GM鈥檚 New YouTube Summer School Series Aims to STEM Boredom

Electric car charging, electric car motors, and autonomous vehicle sensors are some of the topics the series explores
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Electrifying Engineering gm stem
Kris Sevel, EV Propulsion Engineer at General Motors Co. (pictured here with his daughters), is teaching kids how to build their own electric motor through the company鈥檚 鈥淓lectrifying Engineering鈥 STEM series. // Photograph courtesy of GM

With in-school learning being out for months now, General Motors Co. propulsion engineer Kris Sevel knows what it鈥檚 like to be a parent looking for activities that will keep children engaged in learning while they鈥檝e been sheltering at home.

He鈥檚 hoping a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Summer School Series GM has launched on YouTube fills exactly that need for many families. Electrifying Engineering is a free educational video series designed to foster ingenuity through hands-on activities while educating kids ages 7-13 about electric vehicle technology.

鈥淢any schools around the world have turned to online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic,鈥 Sevel says. 鈥淭o help with the situation, our electric vehicle engineers and designers created an online series of STEM lessons and experiments to help educators, parents, and caretakers who are looking for ways to keep students engaged and learning. GM has nearly 80 STEM partnerships, and our employees have a history of stepping up and finding solutions to critical needs in our communities.鈥

Electrifying Engineering episodes are being released on every Sunday through July. About a dozen engineers from the company鈥檚 electric vehicle and environmental engineering and design teams are taking turns hosting programs on topics such as electric car charging, electric car motors, and autonomous vehicle sensors.

Each session includes an interactive engineering project that can be completed at home with everyday household items, according to a press release. Students are invited to share a picture of completed projects on social media using the #ElectrifyingEngineering hashtag.

Sevel presented a 鈥淗ow to Build an Electric Motor鈥 program that focused on electric propulsion, or the parts that make an electric vehicle move. He sees the series as having potential to inspire students for the future while challenging them now. 鈥淚鈥檓 also hoping it sparks the interest of future engineers,鈥 he says, 鈥渁nd encourages them to find other STEM activities and learning opportunities around electric vehicles.鈥