Name: Brian Zweerink
City: Springfield, Missouri
Day Job: Teacher
Woodworking : Electronics
Brian Zweerink is the human equivalent of a nuclear reactor. He puts out a constant stream of energy that appears, from the outside at least, to be unending. Conversations with Brian often make me feel exhausted simply listening to the ideas that he starts churning out. This is such a great quality to have for a teacher that, while I’m not one of his students, I simply assume he’s doing an awesome job.
Brian has written for us in the past, outlining how he created a curriculum that involved his students designing and racing radio controlled cars from scratch. Since then he’s refined that program and added even more cool projects.
Here’s Brian’s bio in his own words.
I graduated with a degree in industrial technology in 1999, and spent most of the time between then and 2012 designing food processing equipment, with a few breaks to hike the Appalachian Trail and rowboat the Mississippi River. In 2012 I became an educator at the Discovery Center in Springfield, MO, and in 2014 took a job teaching woodworking, drafting, and engineering at Marshfield High School in Missouri. Right now I’m spending most of my time trying to design lessons that are authentic, with real-world problem solving and technology. I’ve spent two years having my students design radio controlled cars, which we 3D print and race, but this year I’m switching to radio controlled, full contact, soccer playing robots. Absolutely no question, this is my dream job.
You can find Brian on
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