Student Research and Development (StudentRND) is a student-run non-profit organization that aims to inspire students to learn more about science and technology by offering hands-on opportunities for students to explore beyond and experiment with the concepts that were so laboriously covered in school textbooks.
Our CEO , Edward Jiang, often uses the following two illustrations to explain the concept:
- When learning how to ride a bike, the majority of people learned by trying over and over again until the skill has been mastered, not by reading a textbook, listening to a lecture, or watching an educational video. Thus, when learning about science and technology, students should be actually applying the knowledge they learn and asking more questions. Science is inquiry.
- If a library is provided for those who love to read and sports fields for those who love to play sports, then student scientists should also be provided with a space to explore scientific concepts.
A $25,000 grant from Chase Community Giving in addition to many other donations and hundreds of hours of volunteer work over the last year has made it possible for StudentRND to set up a physical workspace in Bellevue where students may drop in and play around with our MakerBot 3D Printer, write a code for an iPhone application, fiddle with Adobe Creative Suite 5, and much more.
In addition to being open every day of the week, weekdays from nine to five and weekends from noon to five, StudentRND plans Fun Nights, invites guest speakers, and hosts short classes.
StudentRND is absolutely free (though the soda stocked in our mini-fridge and the snacks beside it do cost a dollar) and students of all age, and especially those in high school, are encouraged to drop by. If you would like to become a little bit more acquainted with the space and the day-to-day activities before coming in, our Facebook Page does a great job of showing people what’s going on.
A New Age Library
Our main goal is to create a workspace – what we call the Workshop – where we can learn more about science and technology by working on projects of our interest. It’s a resource center – a place where students can find the tools and resources necessary to collaborate and learn.
Quick Facts
- StudentRND has raised over $28,000
- Over 50 teens have volunteered for StudentRND
- Our volunteers come from 9 different high schools as well as UW