Today’s guest blogger is “Secret Life” fan, Amy Smith. She was inspired to write to us after reading this post from Judy Lee.

While checking out several of the posts on the “Secret Life of Scientists & Engineers,” one in particular caught my eye. Secret Lifer Judy Lee’s story is one I could relate to very much. As a child I was also EXTREMELY shy to the point where I wouldn’t speak in school. Our friend, Amy Smith, as an adorable little girl I had a couple of good friends I would share things with, but felt anxious speaking before adults or speaking up in class. Often I was misunderstood because of my shyness and had some tough times adjusting to new social settings. Luckily I did have teachers during my school years who were patient, understanding of my nervousness in social settings, and were able to draw me out a bit by encouraging my creativity and curiosity.

As I clearly recall, my first and second grade teacher truly made her classroom environment so much fun that I looked forward to going to school. By having a comfortable environment in which to grow, learn, and thrive I began to feel that my school experience could be rewarding, rather than intimidating. I changed from being a fearful, hesitant student to wanting to participate in classroom activities and experiment and explore more in a school setting. With my teacher’s guidance, encouragement, sense of humor, and with her support I managed to make a lot of progress during those years.

I am grateful for these teachers that did take the time to get to know me, and I will never forget that their passion for teaching and students has made a difference in my life. They are my heroes and role models. Many thanks to those encouraging teachers I knew through the years and to Judy Lee for sharing her story!

Today is the first day of National Engineers Week (2/20-2/26/11).

And you can check out the whole kit and caboodle over at NEW’s glistening (and very well-engineered!) site right now. The “g” is for GIRL.

One of our favorite aspects of NEW is called Introduce a Girl to Engineering. Follow the link to learn about the many events NEW has planned particularly for girls. There are lots of great ways this week (and every week) to get young girls interested in engineering.

In honor of some of our most beloved engineers, Judy Lee, Dava Newman, Nate Ball, Eran Egozy, Colin Angle, and two of our upcoming engineers (Shaundra Levy and Emily Whiting), we invite you to celebrate engineering this week.

Watching the videos and reading about Judy Lee, I recalled something Marilyn vos Savant said: “Everyone knows we need teachers and nurses, and we all love to recognize the individual genius philosopher or mathematician. But the occupational group most responsible for modern society is engineers, who should win a ‘most under-appreciated’ award.”

It’s all French to me! How true! I’ve lately started to notice the way roads work and I’ve wondered about the layout of pipes and cables underground. I stand in awe of those who pioneered and perfected the technique of using circulating refrigerant to exchange hot, wet air for dry, cooler air, giving us both refrigeration and air conditioning. I’m more and more mindful that with just a flick of a finger I connect with deep wells of oil and veins of coal, with sun, wind, and water. Without knowing how it happens, I use those elements to light up or warm or cool my environment. Everywhere we turn we see such everyday miracles. We don’t often see or hear about the miracle workers.

Who are the people who make these things happen? How do they choose to become engineers? I’m sure we could find many answers, but I asked one engineer I know.

As we reported in an earlier post, Judy was once so quiet and shy that she wouldn’t even speak to her teachers. But then a special teacher came along who made a very strong impact on little Judy. The teacher spent a lot of one-on-one time with her, taking the extra time to get to know Judy and earn her trust. Thanks to that teacher, Judy’s silence soon turned into a whisper, and eventually…a roar!

Below is that very special lady. So here’s a loud shout-out to Judy’s teacher and educators everywhere – thanks for all you do to shape our future! Judy doesn’t remember that special teacher’s name (it was a long time ago!) but we’re sending out some teacher love to her!

When Judy was young, she and her brother, Jerome, used to build all kinds of forts. They would build them in the woods and they’d build them at home. In fact, Jerome is the inventor of the blow-up tent. According to Judy, here’s how you can make your very own:

“Lift up the heating vent grate and tuck one end of the sheet around it.

“Drape the other end onto a stool or something tall and put a heavy book onto it to keep it in place.

“Place books along the sides of the tent to make sure you have a good seal.

“When the heat kicks on, it’ll blow the sheet up and you’ll have a blow up tent!

“We used to build one and sleep in the tent. So cool.”

Take a look:

Okay kids, DO try this at home.

Judy Lee says her favorite piece of equipment is the drill because you can use it for everything. I remember seeing my grandfather’s old hand drill, a crank and turn device similar to an eggbeater, and I’ve used a cordless electric drill on occasion. So I looked up drills to find out more about them.

