Employee Brings STEM Careers to the Classroom
We’re proud to highlight employees who dedicate their time and talents to the community, like Manufacturing Engineering Supervisor Phil Grzybowski. He helped teach sixth graders at Cypress Palm Middle School in Naples, FL, about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers with a focus on biomedical engineering. Phil teamed up with the students’ teacher, Cynthia Crouse, to show them how to design fractured finger casts using a 3D printer and computer-aided design (CAD) software.
Phil was involved in every step of the project, from teaching the students about Arthrex and his role in the engineering process to answering questions as they assembled their casts. He was extremely impressed that at just 11 and 12 years old, the students were able to learn the CAD process and 3D printing. Phil shared, “I truly enjoyed working with Cynthia and her sixth-grade class on the STEM 3D printer project. The opportunity to come in and share information on what a biomedical engineering career is like and what an engineer does in the medical field was personally rewarding for me.” 
The project was made possible by the AT&T STEM@Work grant and Champions for Learning, which helps connect organizations like Arthrex with teachers seeking to bring innovative, educational projects to their classrooms. The goals of the project were to exercise students’ math skills and give them a deeper understanding of the curriculum by connecting it to a real-world situation. Ms. Crouse and Phil hope this process helped some students develop an interest in pursuing a STEM career.
Phil plans to work with another sixth-grade class on a similar project this upcoming school year. He also shared that he and the AMI Prototype team will mentor one local high school intern per semester and teach them to how medical devices are designed and manufactured.
