Once I settled on it, I started researching quotes, what helped athletes the most, and why mental health is one of the most common issues for athletes’ downfall. Once I completed all the research part, I shifted to learning how to code and searched for videos on how to code. After getting a good understanding of how to code, I started the rough draft of the website and asked my peers, teachers, and mentor for feedback. After receiving all the feedback, I made sure to incorporate all the feedback into my new and polished website.

For my capstone, I worked with Josh to build and test an open-source off-grid communication system. We call this system Ski Net. It is based on an ESP32 board called a Heltec V3 and V4. We created this system as a replacement or an addition to any skier, outdoorsman, hunter, fisherman, or first responder’s personal carry. It allows users to communicate with a network of other users completely independent of any preexisting infrastructure. It doesn’t need internet, cell service, or satellite to communicate; the device does every aspect of the end-to-end encrypted communication. So for people who are outdoors, like hunters or skiers, it lets them talk and send their location when they have no cell service. However, for the first responders, it allows them to establish a critical communication infrastructure in a worst-case scenario when that preexisting network has been knocked out due to a natural disaster.

For my senior capstone project I adapted two 12V ride-on cars to make these devices more accessible for children with limited mobility, specifically children with cerebral palsy. This consisted of rewiring the built-in pedal circuit in the car to an easy access, external pressure-sensitive button that acted as the new accelerator. Simultaneously, I created a standardized adaptation process across most ride-on cars documented in a series of different academic and workshop-style media: instructional video, written instructions, and a mini-lesson slide deck teaching about accessible design that other CTE Engineering teachers in the School District of Philadelphia can use.

This project took a lot of planning, communication with my mentor and adaptation support network, and research to complete. The biggest thing that I learned when leading big design projects like this one is to always have multiple backup plans, anticipate miscommunications and setbacks, and thoroughly define the purpose of the project (aka the big takeaway you want audience to have).

The goal of my capstone is to help define what affordable assistive technology is in the scope of autonomous mobility in an easy-access and digestible format, increase awareness of the importance and impact of these devices, and inspire young engineers to consider a career in human-centered design, just as I was encouraged during a multitude of experiences throughout high school.

For my capstone, I built a wrist-worn heart rate monitor for my nonprofit rowing team, PCR. Rowing is an expensive sport, and my team works to make it accessible to kids who could not otherwise afford it. I wanted to contribute something that reflected that mentality.

The process started with a completely different idea. I originally planned to build a SpeedCoach, a device that tracks splits on the water, but after researching the cost and complexity, I had to pivot. I polled my teammates, landed on heart rate monitors, and went deep into research on how they work. Along the way, my anatomy teacher showed me data proving that heart rate monitors are less accurate for people with darker skin tones, which became a major focus of my research.

When talking to my teammates, they said reading a small number on a display while rowing was too difficult mid-stroke. So I designed the monitor around a circular ring of lights showing what percentage of your maximum heart rate you are at, with colors for each zone: blue for zone 1, green for zone 2, yellow for zone 3, orange for zone 4, and red for zone 5. At a glance, you know exactly where you are without breaking focus.

The biggest thing I learned is that building is a people process. Coaches, teammates, classmates, and even family solved problems I could not get alone. I also learned to trust making something over researching it before you start.

For my Senior Capstone I created a website called The Swing Blueprint, which is used to teach beginners the fundamental basics of the golf swing for no cost. The main purpose of making this website was to help beginners of the game get better without having to spend a ridiculous amount of money, so for The Swing Blueprint, users don’t have to give any money or get any subscription in order to use the website. The website divides the golf swing into seven different modules where there is an instructional video along with a mini quiz for each module to make it easier for anyone using the website to understand the information in the videos. I also designed the website to have a user tracking feature so that users can create an account to track their progress over time. After I got feedback from my peers I was told the website need to be more engaging for the users so I decided to implement a badges aspect to the website, so that when users completer a module they get a specific badge for that module to show they’ve mastered that skill. This website can be such as useful tool for anyone who is looking to get good at golf but doesn’t want to spend a ton of money on professional lessons because they can get the same information for free using The Swing Blueprint.

Final product: https://the-swing-blueprint-npos.vercel.app/

Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LnuyTeZiOYyezrQfwYGB0mDY-FfVxwpXadIrk_D4PBA/edit?usp=sharing

My capstone project was to organize and inventory Narnia, SLA’s storage closet. Aside from physically cleaning out the space, I also made a spreadsheet that contains all the items within Narnia and their quantities. The items are sorted by category, and each category has its own sub-spreadsheet. The formatting highlights items that are running low on supply and sends a weekly reminder to check and update the spreadsheet. I also made a Google Site to serve as the instructions manual in case any of the settings need to be changed. Finally, I made a 3D model of the storage space on Fusion360 to go with the inventory. This is to make future rearrangement easier.

For nearly half the process, I was unsure what the final product would look like. I had many conversations with my mentors and ultimately decided to manipulate a spreadsheet for a simple but effective solution. As I organized the space, I also thought about contingencies for the future, in case the space fell into disarray again. The Google Site and 3D model will ensure future expansions or reorganizations go smoothly.

My capstone allowed me to deepen many of my pre-existing skills, including Fusion360 use, organization, planning, writing, and communication. It led me to learn more about the capabilities of Google Sheets and spreadsheets in general, and taught me important lessons about project management and the engineering design process.

View the Google Site: https://sites.google.com/scienceleadership.org/sla-storage?usp=sharing

View the Fusion360 model in more detail: https://a360.co/4fjI9RU

For my senior Capstone project, I did a series of STEM-based arts & crafts projects/activities with elementary school students that ran from April 22nd to May 6th. These activities included making paper airplanes, making paper and straw rockets, creating oobleck from scratch, and building towers out of straws and tape, all while learning the science, engineering, and physics behind them.

I worked with both Francis Scott Key Elementary School, the school I went to from K-6, and Sunrise of Philadelphia, the afterschool program that I coordinated with and where I held my activities. But truly, the biggest stars of my entire project and the reason why I did it was the students, who were always so full of energy, creativity, and a willingness to learn and start the activity at hand.

Overall, it truly just warmed my heart and filled me with an immense sense of fulfillment having been able to work with such creative children and having been able to see their process of working through things, being curious, asking questions, and coming to a conclusion at the end of the day. It’s like seeing a mirror of my past self, when I was first introduced to STEM and all these fun challenges, and this is also my biggest hope and accomplishment – that these kids found this just as memorable as I did when I was in their shoes.