The first bow drill. Now that’s not a drill…. (Yannick Trottier) The earliest drill was a bow drill, sort of like the fire-starting style equipment that used friction to create heat. Cords wrapped around the drilling stick were pulled and the cord wound and unwound back and forth in reciprocal actions to create the friction and rubbing motion. Early Egyptians and other civilizations used this kind of drill.

Hand drills relied on gears to rotate the cutting part of the instrument, and hand power turned it in a continuous motion, which is why it is also known as the eggbeater drill.

Behind this family photo are Secret Lifer Judy Lee’s memories of playful battles with her brother Jerome. That’s Judy in the yellow dress. Here’s Judy’s story:

“This is a family photo from when I was in preschool. Those are my parents, Paul and May, and my older brother, Jerome.

“I spent a lot of time with my older brother. He was the coolest person in the world. I remember during the summers when my parents weren’t home, we would turn our living room into a battlefield. The sofa and coffee table would get flipped over, and cushions would become our shields as we launched tightly folded paper darts from rubber bands (like a homemade slingshot). We would battle for hours until we ran out of ammunition. You always hoped that the other person would be out as well, ‘cause the only way to get more was to go into no man’s land to pick up the paper darts. That meant you were completely exposed to taking more hits! I remember once where he popped out wearing a snorkel mask and had two sofa cushions tied around him. I laughed so hard I wasn’t able to shoot him.”

Do we sense a bit of sibling rivalry?

I love how Judy Lee explains how building things brings the two sides of her brain together. As teachers, that’s something we’re always trying to help our students achieve. Judy also mentions the importance of working in teams to solve problems. Ernie has super-throwing (and freezing!) powers. It’s not an easy task to incorporate all of this into our lessons; yet it can be, if we look towards others for examples.

Ernie Easter is an exemplary teacher in New Sweden, Maine and a gentleman whom I have never met in person. He reached out to me via a simple, often educationally-underestimated social networking tool, Twitter. Ernie had an idea for a competition in his class. He would organize his 7th grade students into groups of 3 or 4 and assign the task of designing an insulated package that would house a snowball that could be shipped intact to our school in South Florida. Ernie would provide dry ice but the rest would be up to the students. Once the package arrived, my 4th grade students would record their observations of the snowball and the packaging and report our findings back to Ernie’s class. This would be enriching and very exciting on so many levels. Many of my students had never seen snow, they were just learning about recording observations, they would also be working in teams to observe and record, and they would be designing a way to report back to Ernie’s teams. Additionally my students would be working to share this project with others in our school and outside our school, using some type of medium of their choice, whether it be a poster, newsletter, blog post, Glogster, Voicethread, video, photo montage, or any other idea of their own.

I challenge educators out there to find another teacher somewhere in the world and make a connection. There are many venues for finding other educators who are interested in collaborating on simple but rewarding projects guaranteed! Here are a few to get you started (some require an account but all are free): Teachers Connecting, PBS Teachers, and Twitter 4 Teachers.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to spend a lot of time on the computer. Whether it’s at work, at home, or on the go, I wind up staring at a screen more than I’d like. That can’t possibly be good for me.

Put down your computer/phone/iPod and DO IT!! For the month of February, I’m going to try and spend less time on the computer and more time making stuff! There’s nothing like getting your hands dirty. It’s fun, it’s messy, and it’s a great way to learn about something new. What’s best is the sense of pride that comes with it… I made that. That’s MY work!

My fiance Carlisle and I hosted a Sausage and Champagne party where we invited good friends over to make sausages from scratch. Our guests brought their recipe and ingredients, and we provided the tools and the space. I’m sure you’re asking, “Why on earth would you MAKE sausages when you can just BUY them?” Well the answer is simple. They taste better. Not just a little better, but WAY better. They’re juicier than any store-bought sausage could ever be.

As we were grinding the meat and stuffing the casings in the garage, we were surprised at how curious people were about the process. Several strangers popped in and ask questions. We even had five friends stop by just to help out. It’s not everyday you get to learn how to make something new. They were curious and we were happy to have them.

So for the next month, step away from the computer and go make something! If you’re wondering what you should make, the answer is anything! Maybe it’s that piece of furniture you’ve been thinking about. Maybe it’s sewing a quilt. Or maybe it’s trying to paint a watercolor for the first time. If you need some inspiration, try here.

Despite her small stature (Judy is 4‘11”), Secret Lifer Judy Lee was a standout on her high school volleyball team, regularly intimidating her opponents with her “setting” skills. Here’s her story:

“In this picture, I was a senior at Athens Drive High School in Raleigh, NC. As an incoming freshman, I had never played volleyball before, but my friend Nancy and I decided to try out for the team. The try-out was grueling! I remember thinking my forearms were going to be completely black and blue, if not broken, after the first day! Coach Stevens really worked us hard. After what felt like weeks of boot camp, Nance and I both made the varsity team as freshman! We were ecstatic!

“I’m pretty short. It’s funny to think that I played volleyball for 4 years in high school. But height doesn’t matter when you’re a setter. My job was to set the ball up for a perfect spike. One of my teammates, Laura, was 6‘5” or so. It was funny to see us walk out on the court. My head would barely reach the bottom of the net and when she raised her hands, she had an entire hand sticking above the net. The other team would always smile at the height difference. Little did they know that we were a force to be reckoned with. Those smiles would soon be wiped off their faces after the first few minutes.” Despite her small stature, she always wore her ‘Air Judy’s‘ on gameday

As you know from her videos, Judy Lee is one of the co-hosts of the PBS series “Design Squad Nation” (giving her something in common with our buddy, Nate Ball). On DSN, Judy works with kids from around the world to make their dreams come true… with engineering!

Learn more about DSN at their very cool site. And check them out on your local PBS station where the new DSN season premieres this coming Wednesday, January 26.

In the meantime, here’s a preview:

Believe it or not, there was a time, many years ago, when Secret Lifer Judy was quiet and shy. Times have changed, in part, due to a great teacher. Here’s Judy’s story:

“This is a picture of me in pre-school. Back then, I was EXTREMELY shy. I mean to the point where I wouldn’t talk to the teachers! I would nod my head yea or no when asked questions, but that was it. I would, however, talk to my two best friends, Esther and Aubrey, out on the playground or whisper in their ears during class. The teachers were on to me… they knew i was still learning despite my silence with them. One teacher in particular made a big difference in my life at the time. I wish I could remember her name. She had long brown hair and had braces and was the nicest woman in the world in my eyes. She spent a lot of one-on-one time with me during class. During recess she would share her snack with me. She liked to eat potato chips with a slice of pickle on top. I even recall going to a movie and getting ice cream with her one Saturday. She was awesome. Over time, I started trusting her and eventually whispered in her ear. I love that she spent the extra time to understand and work with me. We need more teachers like that.” You’d never guess it now, but when she was a girl…Judy was a whisperer

Judy Lee’s videos demonstrate that some people have all the luck! Imagine being able to design toys and games and playgrounds. As a biased scientist, I have to say: Not bad for an Engineer!

One wonders whether Judy could also use her talents to design toys and playgrounds for animals, as well as humans? According to a University of Tennessee psychologist, lots of animals play—not just the ‘usual suspects’ of cats, dogs, and monkeys. Polly wants a basket. (Leonid Mamchenkov)

Gordon Burghardt looked at the behavior of baby and juvenile reptiles for many years and never noticed much ”playtime,” until he saw Pigface, a Nile softshell turtle at the National Zoo in Washington DC. Burghardt realized that reptiles play too when he spotted Pigface (interesting name, I know!) batting around a basketball.

Writing last October’s issue of “The Scientist,” Burghardt defined his five criteria for play in any species but sums it up as follows: “Play is repeated behavior that is incompletely functional in the context or at the age in which it is performed and is initiated voluntarily when the animal or person is in a relaxed or low-stress setting.”

You can tell from Judy Lee’s videos that, while she’s now an accomplished and successful product designer and TV host, there’s still a whole lot of girl in her. And she told us a couple of stories that made it clear that that girl is a huge part of what now makes Judy such an amazing, energetic, alive woman.

Young Judy, cleaned up but soon to get dirty again First Judy as a girl:

“Across the street from my friend’s house, there was this big mound of dirt. And it was probably about the size of the house. And my friend Jenny and I would just go climbing up and slide down on our butts. And we would do that over and over and over. And I remember coming home, my mom would be furious, because I’m just filthy. I’ve got this red stained clay all over my butt. But it was fun. It was fun getting dirty. It was fun sliding down this hill. It was fun just running around, you know?”

Now most people eventually out-grow dirt. I sure did. But Judy didn’t. Here she is telling us about the playground project she and “Design Squad Nation” did for an underprivileged school in Nicaragua (see her “Empowerment Tools” video to get more of the story):

Judy Lee has lots and lots of power tools. And she’s not afraid to use them!

Ask Judy your questions in the comments.

UPDATE: We are no longer taking more questions for Judy. But check out her answers in the comments. She may have answered a question you were going to ask!